I often catch myself thinking "it's ok to buy this massively overpackaged item because the packaging is recyclable". I have a feeling that if recycling doesn't work, it's far from neutral. There will be a large number of people that rationalise producing far, far more waste than they would otherwise because they falsely think it isn't harmful.
There will be a large number of people that rationalise producing far, far more waste than they would otherwise because they falsely think it isn't harmful.
Why "of course"? No design is needed since this sort of thing could easily happen by evolution.
Marketing is empirical and competitive. Some companies could have discovered that recyclable products sell more without necessarily understanding consumer behavior all that well, and the rest can copy them. They aren't likely to question it if it works.
Which isn't to say it can't be by design, but that's a matter of knowing the history behind it.
I have a similar thought about "biodegradable" things --- "let's make things that are guaranteed to self-destruct so we can continue spending resources to make and sell them to you".
Biodegradable doesn't mean low carbon either. But if there is a biodegradable option and a traditional landfill one, perhaps the landfill cost should be explicit.
