Dirty Business: Is the Recycling Industry Really What We Thought It Was?

Jacob Azzarello

100654931

Durham College

SCMT 3201
 Abstract

Introduced in the early 1970’s, the modern concept of recycling began and was adopted around

the globe. Ever since, the industry has encountered big changes such as adapting to the rapid

growth of the production of plastic as well as trying to minimize the waste countries produce.

The documentary has not only ethical goals but informative goals as well. The ethical goals show

the harsh reality of the recycling industry, including facts that prove the lack of effectiveness

people thought the industry held. Informative goals underscore the advantages as well as

disadvantages of current legislature put in place by the United Kingdom to increase the rate of

recycling. In order to handle the rapid growth of this industry as well as the environmental

impact, world leaders as well as manufactures need to develop and refine a clear set of guidelines

to continue to ensure that this process not only benefits the industry, but the environment as well.

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 Dirty Business is an informative documentary produced by Sky News that shows a deep

analysis of the recycling industry in the United Kingdom as well as around the world. The host

travels from his home in a small town located in the United Kingdom to China as well as other

countries to find out where our recycling ends up and how it is processed from point to point. On

his journey he spots challenges and discloses the ugly truth of what happens behind the scenes of

the global recycling industry. In today’s modern world it is surprising that a practice that people

thought was beneficial for the environment is actually something that is hurting countries’

economies and relationships. Overall, this is a well-produced documentary, and not only does it

highlight numerous issues in the United Kingdom, but it also highlights the global crisis of the

recycling industry. According to the documentary, “Of the staggering 22 million tons of

recyclable waste the U.K. collects in any given year, as little as 2% of it enjoys reprocessing.”

This leads the viewer to ask themselves the question “Is recycling as beneficial for the planet as

we thought it was?”

In the beginning of “Dirty Business” the host describes how he recycles in his household,

from plastic food containers to glass bottles. When he asked himself the question “Where does

this go?”, it sparked his interest in this once thought local effort. He then followed around the

local garbage collection and went to the facility where this garbage is then sorted. Here he

discovered an efficient and productive assembly line in the supply chain. As he continued to

research, he learned that beyond the local facility there is nothing but dysfunction and chaos. He

then learned that this garbage is not recycled in the United Kingdom, instead it is shipped in

massive containers to China as well as other countries around the globe via ships. What he found

in China was jaw dropping. Piles of garbage coming in by the container full from countries all

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around the world- “countries that don't want to deal with it in their own backyard.” This was the

Author’s first main point. He examined the process in China and learned that the majority of

recyclable goods coming into the country are not recyclable in the first place due to the fact that

they are covered in paper and/or are contaminated by other materials. This issue reached a point

of extremity, so much so that China had no choice but to put legislature in place to stop the mass

output of garbage to its facilities. With the halt of this buying process, shockwaves were sent

throughout the entire industry. According to an article written by Jackie Flynn Mogensen, China

had been buying nearly half of the United States plastic. However, since China was the main

receiver of this garbage, other countries in Europe are now receiving it instead. In addition to

other countries now receiving plastic, China is left in a position where they now have to ship out

the plastic it had received to other countries such as Thailand. Another aspect the documentary

touched on is the issue in the United Kingdom’s legislature that supports recycling on a global

level. There are initiatives put in place by the United Kingdom for companies that recycle. For

example, if a company recycles 100 percent of their waste they receive a larger subsidy than a

company that recycles 50 percent of their waste. As this may initially seem like a good idea,

there is a loophole that allows companies to receive more of an incentive when they send the

goods thousands of miles as opposed to recycling the products locally. This is because when

recyclable plastic sent away, it is seen as 100 percent recycled, whereas if it were to be recycled

within the United Kingdom, they keep track as to how much of the plastic is contaminated and

unable to be recycled. This is an important issue that the documentary emphasized upon as

something that requires a major overhaul. If this issue is fixed, the documentary outlined the

possibility of exporting recyclable products being dramatically reduced resulting in the United

Kingdom processing its own recycling. Not only is this a process that should occur in the United

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Kingdom, but a process that countries around the world should adopt as well. Another element

that this documentary touched on is the global environmental impact that the recycling industry

has. Due to the fact that such a low percentage of the world’s plastic waste is being recycled the

landfills are being filled quickly as well as our oceans with materials that could have been

recycled.

Throughout the documentary there are many aspects that prove the strengths of the

producers as well as host. The accuracy information is undeniable. Due to the fact that they

visited and researched the actual sites of where these practices happen, such as the local facility

in the United Kingdom as well as the shipping terminals in China. They also interviewed and

spoke with people in power like the naïve United Kingdom Environment Secretary and Lord

Deben, the United Kingdom’s soft-spoken former Environment Minister. What they showed us

is that this is real information and educated the viewer from a different point of view. Something

that they also did very well in “Dirty Business” was their ability to educate the audience without

oversimplification or using emotion to persuade the viewers opinion on the matter. Throughout

the documentary they used bare facts to educate and did this in a fair manner. They did this by

looking at the perspectives of the people in charge of the recycling in the United Kingdom in

addition to the people responsible for some of the recycling in China.

My personal response to this documentary is that it is a very important documentary that

I think everyone who cares about the environment should watch. As a person that cares about the

environment I found this documentary to be very informative as well as eye opening as to what

is happening around the world. I agree that the information presented is informative and I respect

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the work that went into the production of “Dirty Business”. I also enjoy the fact that the

documentary takes different viewpoints. For example, it begins in the eyes of the average

consumer and then throughout the documentary it switches to the viewpoint of an investigator

diving deep into the industry leaving everything exposed for the viewer to judge and form an

opinion on. Overall, this documentary uses factual information, is effectively informative, as

well as leaves an unbiased tone with the viewer. With this in mind, I would highly recommend

this documentary as a credible source for those wanting more information on the global recycling

industry.

To conclude, this documentary proves itself to be an eye-opening experience showing the

harsh reality of the recycling industry in today’s modern world. By using factual information that

really connects with the audience, this a must watch documentary. In today’s world full of

misinformation, it is important to fully understand where our waste ends up and this

documentary presented the many reasons as to why. In the future I believe that the viewers of

this documentary will become more curious and ask more questions. I also believe that people

will be more cautious before they think about throwing a plastic water bottle in the trash. A quote

that really resonates with me and relates strongly to this documentary is the quote, “There is no

such thing as “away”, when we throw something away it must go somewhere.” – Annie

Leonard

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 References

Grabianowski, E. (2019, August 5). How Recycling Works. Retrieved from

https://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/green-science/recycling1.htm.

James, L., Ryan, & S, C. (2019, May 11). Dirty Business. Retrieved from

https://topdocumentaryfilms.com/dirty-business/.

Mogensen, J. F., Mogensen, F., Rabson, M., Sharp, A., Bronskill, J., & Rabson, M. (2019,

September 6). One very bad habit is fuelling the global recycling meltdown. Retrieved from

https://www.nationalobserver.com/2019/09/02/news/one-very-bad-habit-fuelling-global-

recycling-meltdown.

Sheena. (2018, April 21). There is no such thing as 'away'. Retrieved from

http://www.thegoodjerseylife.com/there-is-no-such-thing-as-away/.