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The Sustainability Illusion Versus the Recycling Renaissance - A Discussion

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Automotive Recycling, Plastics, and Sustainability

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Abstract

Are we even in theory on the right path? The results obtained for this book turned out to be highly controversial, especially when comparing theory with reality. Therefore, an extensive discussion provides an analysis of patterns, exceptions, relationships, and the generalisation of results. In fact, how significant are the results? What do we now understand with the results? And do they (dis-)agree with previous works? When considering the theories discussed in Chap. 2, such as human ecology, eco-efficiency and eco-effectiveness, resource and impact decoupling, as well as corporate sustainability, it becomes clear that these notions offer valuable strategies to improve sustainability in the economic world. However, the results from Chaps. 3 and 4 show that these theories still remain mostly theories. Many companies know in theory how to apply sustainability, Ecodesign, however you might call it. However, many of them incorporate sustainability not as a vision, but as a way to achieve compliance with the law. This is now unravelled in a discussion of a possible sustainability illusion followed by an investigation of the chance of a recycling renaissance, and whether this is the right path for the automotive plastics production and recycling system.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    For this analysis the following term without was used: “recycling + Recycling + RECYCLING”.

  2. 2.

    For this analysis the following term without was used: “(plastics recycling) + (Plastics Recycling) + (Plastics recycling) + (PLASTICS RECYCLING) + (plastic recycling) + (Plastic Recycling) + (Plastic recycling)”.

  3. 3.

    “The base scenario, for which a degree of virgin plastic displaced by recycled plastic of 100% is assumed, is compared to a scenario in which only 20% of the recyclate replaces virgin plastic (the remainder being evenly split between substituting for concrete and wood)”. (Jean-Charles et al. 2010, p. 50).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Graz, Graz/Linz, Austria

    David Schönmayr (PhD)

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  1. David Schönmayr
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Correspondence to David Schönmayr .

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Schönmayr, D. (2017). The Sustainability Illusion Versus the Recycling Renaissance - A Discussion. In: Automotive Recycling, Plastics, and Sustainability. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-57400-4_7

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