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SOME of What They Don’t Tell You
SOME of What They Don’t Tell You
The Biggest Truth: Recycling Isn’t the Cure-All We’ve Been Sold
The Biggest Truth: Recycling Isn’t the Cure-All We’ve Been Sold
Recycling is often painted as the hero of the waste story — the clean, green fix for our consumer guilt. But the truth is that it’s more like a band-aid on a broken system.
For decades, we’ve been told that if we just recycle better then the planet will be fine, making this problem sound like it's our fault. But that narrative was built by the same industries producing all the stuff in the first place.
Recycling was never meant to solve overproduction — it was meant to delay the fallout.
Only a small fraction of materials (mainly metals, glass, and some hard plastics) actually get turned into something new.
The rest are typically downcycled into lower-quality products, which will not be recyclable the second time around, or shipped overseas to become someone else’s problem.
Meanwhile, the waste stream keeps growing, and the systems that handle it are stretched way too thin, and breaking.
And one of this biggest issues: Just because it can be recycled doesn't mean is is currently being recycled in your city - so you can do all the right things and it still ends up in the landfill.
The Systems Behind the Bin
The Systems Behind the Bin
When we toss something into the blue bin, it enters a system that’s already overwhelmed:
Sorting plants can only process what’s clean and correctly categorized.
Markets for recycled materials rise and fall — if it’s not profitable to recycle something, it usually won’t be.
Exporting waste to other countries has been the “solution” for decades — but bans and environmental crises have exposed the flaw in that model.
Recycling relieves pressure on landfills, yes — but it doesn’t stop the flood. It’s like bailing water out of a sinking boat without fixing the leak.
The deeper problem isn’t that we recycle wrong — it’s that we produce and consume too much in the first place.
So What Can We Actually Do?
So What Can We Actually Do?
Recycling isn’t useless. It’s just only one tool in the toolbox — but it’s not the jack hammer we thought it was.
Real impact happens before the bin:
Refuse and reduce what doesn’t serve you.
Reuse and repair what already exists.
Rethink and redesign how we consume, share, and create.
When we take that pressure off the recycling system, we give space for new systems — like upcycling, reuse programs, refill stations, and creative innovation — to take root.
This is the shift from 'recycling culture' to 'circular culture'.
It’s where art, education, and community step in to build something new.
Landfill Myths — and Where Trash Really Goes
Landfill Myths — and Where Trash Really Goes
Landfills aren’t designed to break down materials — they’re just designed to store them.
Out of sight does NOT mean gone. There is garbage in landfills form your great grandparents, and the garbage you leave now will likely be there long after your family line dies off.
Canada has more than 10,000 landfill sites, and many are nearing capacity.
When organic waste (like food) breaks down in landfills without oxygen, it releases methane, a greenhouse gas 25x more powerful than CO₂.
And plastic never “goes away.” It breaks into microplastics, contaminating soil, rivers, animals who have never been near a human, our own food chain, and even your actual bones and brain right this second!
Landfills are a stopgap, not a solution. Real change starts before the bin.
Be Careful with Your Plastics: The Truth About Recycling Symbols
Be Careful with Your Plastics: The Truth About Recycling Symbols
Those little triangles don't mean they are recyclable - The number just tells us what type of plastic it is.
#1 PET: Most commonly accepted (water bottles, food containers).
#2 HDPE: Widely recyclable (milk jugs, detergent bottles).
#3 PVC: Rarely recyclable — avoid when possible.
#4 LDPE: Grocery bags, films — sometimes recyclable via special drop-offs.
#5 PP: Yogurt cups, straws — often recyclable, but check local rules.
#6 PS: Styrofoam — basically never recyclable curbside.
#7 Other: Mixed materials or bioplastics — not accepted in most systems.
💚 Help Support Our Work 💚
💚 Help Support Our Work 💚
Your donation helps us reduce waste, create community resources, build tools for educators, and expand accessible environmental education.
E-transfer a donation to:
donate@therecyclingproject.ca
Thank you for fueling a future with less waste and more creativity.
The Recycling Project is a social enterprise. Donations are not tax-deductible but directly fund community education and impact programs.
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