The IKKIVI Podcast: Exploring Fashion, Culture and Values · Nivi Murthy

S4E03: The Truth About Plastic Waste & Why Recycling Won't Save Us | Nour Tayara

·59 min·3 clips

Noor says the beauty industry produces over 120 billion tons of plastic a year, and most makeup is not recyclable.

Plastic begins as the stuff sitting in plain sight. The guest points to carpets, clothing, gadgets, and beauty products, then pulls the thread until ordinary home life starts to look a lot more complicated. The numbers do not make recycling feel better. At most, she says, about 10% of plastic is recycled, while much of what people put in bins never comes back as useful material. The host stays with that discomfort. She brings up garbage burned on streets in India, where waste can seem to vanish even though the harm has only changed form. That image gives the problem a street-level reality. Again and again, the episode returns to the gap between the emotional promise of recycling and what the systems can handle. Small beauty products become the awkward example. Lipsticks, mascaras, and similar items are often too small for facilities to recover. Fashion gets the same treatment. The guest argues that plastic fabrics made fast fashion faster, cheaper, and easier to scale, rather than being truly necessary for clothes. She still avoids easy purity. Some industrial uses, including carpets, may be places where recycled plastic makes more sense. The host keeps pressing for alternatives, and the answer is yes, but never as one clean swap, because every material brings its own costs. Metal stands out because people tend to recover it, with or without strong formal recycling systems. Beauty becomes the tender blind spot: products that touch skin, body, and daily ritual are still easy to disconnect from waste. The tone is thoughtful, not scolding. By the end, the episode feels like an invitation to look more honestly at waste, design, and consumption.

As heard by us

A clear-eyed look at why recycling is only a small part of the plastic problem.

The episode treats plastic waste less as a distant environmental issue than as a habit built into carpets, clothing, gadgets, and beauty products.

Read the full review in PlayNext →

Why you'd press play

If you want a reality check on recycling myths, start here.

Read the full recommendation in PlayNext →

Listen to the show on

Apple Podcasts Spotify

Play clips from this episode More from The IKKIVI Podcast: Exploring Fashion, Culture and Values