Over half a century ago, Albert Einstein claimed: “It has become appallingly obvious that our technology has exceeded our humanity.” He was talking about atomic weapons capable of mass destruction to humanity and nature, of course, so the statement is obviously irrefutable, but how does it fare when applied to other technologies? Let’s take the example of recycling.
There’s no doubt that the scientific art of recycling has grown by leaps and bounds in recent years.

We can now use x-rays, infrared spectroscopy, even lasers to separate waste, and new, exotic technologies with space-age names like gasification and pyrolysis are coming on line at the speed of light, in part thanks to the Defra New Technologies Demonstrator Programme. Yes, these days all we have to do is find an efficient way to atomise (okay, granulate) and reconstitute plastic packaging and we’ll be technically capable of recycling nearly all of our waste. Indeed, science has shown we can easily recycle 70 per cent of our waste already.

So why aren’t we? Why is the national recycling rate failing to reflect these amazing technological advances and languishing below 40 per cent? Well, it seems appallingly obvious we have neglected the human side of recycling while making the machines bigger, stronger, faster and shinier. Where’s the Defra New Behavioural Change Strategy Programme? All those billion-pound PFI contracts out there spend their budgets on ‘state-of-the-art’ gizmos and ‘cutting-edge’ thingamajigs and barely have any money left over for communicating the basics of recycling services, let alone affecting actual behavioural change.

We all know there will always be technological advancements to be had, but now especially – with budget cuts creeping ever closer – the investment we must make is in winning over hearts and minds and bringing humanity up to speed with all this wonderful technology.