Part 4: The Greenwashing Recycling Scam
Every goal must have a planned course of action and a way to measure the impact of our actions in order to confirm it has been achieved. And when it comes to sustainability and climate change, we do not have any time to waste on subpar strategies. Despite this, businesses have opted to lean into “greenwashing” strategies that depend on recycling, falsely selling it as a fix-all solution.
Despite the environmentally friendly marketing on the packaging of various food wrappers and household items, the impact of “eco-friendly”, “green”, and “recyclable” items is dishearteningly negligible. Many of these items are impossible to reuse or refill, and they are very rarely recycled. In 2022, research from the Changing Markets Foundation found that almost 60% of sustainability claims by 12 major UK brands were either unsubstantiated or misleading. However, these brands used buzzwords to get environmentally conscious consumers’ attention and money.
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Carefully crafted marketing gives consumers the illusion of a greener, more environmentally conscious choice. Despite this, the products being sold rely heavily on smaller amounts of cheap single-use plastic or combinations and derivatives that cannot be processed and recycled because they contain mixed materials or metal components. These products include juice and coffee cartons made of bonded layers of thin paperboard,
polythene plastic, and aluminium foil that cannot be easily separated and recycled.
The goal is therefore killed by policies that focus on recycling and end-of-life plastic solutions before it ever has a chance to be achieved. This allows businesses and producers to continue their original practices and manufacturing processes without making a meaningful change.
Alternatively, producers could tackle the issue of plastic pollution during production by using sustainable and innovative materials, sustainably sourcing energy and raw materials, and opposing lobbying by big oil companies who want to increase plastic sales to make a bigger profit.
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For more information contact: info@scarabtrust.org.uk
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