AmericanChemistry

Reflections

As this blog draws to a close, I’m reminded how complicated technology can be, and how - as a consumer - I don’t want it to be complicated.  I just want to enjoy the benefits of someone else’s hard work.  For those who have never blogged before, like myself, the process was sometimes a bit of a challenge, but we all managed to get through it o.k.  At a minimum I hope that all the peole that asked me questions got the replies they were looking for.

I think recycling is much like the blogging process.  Its not as easy as we’d like it to be, but we need to keep at it.  Recycling is certainly worthwhile enough as an activity that we should keep trying until we get it right.  There’s a famous quote along those lines, but I can’t remember exactly how it goes.  But it’s kind of like teaching your baby to walk.  How long do you keep trying?  You keep trying until the baby can walk.  You might change your strategy if what you’re trying isn’t working, but you don’t give up.  Let’s take the same approach with recycling.  Let’s keep working at it until we are recycling everything we can.  We need to conserve the energy and raw materials and that need will only grow stronger as time goes by.

Another thing that has become obvious to me throughout the blog is that we all need to work together to achieve meaningful change.  No one can do it alone, and we certainly won’t make progress by blaming others for our collective failure.  Let’s continue the dialogue between industry segments and keep pushing forward.  Material suppliers, product manufacturers, retailers, municipalities, collection companies, recycling processers, and buyers of recycled materials are all important in expanding the scope and sustainability of our recycling efforts.  We each need to do our part to create a more robust recycling infrastructure.  My hope is that soon recycling will be like fastening your seat belt.  You know it’s the right thing to do, but it has become so natural that you don’t have to consciously think about to do it.  You just do it!

Tags: energy recovery, Plastics, Plastics Recycling, Recycled Plastics