Don't be fooled by the term "recyclable"! The reality of recycling extends far beyond the composition of an item...For a material to be recycled, it must be economically feasible to do so. This means that everyone in the supply chain needs to make a profit, making recycling efforts worthwhile to them.Many materials are "recyclable in theory," which means that they can be recycled under the right conditions. However, these conditions often don't exist in practice or in the local context.This is similar to the claim you often see in Singapore that a material is “compostable” and yet there are no local composting facilities. So, in practice, compostable materials will be incinerated.<h3>So, what are the key considerations?</h3>Several factors determine the feasibility of recycling a material:<ul><li>Infrastructure: The existence of a local system to collect, sort, and sell the waste material. The recyclability of materials varies depending on where you live in the world.</li><li>Volume: The amount of material must be sufficient to justify the effort and cost of transportation and processing.</li><li>Quality: The sorted and baled plastic must meet certain purity standards. Recycling companies prefer bales of plastic that consist of 100% of a specific type of plastic (e.g., HDPE, PET, PP). However, some tolerance for impurities is usually allowed. If a plastic is difficult to sort, it becomes challenging to meet the purity requirements of recycling companies.</li><li>Cost of processing: The infrastructure costs associated with transportation, sorting, and baling must be low enough to be covered by the profit from selling the recycled material. This includes fixed costs like rental of premises and machinery expenses.*</li><li>Cost of delivery: The buyer of the waste material must consider the freight charges involved in transporting the waste plastic to their facilities. Since most recycling of Singapore's waste happens overseas, delivery costs become a significant consideration.</li></ul><h3>The challenge in Singapore</h3>The plastic sorting process at Material Recovery Facilities is manual, and state-of-the-art sorting technology is not employed. As a result, achieving high purity levels for most types of plastics is challenging.Some plastics are relatively easy to sort, such as PET water bottles and white HDPE milk bottles. These can be quickly identified and manually sorted with high levels of purity.However, other plastics pose more significant challenges. Bales of thin plastic films, food containers, or colored bottles tend to have lower levels of purity.It's important to note that this situation is different in an industrial setting, where large volumes of 100% pure plastic waste are more easily generated and valuable to recyclers.<h3>Why not invest in better sorting technology?</h3>While it is true that investing in better sorting technology would likely improve the purity of baled waste plastic, the cost-benefit analysis may not justify such an investment. It's important to remember that waste plastic holds very low value so the gains from improved sorting have to be significant.Take this purely hypothetic scenario. If it were to cost, say, $20 million to acquire the latest and greatest machines for automatic waste sorting, but the resulting increase in recycled plastic over the next 10 years was only estimated to be worth $10 million, the financial viability of the investment would be questionable.&nbsp;Additionally, in this scenario, the carbon gains from recycling more plastic instead of incineration may not offset the substantial carbon footprint generated by the new machinery.The decision to invest in better technology for sorting consumer waste is not a straightforward one and demands thorough analysis.&nbsp;<h3>Alternative recycling labels: The UK Example</h3>You may have come across products from the UK that feature these more "honest" labels.&nbsp;<figure class="image"><img src="https://cdn.recyclopedia.sg/strapi-assets/london_recycling_a96f3bd07c.jpg" alt="UK Recycling Labels"></figure>Instead of using vague terms like "recyclable," they indicate the likelihood of a material being recycled and encourage you to check with your local municipality.The example above refers to three materials—a cardboard sleeve, a metal tray, and a plastic film. Technically, all of them could be called "recyclable." In fact, a producer could claim that they are "100% recyclable!!"&nbsp;However, these labels make it clear that, in practice, only one of the three is widely recycled, one might be recycled depending on your local recycling system, and the third one is destined for the trash.Another variation also lets you know that something should be rinsed…<figure class="image"><img src="https://cdn.recyclopedia.sg/strapi-assets/uk_symbols_2_c939f94e7d.png" alt="UK Recycling Labels Alternative"></figure>Isn't that awesome? Let's hope we see more of this kind of information available to consumers.___* Note: In Singapore, the cost of sorting recyclables in blue bins is partially subsidized by the Public Waste Collectors. As part of their contract with NEA to collect waste, they are obligated to provide collection and sorting services for recyclables. While these services may incur losses, they are considered an acceptable cost within the overall profitability of the NEA contract. However, if the collection and sorting of public recyclables were a standalone business, it would likely be economically unfeasible. This is evident from the practices of independent operators like the Karung Guni, who selectively deal with high-value waste materials such as paper, cardboard, and metals, while avoiding loss makers like glass and plastic.

Technically Recyclable does not mean Actually Recycled

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Recyclable does not mean Recycled

PET also known as plastic #1 is recyclable. Meaning, technically, it can be recycled.In fact, in many places, <a href="https://www.icis.com/explore/resources/news/2021/11/17/10706371/asian-r-pet-demand-outpaces-supply-on-feedstock-shortage/">there is a shortage</a> of PET plastic waste. There is just not enough waste PET feedstock to meet demand by recycling companies.And yet, your PET cup will not get recycled.You can clean it. You can dry it. You can lovingly place it in a recycling bin.It still won't get recycled.&nbsp;Why?&nbsp;Take a look at the photo above. The cup on the left is made of PLA (Polylactic acid) and the one on the right is PET (Polyethylene terephthalate).&nbsp;Wait maybe it is the other way around. Is it PLA on the right? Who can tell?Oh here's another cup: this one is PP (Polypropylene)<figure class="image image_resized" style="width:50%;"><img src="https://cdn.recyclopedia.sg/strapi-assets/pp_cup_b272eb9338.jpg" alt="PP Cup"></figure><h3>Eeny, meeny, miny, moe…</h3>PET is recyclable. PP is recyclable. PLA is not recyclable.&nbsp;Mixed plastic waste is not recyclable.So you see the problem: you can literally see it.&nbsp;How can a worker distinguish one plastic from another as it whizzes by on a conveyer belt at the sorting center (aka <a href="/resources/mrf">MRF</a>)?Sorting plastic cups to high levels of purity by plastic type is an impossible task. <span style="background-color:rgb(255,255,255);color:rgba(0,0,0,0.9);font-family:-apple-system, system-ui, BlinkMacSystemFont, &quot;Segoe UI&quot;, Roboto, &quot;Helvetica Neue&quot;, &quot;Fira Sans&quot;, Ubuntu, Oxygen, &quot;Oxygen Sans&quot;, Cantarell, &quot;Droid Sans&quot;, &quot;Apple Color Emoji&quot;, &quot;Segoe UI Emoji&quot;, &quot;Segoe UI Emoji&quot;, &quot;Segoe UI Symbol&quot;, &quot;Lucida Grande&quot;, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif;">So the cups are not picked up for bailing.&nbsp;This is unlike disposable water bottles which are easy to identify.<figure class="image image_resized" style="width:50%;"><img src="https://recyclopedia.ap-south-1.linodeobjects.com/strapi-assets/Clear_plastic_bottle_2dc92dc39c.png" alt="Clear-plastic-bottle.png"></figure>Such bottles are always made of PET. And because of this certainty, they have a relatively high recycling rate. Workers can see at a glance what this bottle is made of. There is no worry of mixing them up with other types of plastic.Therein lies one of the major hurdles to actually recycling recyclable plastics: it is technically challenging to sort them.Unfortunately there are very few disposable “post-consumer” plastic items where:<ol style="list-style-type:decimal;"><li>it is easy to identify the material it is made of,&nbsp;</li><li>that material is recyclable, and&nbsp;</li><li>that material is in demand and can be sold to a recycler.</li></ol>The most common ones that meet all these criteria include:<ul><li>PET disposable water bottles</li><li>HDPE milk containers</li><li>HDPE detergent containers</li><li>LDPE bubble paper</li></ul>Plastic cups are not on the list… Neither are most types of plastic containers and disposable tableware.Ultimately, whether a recyclable item gets recycled comes down to its shape: can you determine what it is made of at a glance?So sorry. It's not your fault. Your plastic cup will not be recycled.Your best bet is to avoid single use plastic cups in the first place.PS: In the first photo, the PLA cup is, in fact, on the left.

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Why your PET cup won't get recycled

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Delivery cold bags are not recyclable in Singapore but can be resused

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Delivery Cold Bags

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Paper Plates, Cups & Bowls

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Bagasse Tableware and Containers

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Ice Pack

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Plastic cutlery

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Disposable Chopsticks

Plastic Tableware Made Out Of Bioplastic Are Not Recyclable

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Biodegradable plastic

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Paper Cup Sleeve

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