{"id":18527,"date":"2021-03-16T12:18:45","date_gmt":"2021-03-16T04:18:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/?p=18527"},"modified":"2021-05-27T14:21:50","modified_gmt":"2021-05-27T06:21:50","slug":"from-a-lifestyle-to-a-career","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/varsity.com.cuhk.edu.hk\/index.php\/2021\/03\/from-a-lifestyle-to-a-career\/","title":{"rendered":"From a Lifestyle to a Career"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Paul Lin shares his commitment to eliminating the earth\u2019s plastic waste.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

By Gabriella Lynn<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Father of three, Paul\nLin, is always shocked by the amount of waste his family produces. To promote a\nhealthy and green lifestyle, Lin teaches his children to reduce their plastic\nwaste. But the most important step is what happens after they clean and dump\nused plastic in a recycling bin. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Paul Lin sorts through trash at the beach. (Photo courtesy of Paul Lin)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Once the recycling bin is full, Lin collects his family\u2019s plastic waste and takes it to his workplace to be transformed into diesel fuel. He has been doing this ever since joining Poseidon Industry, a company in Taiwan that specialises in recycling plastic waste, as a general manager in 2018. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAll my kids know what I do. My son even wrote an essay about what I do in terms of recycling and trying to help out the world,\u201d he chuckles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Having a green lifestyle\nis a big part of Lin\u2019s vision for his family and himself because he cares about\ntheir surrounding environment. It is also why he decided to join the recycling\nindustry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s kind of in my blood,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAll my kids know what I do. My son even wrote an essay about what I do in terms of recycling and trying to help out the world.<\/strong>\u201d <\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Start of Something New<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Born in Taiwan, Lin moved to the United States when he was young. He majored in studio art and minored in digital imaging at university, then worked at a printing house as a designer after graduation. But he left after eight months because he thought the job was boring.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In late 2000, Lin was inspired by a relative who was a real estate broker, and he became a broker himself. He continued working in the property business until 2011. He started a family in between those years and decided to move back to Taiwan to be closer to his parents. Lin launched a trading business that imports home goods from other countries in 2012.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI never thought I would be doing recycling, real estate, or international trading business. I never had the idea and never thought this would happen back in (university),\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When comparing the four jobs he has had so far, the 42-year-old says his current job is more complicated and requires more effort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI\u2019m not (from) this background. I wasn\u2019t a chemical engineering major so it\u2019s really a challenge. I have to look for the kind of plastic we can treat. If a plastic is not recyclable or it has a bad (plastic-to-oil) conversion rate, then there\u2019s no point in sourcing it,\u201d he adds. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Origin Story<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lin first started wondering about where trash was shipped to at his primary school cafeteria. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAfter lunchtime, I saw people who took their trays and threw everything into trashcans, including food, milk bottles and plastic wraps. All these were just dumped into one trash can,\u201d he says, shaking his head. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As he grew older, Lin\nkept on noticing how wasteful modern lifestyle is. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When working in the trading business, he witnessed excessive use of cargo boxes, shrink wraps, plastic straps and other sorts of packaging materials. Lin tried to minimise the amount of waste by reducing packaging and putting different products in one cargo box. This also helped to cut down on costs. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI really care about what kind of environment we (live) in. If I can do something for human race, or at least for\u2026Taiwan, that\u2019s something I ought to do,\u201d he says. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI really care about what kind of environment we (live) in. If I can do something for human race, or at least for\u2026Taiwan, that\u2019s something I ought to do.<\/strong>\u201d <\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

Reverting Plastic to Oil<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lin\u2019s company adopts a technology called pyrolysis that converts plastic back to its original state\u2014petroleum.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The technology can convert 10 tons of plastic waste, sourced from factories and manufacturers, to 6,000 litres of fuel each day. The fuel is a mix of diesel, gasoline, and kerosene.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Types of fuel obtained from plastic pyrolysis. (Photo courtesy of Paul Lin)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The company\u2019s research department has recently discovered that single-use masks which are used globally to protect people from COVID-19, can be recycled into fuel as well. This can help solve waste problem caused by millions of disposed masks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lin also notes the increase in trash during the pandemic is choking the planet. \u201cPeople are staying at home, so they always go online shopping. That probably saves time, but it creates more trash. The demand for cargo boxes (and plastic packaging) has increased tremendously,\u201d he says. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn today\u2019s world, we want everything to be simple, easy and convenient, but we don\u2019t see that being convenient actually creates more problems,\u201d he adds. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to the Environmental Protection Association (EPA), a government agency for environmental conservation in Taiwan, the general recycling rate is 55 per cent. A 2017 report from the environmental consulting firm Eunomia notes that it is one of the highest rates worldwide.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lin adds that Taiwan\u2019s comprehensive recycling regulations make it easier to obtain suitable plastic for pyrolysis. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But he thinks that is not enough.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A study published on Science Advances in 2017 found that only about nine per cent of the world\u2019s plastic was recycled, with the remaining 91 per cent either in landfills or incinerators. \u201c(Plastic waste) is a problem beyond our capability. We just do the one per cent out of the 91 per cent. Without other people\u2019s help, our contribution is nothing,\u201d Lin says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
The team at Poseidon Industry with bags of trash collected from the beach. (Photo courtesy of Paul Lin)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Working Hand-in-Hand<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lin urges people to work together to overcome the problem of plastic waste. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf you take a step back\nto look at the whole picture, it\u2019s not just your house, your neighbourhood,\nyour city, or your country. We\u2019re talking about this whole world!\u201d he says. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lin feels happy that more and more people are joining forces to help save the earth. People around him have all started to be more waste-conscious. They give Lin\u2019s company plastic waste from their homes and offices, just like what Lin does for his own family. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hoping his company can\nincrease the plastic recycling rate in the coming 50 years, he vows to continue\nworking in the recycling industry to make that happen. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c(The moment) I made a\ndecision to join this company, I made a decision to make this company my entire\ncareer. This could be a career for life,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Edited by Patricia Ricafort<\/em>
Sub-edited by Sarah Ryou\ufeff<\/em> <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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