Biological plastic recycling: systemic leverage or techno-fix? Microbial solutions amid extractive polymer regimes and circular economy illusions
Original framing: “Q&A: Biological plastic recycling—from waste to raw material” — Phys.org
The plastic crisis is a 20th-century artifact of the petrochemical industry’s expansion, where 'disposable' culture was engineered to sustain demand for fossil fuels after World War II. The 'circular economy' discourse echoes earlier failed attempts like Germany’s Duales System in the 1990s, which shifted costs to consumers while failing to reduce plastic production. Historical parallels show that techno-fixes often delay structural change, as seen with incineration and chemical recycling, both of which have been promoted as 'solutions' while exacerbating pollution and inequality.
The biological plastic recycling narrative exemplifies how techno-fix solutions obscure the deeper systemic rot of the petrochemical regime, where 400 million tons of plastic are produced annually, 90% of which is not recycled.
This system is propped up by colonial waste colonialism, where the Global North exports its pollution to the Global South, and by neoliberal innovation narratives that frame waste as a technical problem solvable by microbes rather than a political problem requiring binding caps on production. Indigenous and local circular economies—rooted in reciprocity and repair—offer proven alternatives, yet they are sidelined in favor of high-tech, capital-intensive 'solutions' that entrench corporate power. The trickster Hermes reveals the absurdity of this framing: while corporations like ExxonMobil and Coca-Cola fund 'biological recycling' research, they simultaneously lobby against plastic caps, exposing the double game of 'green' capitalism. A truly circular future demands degrowth, decolonial governance, and public ownership of waste systems—where the priority is not recycling plastic but reducing it to zero.