Reduction, reuse and recycling are different concepts, however, they go hand in hand, they all have a common intention and objective, to combat the environmental problem that currently exists due to a large number of plastics present in the garbage worldwide.
Beginning of the problem: Reduction, reuse and recycling
When they began to study and practice all the uses that oil had, it quickly positioned itself as one of the most prized raw materials at the international level due to the infinite number of applications it has.
In the case of the packaging industry, metal and glass were mainly used to keep food and beverages, however, the development of different plastics facilitated this industry, adding to its use for household items, car parts, pipes, plastic bags, and more.
It is clear that all these items made life easier in many aspects, however, they brought with them a serious pollution problem, there was no knowledge and awareness that its excessive use would cause waste to exceed the deposits and how it could be treated.
How to deal with the problem?
Abatement
The first way it can be dealt with has to do with reducing its use as much as possible. We need to ask ourselves in which cases the different types of plastic are really necessary if there is a possibility of substituting them for another material that is more environmentally friendly and just as safe.
Reuse
If it has already been decided that the use of certain plastic material is necessary, the option we have is to give it another opportunity by using it in another way, to take advantage of the energy and material costs already incurred in its production.
Recycling
This is another way in which we contribute to the environment, however, it is a process that requires first of all the collaboration of consumers, those materials that cannot be reused must be separated properly according to the type of raw material used. Plastics are generally marked to differentiate them and thus facilitate recycling in this industry.