Episode 1

Australia has a complex recycling management system, with issues of distrust due to failed recycling initiatives like the Red Cycle. E-waste recycling is good, but overall, Australia lacks a proper recycling system, especially in remote areas. Germany and Hong Kong have effective recycling laws. Plastic is a double-edged sword, providing benefits but also causing harm. In Australia, laziness, lack of education, and limited laws contribute to the problem. Germany and other countries have better plastic management systems with laws and regulations in place. The use of wax worms in China to eat plastic is a promising solution, but multiple strategies are needed to combat plastic waste. Other countries like Sweden, Germany, and Japan have better waste management systems and specific bins for different materials. Australia needs to improve its management system to address the global issue of plastic waste and climate change. Hello, welcome to the Julian Podcast. Today's guest is fellow student Raphael Arruzza, and we will be talking about the problem of plastic around the world. How do you think Australia suffers from recycling management? I mean, Julian, today in Australia, we have quite a complex system around management in general, especially recycling. There's been a whole dilemma with Kohl's, for instance, with their whole recycling thing. Like the red cycle. Yeah, the red cycle, exactly. And that caused a whole issue, because they said there was going to recycle, but they didn't. So there's a lot of distrust in our community with recycling management, because of systems like that. But then we also have a couple of perks when it comes to recycling. For instance, our e-waste system in Australia is quite good. It goes through, it recycles everything and makes sure the dust doesn't go into the air, which can contribute to local wildlife getting hurt and so on. It just has a trickle-down effect. But in Australia, the thing we suffer from the most, I would say, when it comes to recycling management, it's probably that we actually just don't really have a system. We had the Kohl's thing, like I mentioned before, but that's no longer in place for normal Aussies. And especially for Aussies in more remote areas, they don't really have the access. So it's a bit like, what do you do? I mean, the Woolworths thing, where they recycle plastic bottles. Yeah, that's true. And there's also, they're trying to, but... Yeah, yeah, yeah. There's those two. And then, apart from that though, there's not much in Australia right now for all management systems. But it needs to be improved, definitely. Yeah, for sure. Like, for example, in Hong Kong, I went to Hong Kong during a holiday, and they had this rubbish trawler. So they put a law in place. So if you have to chuck a rubbish bag, you would have to pay a certain amount of money for it. Yeah. Places like Germany also have that type of thing, which is good. If you compare, for instance, Australia to other countries, such as Germany, it's been rated one of the most clean places in the world. And that's because they only have all these laws and policies in place. I think that's something we need to work on as a community and just as a whole in Australia. So over time, we'll get there. But there needs to be a lot more, I think, support and backbone to really try to push it. Like, government has to push it out. Yeah, they really need to try to push that. And they're not doing that too well right now. But I reckon in the next following years, as climate change and etc. gets worse, there will really be a dramatic change in how we look at it. Because when it comes to distinct climate change, for instance, everyone's mindset is very different. Everyone has different views on it because of different generations and different perspectives. So it just depends. But in Australia, I just think it would take some time to try to improve our management system because right now, it's not the best. We just need an actual system. I mean, it says it in the name. We need a management system, not just something that is kind of like management, but not really. So yeah, to answer your question, that's my look at it. I've got another question. Why do you think we have this issue in Australia? I don't think we can narrow it down to just Australia. Like, this is an overall, it's a thing overall in the world. Plastic is a dominant thing. It's probably one of the best and worst creations of mankind in general. Because it's given us a lot, but it's also taken away a lot. It's like a double-edged sword. Exactly. It's like a double-edged sword. We can't, we don't really know what would happen because it's really supported us, but it's also done a lot to us. So, you know, it can just depend. But when it comes to in Australia in particular, I think we just have this issue because people are kind of lazy when it comes to recycling. Like some people are really good at it, but then there's others that aren't. And then there's also not much laws in place. I don't feel like everyone has an education. Like there's, you know, of course there's advertising, but I feel like the government doesn't push as much, you know. I don't want to throw my grandma under the bus. Like, she's going to not recycle at all. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. But the thing is, like, those are the older generations, you know, they've kind of, they're just kind of here right now. And then it's just like, you know, my generation isn't the cause of this. But realistically, they are part of it because, you know, they're the ones who invented plastic, et cetera. But they don't want to deal with the issues. And then they put it on to our parents. And then our parents have also kind of put it on to us. It's like a trickle down thing there as well. Yeah, it all kind of changes. Exactly. It just depends, you know. For Australia with the issue, though, we just need some more management and we need some more rules in place, I feel, for people to follow. Because I don't feel like there's enough, I guess, discipline with it, you could say. Because if you look in Germany, like I said earlier, they have laws around that. You know, we only have littering right now. You're caught littering. And that's it. It's like, you compare it to the European countries that have established things, and you can really see a dramatic difference in how we've dealt with it compared to other countries. Uh-huh. There was like an invention you were talking about the other day. Was it in China, you said? Oh, oh. In China, right, there's these worms there. Basically, it's called a wax worm. Wax worms, they have the ability to eat certain types of plastic. And that's been found over that was found last year. But in China, they have found a way to get the protein out of the worm that basically causes it to be able to digest it. And there's like different methods that we'll go through later on, maybe, about how the thinking of implementing these type of worms, for instance, to deal with some of the plastic issues in, you know, just the world in general. Oh, yeah. It's a pretty cool thought. But, yeah. Who thought worms could eat plastic? It sounds completely nuts. Like, if you told me that, you know, a year or two ago, I would have looked at you like you're insane. So, yeah. But, you know, if you want to do some research, there's tons of links and stuff I can give you to it. So, yeah. Really interesting. Some universities have done studies on it recently. Oh, for geography, we did an assignment on plastic management. I'm pretty sure one of the countries were like Sweden. They had like really good recycling. Yeah, they do. You know, with those type of systems, it has to, there's a lot of things that you need to kind of keep in mind. Because places like Sweden, Germany, etc., they just kind of, they have a lot of methods they're using. The worm thing I was telling you about, you know, that's kind of more of an up and coming thing, I feel. And, you know, that could help in solving a couple types of plastic. It can't solve the whole thing, though. Because plastic as a whole, in Australia and every country, it's a big deal. And it has to do with multiple strategies in order to actually combat it and face it, I feel. But that's just my take on it, personally. So, yeah. Is there a way you think other countries deal with plastic better than us? Or are we just talking about that? Oh, yeah, I can probably expand on that for you for a bit. When it comes to our management system, right, and plastic in general with Australia, it's just, we, you know, Kohl's and etc., the big companies that everyone talks about, they have plastic, but, you know, the bags, the reusable ones. But then again, how many people actually reuse those? A lot of people just, I feel like, buy them and then just throw them out the next day or the next week. Like a few years ago, they implemented the pay for those, but nothing really happened with them. No, people just kind of pay for it and maybe reuse it a couple of times. But, you know, eventually, yeah, exactly. In places like Germany, for instance, just with garbage bags, they have rules around garbage bags. And even in, I think it is, let me try to remember real quick. I believe it has to do with Japan. They have a rule where you can't, like, they charge you a lot of money. Oh, wait, no, it's Switzerland. They charge you a lot of money for actual garbage bags. You can't buy them unless it's for a really high price, which is quite a good way to do it. Because, you know, people, at the end of the day, it just kind of comes down to the psychology of people with that type of stuff as well. You know, you don't want to spend more money with people. They just want to spend, you know, the fifth amount they can, and that's kind of it. So it's a very small tactic they did there. But, you know, I think there's a ton of countries that are doing better than us when it comes to their management systems with waste and just with plastic, et cetera. There's a lot of strategies implemented by European countries that we've said in the podcast already a bit. But, yeah, there's a large variety. Also in Japan, they have like a multiple bins, and they're all labeled, really specifically. What are these? In Nigeria, I guess. Yeah. For glass, they have their own bins. For newspaper, they have their own bins. And for cardboard. Australia really needs to have more bins, I guess. Yeah. I feel like Australia overall with our system, it just kind of needs to up its game to most of the rest of the world in order to keep up with the whole issue of global warming, especially. Because that's becoming a major front right now, and it will probably play a critical role in the next two to three years, I would say, and probably to 2030, actually. But, yeah, we'll see what happens with that. Did you have any more questions? Yeah, I did. Do you think the new method of unsolving Australia's world of plastic problems will work? I mean, no, no, no, no. Do you think Australia has new methods for solving new plastic problems? I think Australia does. I hate it when your tongue gets tied when you're trying to say something. It's so annoying. But, yeah, no, with Australia, and just the world, did you say the world there, or was it a bin? Yeah, the world. Okay, okay. No, it's all good. It's all good. I thought you were trying to say it, but you just started For the world and Australia in general, the new method, like, you know, the wax world, which is completely insane, that's one method of looking at it. You know, there's also the methods of implementing new laws, seeing what policies can be put in place with those laws, like in certain local areas, especially in areas where plastic pollution is a lot worse. There's also the matter of looking at our oceans, because our oceans have a lot of plastic too. And I feel like it's also very looked at just as a land problem in Australia. But there's also the ocean, which is part of Australia around us. And there's new methods getting implemented there, such as the waste shop, which is a machine that actually eats the waste. And it doesn't produce any emissions, which is really cool. Yeah, there's tons of stuff on it. I'm pretty sure they're gonna miss the beast video on it, which is hilarious. But yeah. Yeah, it was. Yeah, it was that one. Now it's like one other new technology similar to the waste shop, but I don't know if there was the waste shop. But there's like those types of methods for cleaning the ocean. But then we've also got land methods, such as the wax worms, there's just like burning down or breaking down certain plastics with chemicals. There's a whole bunch of methods that are trying to be used to combat the whole plastic thing, which is very good. Because, you know, it's really kind of I feel like helping us expand how we look at the problem in general. Because right now, we're looking at the problem with I feel like a bit of a smaller lens than looking at the bigger picture in Australia, whilst the rest of the world is kind of looking at it as a bigger picture, I'd say, compared to But, you know, it's just going to take some time to get caught up to that. And also a conscious effort, I would say. I really think they need a more sustainable way. So having more engineers and more designers to create these new technologies that are really useful. Yeah, 100%. There's also probably more entrepreneurs and also just people. It's not just limited to engineers and designers, I feel, just kind of people in general, just need to be more open to creating new things with that. And also just maybe doing it, you know, just for engineers and that, you know, certain engineers will be able to create certain things and certain designers will be able to create certain things. It just depends. We all just need to make a conscious effort to try to work together in order to solve this problem. Yeah. I would say other countries are definitely doing better than us, 100%. I don't know for the slow part, though, because the thing is, right, we're definitely moving at a slow pace. We're getting there. But like I said before, I think it's going to take some time. But I think just it's definitely maybe a bit slow when it comes to the pace we're moving at. But in general, I wouldn't try to compare too much to the rest of the world when it comes to, like, the overall thing. Like, hey, you're doing really good, Japan, but Australia is going horribly. You know, Australia, you need to hurry up, man, because you also have to keep in mind economic factors, etc. So it's going to be a very slow change either way. But it just depends on how you look at it. Because it really depends on your perspective on how slow we are moving and what you would consider slow and then, you know, a decent pace. So that's just how I interpret the question. I bet you could ask someone else and they would say something completely different than me. It's like an exponential graph. Like, it keeps going upwards or, like, downwards, I guess. Yeah. Did you have any final questions before we wrap it up? Where do you see the future going with this issue of plastic and other similar issues? Oh, okay. That's a good question. With the future, with plastic especially and other issues revolving around it, I feel like it's going to be tricky. I'm not going to lie to try to solve it. But it's just going to take everyone a conscious effort in order to help solve it. Yeah. Like, it's just going to be a team effort to get there. It's going to need politicians to sign certain laws to help implement certain methods. We know we need petitions. There's a whole bunch of methods that will need to be implemented for us to really kind of see the world go in a really positive way for the next couple of years. Because we've really got to start turning to more green energy. For instance, with this energy crisis, there's a lot of – and with plastic, you know, and pollution in general, we need to find a way. Exactly. No, it's completely fine. I feel like, you know, that's definitely something that they need to do. So, to answer your question, I feel like we can make it go in a positive way, but it's going to take a lot of effort. But if we're willing to put in that effort, you know, that will definitely end up benefiting us in the long run as a society. But as a – I don't know. It's a slow – it's going to take a really long time, but if we can come together, we can do this 100%. Yeah. Yeah. It's a bit of a slow burn, but that's okay. But, you know, it can also go the opposite way with that. Just saying that as well, where we don't really make that effort, and then the problem could possibly get worse. But let's just try, as a society, to maybe just really focus in on the methods we could implement, just as, like, an individual. Don't try to look at it from a broad perspective on how we could help fix this. But that's my take on it. Yeah. Thank you for having me on the podcast. I really appreciate it. It's going to die really quickly, honestly. Yeah, it has. It has. Yeah. Thank you. Thank you so much. Well, we'll wrap up right here. Thank you, Raf, for being on this podcast. It's very nice having you. Of course. Of course. Anytime. Well, I'll see you in another episode, maybe. See ya. Bye. Bye.