Global waste recycling rate falls for eighth year in a row - study
Kyiv • UNN
Global recycling rates are not keeping pace with consumption levels. Only 6.9% of materials come from recycled sources, and this share has been falling for the eighth year in a row.
The consequences of pollution are becoming increasingly serious: relentless consumption against the background of the desire for economic growth leads to the fact that society generates an excessive amount of waste.
UNN reports with reference to The Guardian.
Details
Global recycling rates are not keeping pace with the culture of consumerism.
Researchers from the Circle Economy think tank warn - only 6.9% of the 106 billion tons of materials used annually by the world economy come from recycled sources. This is 2,% points less than in 2015.
According to experts, consumption is growing faster than the world's population.
Society produces more waste than recycling systems can handle. The share of recycled materials returning to supply chains has been falling for the eighth year in a row
But even if all recyclable goods were sent to this process, many goods are simply too difficult or expensive to recycle.
Even in an ideal world, we cannot solve the triple planetary crisis with simple waste recycling.
Therefore, consumption must be reduced to overcome the growing global waste crisis.
Systemic changes require fundamental changes. This is unlocking the circular potential of assets such as buildings and infrastructure, sustainable biomass management and ending the sending of completely renewable materials to landfills.
Addition
Many consumers can confirm that recycling rates have increased in recent years. From 2018 to 2021, the use of recycled materials in production also increased by 200 million tons.
But this growth outpaced the growth in the use of primary materials, the researchers found.
Global raw material extraction has more than tripled in the last half century, recently reaching 100 billion tons per year - and this figure is expected to grow by another 60% by 2060 unless action is taken.
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