Recent numbers show that an average of 63 kg of plastic waste is generated per person per year. Only 8% is recycled, the rest is dumped or incinerated. Like it or not, plastic has become an everyday essential and as our reliance on it grows, so does the problem of plastic pollution.
The largest use of plastics is the packaging industry, followed by construction and automotive. A major reason for the large amount of plastic waste is that many products in these industries were not designed to be recycled.
Fortunately, there are positive developments to reduce the pile of plastic waste and to get the recycling percentage up:
1. More products are being developed that contain so-called mono-materials, that is, they contain plastic parts that are made of a single type of material. These products are more easily separable or have less labelling making it easier to recycle them.
2. Addition of digital watermarking to plastic products. The watermarking contains the composition of the plastic product making it easier to sort the materials more precisely.
3. Other technologies can break down plastic products to the molecular building blocks making them more attractive for reuse.
Tackling plastic waste demands smarter design and better recycling technologies. If you're working on a solution and want to protect it, let's get in touch.