A circular economy for plastics can’t exist without your help! 

 

The power of the consumer is what drives great change in the business environment, and consequently your day-to-day life and the world around you. 

 

The following consumer-focused tips, if practiced, will help you and encourage brand owners to use recycled materials in their packaging to close the loop on plastic packaging waste and further the movement towards a circular economy for plastics in which no plastic pollution is leaked into the environment. 

 

The first tip is to know what you can and can’t recycle. The best way to do this is to read up on your local area’s recycling rules to make sure everything you put in your recycling bin can be processed and doesn’t contaminate the recycling stream. For more information about what to recycle, visit our blog on the do’s and do not’s of recycling at https://www.rplanetearth.com/the-dos-and-do-nots-of-recycling/

 

The second, and arguably the most important tip for a conscious consumer to help make a difference, is to buy recycled. Recycling in its essence is the cyclical transfer of materials through the system, converting waste into useable materials and eliminating the need to extract more natural “virgin” materials from sources such as fossil fuels. To ensure the cycle or “loop” is closed, this means supporting both ends of the process. Recycling your products and then, in turn, buying products that contain recycled materials thereby ensuring you’ve done your part to close the loop. 

 

The third tip is to make sure your recycled (packaging) product will continue to support the circular economy for plastics . To do this, please remember to check that the brand owner is offering packaging that is 100% recyclable or otherwise it can contaminate the recycling stream of materials. This can negatively affect the yield recyclers/recycled material producers such as rPlanet Earth can achieve, in turn making the whole recycling process less efficient and creating unnecessary waste that is sent to landfill. 

 

By following these tips you will be actively contributing to a positive change that we all want to see in the world. Together we have the power to make a real difference towards a more sustainable future, in which there is zero plastic waste on our planet Earth!