New recycling discoveries for plastics is good news, but at the same time I feel that people and specially governments should be promoting the old 3R or the 9R framework (Refuse, Rethink, Reduce, Reuse, Repair, Refurbish, Remanufacture, Repurpose, Recycle and Recover)
It seems people forget that _recycling is and should be the last thing_ we do with objects/materials that we don't use anymore, it requires energy to create a new object and at the same time recycling materials doesn't always recover 100% of the original materials.
Cardboard recycling seems fairly successful (and perhaps Amazon boxes are already returned directly to Amazon?), but it does seem like there has to be a better way.
Amazon eventually realized that boxed returns were inefficient and implemented unboxed returns via UPS stores.
It seems like unboxed delivery to a store or locker would also be more efficient, but for customers it's less convenient than front-door delivery.
Perhaps delivery workers could also collect reusable Amazon boxes while making deliveries.
Cardboard refuse is environmentally benign. It's wood fibre (and a few other bits) which break down in nature, usually within a few weeks or months at most.
Plastic refuse persists for hundreds to thousands of years, and is itself biologically active, often interfering with endocrine or other bodily signalling functions, if not other long-term chronic poisoning, or sheer physical blockage.
Cardboard sourcing of course has environmental impacts through deforestation, monoculture, and land-use impacts. That's another story.
The thing is that the 3Rs/9Rs are basically anti-comsumerist / anti-capitalist, and as such can’t gain traction in our current system. The system wants you to buy a new widget, not to reuse or repair your old one.
It seems people forget that _recycling is and should be the last thing_ we do with objects/materials that we don't use anymore, it requires energy to create a new object and at the same time recycling materials doesn't always recover 100% of the original materials.