I feel like recycling solves the problem at the wrong end of the material pipeline.
Why do we buy so much single-use packaging, so many things that are unrepairable, too costly to repair, hard to disassemble, or that have externalities that were not solved before the product went to market?
Require anyone who sells a new physical product have to accept returns of that physical product at the end of its lifetime. Don't throw out food packaging, return it to the supermarket. Don't throw out a dead TV, return it to the electronics store. Stores will send those dead products back upstream. Companies will quickly figure out how to make products that are reusable, repairable, disassemblable and recyclable.
Why do we buy so much single-use packaging, so many things that are unrepairable, too costly to repair, hard to disassemble, or that have externalities that were not solved before the product went to market?
Require anyone who sells a new physical product have to accept returns of that physical product at the end of its lifetime. Don't throw out food packaging, return it to the supermarket. Don't throw out a dead TV, return it to the electronics store. Stores will send those dead products back upstream. Companies will quickly figure out how to make products that are reusable, repairable, disassemblable and recyclable.