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I have lost count on the number of times someone tells me that recycling is a hoax or it’s a government-lie to make the people feel that they are doing good.
Interestingly, this myth has been heard and retold in many different countries! But is that true? Let’s look at some of the most common misconceptions about recycling.
Myth #1: All recycling goes into Landfill.
Fact: Our trash does get recycled! They may eventually go into landfill due to other reasons such as contamination or when mixed with hazardous materials. Here’s a comparison in our waste flows between the National Waste Report 20181 and National Waste Report 20202.
Image credits to Figure 7 of the National Waste Report (2018)1
Image credits to Figure 7 of the National Waste Report (2020)2
In the National Waste report 2018, the recycling rate for 2016-2017 was 58%1 of waste while in 2018-2019, this same rate became 60%2. This improvement occurred despite the increase of public’s perception that recycling goes into landfill which was 21% in 2018 and grew to 36% in 2019. A correspondingly depressing trend was seen by people believing that our trash gets recycled which declined from 42% in 2018 to 33% in 2019.
To summarize, less people believed that our trash was recycled and more people believed that it went to landfill but our overall recycling rate increased 2%. Does that mean that if more people believed that recycling is happening, an even higher recycling rate would occur?
Myth #2: It doesn’t matter if I just throw my food in the red landfill bin, it will compost there instead.
Fact: While organic food waste can technically decompose (not composting – they are 2 different processes!) in the landfill, it does not get ‘returned’ to the soil or re-used to generate products that improve soil quality if it is not composted appropriately2.
In 2018-19, 85% of non-hazardous food waste from households and commercial/industrial sources was deposited in landfill and only 14% was composted2!!!
Myth #3: All hard plastics can be recycled in the Yellow Kerbside bins and soft plastics in the REDcycle collection points.
Fact: Unfortunately, this is not true. Technically, recyclable soft plastics should have either the ARL label or the REDcycle label before it is deemed suitable for store drop-off. Similarly, recyclable hard plastics have been recommended to only be recycled when they have the ARL label printed on them. However, this is not the rule. It is important to note that the materials for recycling are different in every state. For example, plastic meat (excluding black colored ones – that’s a tale for another time) trays are not kerbside recyclable in WA and should be thrown into landfill while it is recyclable in NSW. When in doubt, refer to your council’s A-Z list of recyclable items.
Myth #4: My only contribution to reducing waste is through recycling.
Fact: Whilst recycling is important, other actions that we can contribution to reduce our own waste generation are probably more important than just simply recycling.
If we could reuse as much as we can, reduce our waste by avoid buying surpluses or excess groceries (and then having them turn bad) and to support products made from recycled materials or products with the Australasian Recycling Label (arl.org.au) – as that means that the products have been assessed in its recyclability, these would surely create a cumulative impact.
Have you heard of other recycling myths? Tell me about them in the comments below or let me know what you think about these myths.
Additional Resources:
1National Waste Report 2018 (dcceew.gov.au)
2National Waste Report 2020 (dcceew.gov.au)
EcoLivingDaily 
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