We’ve talked extensively in this column about the gains and losses we face with the use of plastics in our daily lives. The term covers a lot of different materials that have made our lives much better and safer, but also have caused a lot of damage to our environment when they decomposed. In addition, while many of the plastics we use can be recycled a few times, their re-use is limited, and they then become trash.

When we talk of the goal of a circular economy, that limitation on recycling will no longer do for the acceptance of plastics. Currently, all plastic eventually becomes trash. In a truly circular economy, none becomes trash.

There is now new hope in science. A product called UBQ is a polymer (a form of plastic, but read on!) that can evidently be fashioned from any kind of trash. According to their own website, UBQ Materials offers a solution to the growing crisis of trash by “unlocking the hidden value of waste. UBQ is converted from 100% unsorted household waste diverted from landfill — everything from food residues and mixed plastics to cardboard, paper, and even dirty diapers.

Metals and minerals are removed and recycled in the conversion process; all that remains is transformed into UBQ — nothing goes to waste.” That sounds a lot like old-time alchemy, but has some very serious companies working on it with success, and UBQ can be recycled endlessly, where more common plastics lose their characteristics after being recycled a finite number of times.

Rather than being another plastic recycler, UBQ creates a new and advanced type of material that can be added to the mix in standard manufacturing processes and helps ”close the loop” on a circular economy.

Another new idea takes a process similar to the anaerobic digestion used to decompose organics and applies it to reducing some common, but otherwise non-recyclable plastics into their component parts. The result is a new material called poly (diketoenamine), or PDK, that is infinitely recyclable into new plastic materials. According to Earth911.com, PDK is still relatively costly to produce but is about the same cost as Type 1 or Type 2 plastic to recycle, and cheaper than some of the more difficult types. It can also be recycled an infinite number of times without degradation of its properties.

If the circular economy is to be achieved, then product design needs to be the first stage. In this case, that means designing products for recycling and designing our recycling programs for handling new types of plastic and new kinds of materials.

It’s not yet clear where this sort of technology will ultimately fall in the greater scheme of things since it would require some reworking of our recycling infrastructure, but with countries planning to charge large fees to companies relying on non-recycled materials, and the rise of Extended Producer Responsibility laws in the U.S., the economic incentives are starting to pile up.

The Recycle Bin is a weekly column on what to recycle, what not to recycle, and why, in Brunswick. The public is encouraged to submit questions by email to brunsrecycleinfo@gmail.com. Harry Hopcroft is a member of the Brunswick Recycling and Sustainability Committee.