Another great post. A big part of my pessimism for things like the "circular economy", when it comes to plastics, is that while the economy for materials (constituent atoms) can be forced into 'circularity', the energy required to 'circularize' will not itself be 'circular', and the problem will always be far worse than with inorganics (metal, glass).
It's always going to take a lot of energy to recycle plastic, whether by physical or chemical means.
In the end I keep coming back to the "three R's approach" where reduction comes before reuse, which in turn comes before recycling. Recycling should be the last option, and as you mention, if we continue down the path of complex packaging (multi-material, lots of layers, etc.) then it might not even *be* an option.
Another great post. A big part of my pessimism for things like the "circular economy", when it comes to plastics, is that while the economy for materials (constituent atoms) can be forced into 'circularity', the energy required to 'circularize' will not itself be 'circular', and the problem will always be far worse than with inorganics (metal, glass).
It's always going to take a lot of energy to recycle plastic, whether by physical or chemical means.
In the end I keep coming back to the "three R's approach" where reduction comes before reuse, which in turn comes before recycling. Recycling should be the last option, and as you mention, if we continue down the path of complex packaging (multi-material, lots of layers, etc.) then it might not even *be* an option.