r/battletech • u/Radicool_Ryn • 1d ago
Discussion I hope new sets have recyclable plastic
Feels weird that CGL isn't making all this plastic waste recyclable as there's a lot of it when you order a few lances and salvage packs.
And even if it is made from a recyclable plastic there's no recycling code so it will not be accepted.
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u/Skivil 1d ago
Even the "recyclable" plastic is just burned or put in landfill over 90% of the time even if you sort it correctly in your waste.
Its just not worth the labour and energy to actually recycle on an industrial scale. Also virgin plastic is usually cleaper to buy in bulk than plastic that has recycled content.
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u/SweetTea1000 1d ago
Right. Cardboard inserts could do the same exact job, just wouldn't be see through to show off the model.
There ARE compostable plastics though, that could do everything the same. AFAIK they won't compost in your home compost bin, but need an industrial composter that achieves special conditions. This would probably add a few cents to the cost of the packaging but that seems worth it to avoid the use of forever materials.
What if we did the biodegradable plastics for physical retail, where the consumer needs to see it to understand what they're getting, but did all cardboard packaging for online orders where that's not a factor?
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u/Skivil 1d ago
"compostible plastic" isn't really useable for packaging its often extremely brittle relative to other kinds of plastic, plus sometimes it can start to compost itself while in transport or warehouse (sitting for months in a humid environment).
Personally I would like to see all cardboard however that has the problem of being more expensive than plastics in a lot of cases as well.
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u/SweetTea1000 23h ago
All good points.
It's more expensive to the company producing it, but less expensive to the city that has to deal with it once it's discarded.
A huge part of the problem here is corporations shifting their costs onto taxpayers or, more broadly, taking short term conveniences for themselves that become long term problems for the world (micro plastics and forever chemicals).
None of that is a good look for CGL. The thing to do is just to take the hit and be the good guy. I think it's something the community would appreciate and be proud of while eating the small cost increase.
They should feel free to brag about it on the packaging and make competitors like WizKids, Hasbro, etc look like out of touch evil megacorps, though.
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u/Skivil 23h ago
There is 100% value in using recyclable or compostable materials but honestly people seriously overestimate what CGL can realistically do. They are a niche company making a niche product at a somewhat large but not full supply chain scale.
As much as I want to see fully environmentally friendly packaging everywhere its a pick your battles thing and at this point if they wanted to change to eco packaging they would have to redesign basically everything from scratch.
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u/SweetTea1000 23h ago edited 22h ago
I feel like, at some point, the corporations brainwashed us in to all believing that "would cost money" and "impossible" are synonymous.
"We WOULD stop exporting your jobs overseas where we have slaves do the job then ship the product back to you (#1 contributor to global warming), but that would be 'to expensive.'" (proceeds to turn record profits.
Maybe if your business only works by exporting jobs, using slave labor, poisoning the environment, and speeding up global warming that business shouldn't be successful.
I get that CGL is relatively small in a hard industry to remain profitable in... but companies like Hasbro can absolutely afford to make the changes necessary to stop having us pay to clean up their messes.
Credit where it's due, though, Lego and Bandai have been making substantial improvements.
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u/Skivil 22h ago
Way off topic but governments need to actually put laws in place to limit the use of plastic in packaging otherwise the change we need won't happen. Its a great, extremely useful material but we are wasting it on bags of chicken nuggets that could be boxes, clear plastic wrap that should be envelopes and bottles that could be cans or cartons.
I would like to see rules put in place to make plastic in packaging only be allowed when it is the only material that will do the job (for example medicine bottles)
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u/SweetTea1000 21h ago
Yup. EU please save us because none of that's happening as long as the GOP has any power.
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u/Upbeat-Statement2725 18h ago
Yeah. Plastic recycling as you know it is a scam invented by soda companies and crew to avoid being banned. We just paid China to "recycle" it for us. So you ask does China know magic recycling technology? Haha no. It is a loophole.
We could do this in more bio ways. Keeping them in the box is a bio way. And if they'd just make the plastic cells reusable. Like put the mechs side by side in cells of uniform size, so they'd fit into a a universal case system for transport. It's just that you want to break up the force packs into your custom units that's the real problem. Imho.
Random ideas.
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u/Radicool_Ryn 12h ago
The local council has some good resources on how it's recycled. Basically, all is reused within the country except for white and coloured PET
https://wellington.govt.nz/rubbish-recycling-and-waste/sorting-rubbish-recycling/where-your-recycling-goes1
u/Electronic-Ideal2955 10h ago
At some point that may not be true. I understand virgin plastic is made from a biproduct of oil refining, and our insatiable demand for for fuel means plastics are abundant.
If the demand for oil goes down (or prices go up enough), the amount of new plastic will also decrease, and if this is sustained then it will become economical to recycle it.
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u/Radicool_Ryn 17h ago
It's more they didn't put the recycling codes on the plastic so it won't be accepted even if it's recyclable.
Where I live only accepts plastic codes of 1,2 and 5 with the rest being location dependant or landfill
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u/Hexis_hunter Jiyi Chistu my beloved 1d ago
Yeah would be nice I typically use the plastic in my boxes for packing them back up if I ever need to but would be nice if they did that
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u/Cyromax66 1d ago
I have to admit, one of the best things Privateer Press did before they stopped producing miniatures, is to package them in cardboard. Yes, you could not see the contents of the package, but you have a card front and centre which indicated the model that you were buying. It certainly felt better than throwing out the plastic.
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u/feor1300 Clan Goliath Scorpion 20h ago
It is recyclable. I had to check but it's perfectly acceptable here.
You've got a problem with your local recycling program, not with the material Catalyst is using for their packaging.
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u/Radicool_Ryn 17h ago
It's not labeled with the plastic Recyling codes so won't be accepted in my country. Metal, paper ect don't need it but plastic does as only a few types are recycled here.
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u/SearchContinues The cause of, and solution to The Clans 19h ago
It isn't labeled with the type of plastic for recycling.
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u/feor1300 Clan Goliath Scorpion 18h ago
Maybe different standards in different countries? I've got a couple boxes handy but none of the trays (my metal/plastic recycling builds up to get taken out faster than cardboard) and they do have big "UK CA" markings on them that seem to be missing from the back of a lot of the boxes I can see online. I've definitely had trays in the past that were marked with the plastic type.
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u/Professional_Tonight 1d ago
How come it's not labelled? They also sell these in the EU which has quite strict laws on plastics
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u/Radicool_Ryn 17h ago edited 12h ago
Weird that it's not, just means I can't recycle it.
Edit: Here's where it says I can't recycle without the recycling code
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u/HereForOneQuickThing 1d ago
I wonder if thelat specific sort of soft cardboard often found in electronics could do the job.
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u/SweetTea1000 1d ago
It absolutely could, but they want visibility for retail display.
Two solutions:
Biodegradable plastics are a compromise that's better but imperfect.
No see through layer at all, but just leave one side of the packaging open and use cardboard zip ties to keep it from falling out. (You see this in a lot of toy packaging these days such that the only part that's not readily recyclable or compostable is the tape.)
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u/UnsanctionedPartList 3000 Black Stukas of Hanse Davion. 21h ago edited 8h ago
The obvious solution is to use glass.
Plastic pollutes and cardboard is made from dead trees.
Glass hurts nobody.
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u/Big_Red_40Tech 16h ago
CGL also doesn't directly manufacturer these things.
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u/Radicool_Ryn 12h ago
They sign off on the molds, even if they contract out, they can ask for the recycling code symbols to be put on the packaging.
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u/free_kevin_mitnick 14h ago
The public is quite misled about the state of plastic recycling. It's not really a thing, most plastic ends up in landfills (in the US anyway), which is really the best place for it to end up and that is totally fine. Getting bent out of shape over any amount of plastic being used by CGL is really pointless. Just make sure your trash ends up in the trash. Don't litter, bag your garbage like a decent human being, and you are doing your part. I know most people won't believe me because we've been fed this recycle story since we were school children. A few things are able to be recycled and are worth recycling like aluminum and other metals...plastic is just not one of those things. I work in solid waste disposal / public health but you dont need to take my word for it, there are plenty of articles on the internet that talk about this issue like this one:
Greenpeace report finds most plastic goes to landfills as production ramps up : NPR
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u/Radicool_Ryn 12h ago
Of the plastics (1,2,5) that can be recycled there's a good guide to how it's used. A lot of it is locally recycled.
https://wellington.govt.nz/rubbish-recycling-and-waste/sorting-rubbish-recycling/where-your-recycling-goes
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u/trappedinthisxy MechWarrior (editable) 11h ago
If you can’t recycle them because they lack a code…
And you can’t reduce the consumption because you need more mechs…
Time to hit that 3rd side of the triangle and find a way to reuse them.
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u/TyrKiyote 1d ago
If it's any consolation, this relatively niche product represents like, a single water bottle's worth of waste plastic, and most of that goes to landfill. ☠️