In a piece for Local Call, I review the major systemic problems with recycling as we know it. In the shadow of China’s ban on imports of low-quality trash, I criticize developed countries’ image as clean and environmentally conscious, an image only made possible by shipping off their trash to be recycled, burned, or dumped in nature in poor countries.
I also explore the limitations of for-profit recycling in a world in which newly-produced plastic is only getting cheaper and cheaper, arguing for far-reaching intervention to supercede the profit motive and stop the endless flow of toxic waste into the natural world. Read the full piece in Hebrew >>
I highly recommend the investigative report on plastic recycling by the Intercept (in English), which was a central source for this piece.