Waste Services: Why They Must Be Part of the Solution

Where will the thing you’re about to buy go when you're done with it?

Will it return to the Earth as composted soil? Will it actually be recycled into a new product? Will it sit, sealed in a landfill for centuries? Or will it blow into the wind, clog a storm drain, or end up swirling in our waterways?

These aren’t rhetorical questions—they’re crucial ones. Yet most of us don’t ask them because, frankly, we’ve been taught not to.

Out of Sight, Out of Mind

As consumers, we have very little control over what happens to items at the end of their life. And because we can’t see the full process, we default to a kind of cultural wishful thinking.

Nowhere is that more evident than in recycling.

We tend to say an item is “recycled” the moment we toss it in the bin. But that's not accurate—and it's a big part of why our waste systems are broken.

Here’s what really happens:

• A truck picks up your recyclables.

• It delivers them to a Materials Recovery Facility (MRF).

• The MRF sorts through the mess. The items that can’t be recycled (yes, including many we think can) are sent to a landfill.

• The truly recyclable materials are baled and sold to manufacturers.

• Only once a new product is made from those materials is the item actually recycled.

So let's be clear: Something is not recycled until it's made into something new.

We need to change our vocabulary—and fast. This shift in language and understanding, especially among children, is critical if we want a cleaner, more sustainable future.

Recycling Isn’t Free—Or Easy

Even when an item can be recycled, the process itself is resource-intensive:

• Plastics must be ground into tiny pieces called nurdles.

• Glass and metal are crushed or shredded and melted.

• Paper is soaked and pulped before reuse.

All of this requires machinery, energy, and people—none of it happens by magic. That’s why buying fewer things and making less waste in the first place is always the best option.

Understanding the Waste Hierarchy

There’s a helpful framework called the waste hierarchy, which lays out the best options for dealing with waste:

1. Prevention – Don’t create waste at all.

2. Reduction – Use less and reuse more.

3. Recycling/Composting – Turn it into something useful.

4. Landfilling – Store it safely.

5. Dumping – The worst option. Sadly, also the most common.

We should aim to minimize landfilling and eliminate unmanaged dumping entirely. But first, we need to acknowledge how much of our recycling doesn’t actually get recycled—and sometimes ends up dumped into natural ecosystems overseas.

The Global Problem of "Recycled" Waste

For years, the U.S. shipped the majority of its plastic recycling to China, India, Malaysia, and Indonesia. These countries didn’t have the infrastructure or regulations to process our waste properly. Much of it ended up in unregulated dumps, burned in open air, or washed into rivers and oceans.

It took us years to realize this was happening. Why? Because as soon as we tossed a bottle in the blue bin, we believed it was someone else’s responsibility.

As a wastewater engineer, I’ve always believed we should study what we try to throw away. The truth is, there is no "away."

So What’s the Solution?

From where I stand, the answer is clear: Waste services must be part of the solution, not just the end of the line.

We need to:

• Support local MRFs with better sorting technology.

• Incentivize manufacturers to buy post-consumer waste and make new products from it.

• Hold companies accountable for the full life cycle of their packaging.

• Explore landfill mining—yes, really. People around the world already do this out of necessity. We can do it with intention.

And most importantly, we must tell children the truth.

Let’s teach the next generation that recycling is a process, not a magic bin. Let’s empower them with the knowledge to ask better questions, design better systems, and demand real solutions.

Because when we see waste for what it really is—a shared responsibility—we start to realize that everyone, from policymakers to product designers to kids in classrooms, has a role to play.

And that means there’s hope.

Curious how to talk to your students or community about the real story of recycling? Stay tuned for a free resource guide I’m developing for schools and families.