There’s no escaping plastic in modern life. In Australia, more than 1.5m tonnes of the crude oil derivative is consumed each year, not including plastics imported in finished products or their packaging. And most of this ends up on a centuries-long path to degradation in landfill or the world’s waterways and oceans. One recent sobering analysis has estimated that by 2050, the weight of plastics in the oceans will match that of fish.

Reducing consumption by avoiding the use of disposable plastic shopping bags, for instance, and reusing plastic containers are important waste-reduction measures. But what role does recycling play?

Despite our profligate consumption of plastic goods, only 300,000 tonnes of the stuff is collected for recycling each year in Australia, according to the Plastics and Chemicals Industries Association of Australia. Around half of this is sent overseas for processing and a further 20% of the plastics reprocessed into pellets to be made into new products is also sent overseas.