It feels difficult to reduce your waste when you go to the shops and everything seems to be individually wrapped in plastic. Recycling was once an important part of the waste hierarchy, helping keep resources from landfill, but Australia is experiencing a recycling crisis as countries that once took our recycling waste are now refusing it. With China enforcing tight restrictions around the types of recyclable waste they will accept, and India and Indonesia following in their footsteps, a lot of our recycling is being sent to landfill despite our best efforts.
Most plastics are down-cycled, meaning they can only be turned into one more item before eventually going to landfill. Moving away from plastic altogether is the preferred option. Buying less, and using more of what you have might seem like old-fashioned notions, but in this modern world they may be exactly what we need on our journey to reducing plastic and creating less waste. You may not be ready to have all your rubbish for one year fit into a small jar, but there are lots of simple and easy solutions to start reducing waste in your life.