Down cycling is good. But the best is to just not produce plastics where wood, metal, and glass alternatives exist or actually pre-date their plastic counterparts.
Why do produce containers have to be made of plastic when they can be made from compostable cardboard or wood scrap?
Meat used to come wrapped in paper instead of plastic foam. It still could be. Milk used to come in glass or metal.
Most toy or parcel packaging could come in tissue paper or cardboard.
The only thing that might actually need plastics are medical devices like catheters or other things that cannot be fully sterilized by an autoclave (or might become irradiated).
Down cycling is good. But the best is to just not produce plastics where wood, metal, and glass alternatives exist or actually pre-date their plastic counterparts.
Why do produce containers have to be made of plastic when they can be made from compostable cardboard or wood scrap?
Meat used to come wrapped in paper instead of plastic foam. It still could be. Milk used to come in glass or metal.
Most toy or parcel packaging could come in tissue paper or cardboard.
The only thing that might actually need plastics are medical devices like catheters or other things that cannot be fully sterilized by an autoclave (or might become irradiated).