this post was submitted on 16 Aug 2024
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Plastics recycling doesn't happen much because it is an expensive process, and new plastic is too cheap. Even if you put it in the blue recycling bin, it's fairly unlikely that it actually gets recycled and used again.
Metals actively get recycled well. Paper and glass recycle okay, but in practice also face problems.
Some coverage:
https://www.npr.org/2022/10/24/1131131088/recycling-plastic-is-practically-impossible-and-the-problem-is-getting-worse
https://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/green-science/glass-recycling.htm
Yes there is a problem with more disposable, non-recyclable plastics being used. Of course that's on industry to fix. That does not mean plastic recycling is pointless. If you're in the privileged position to literally have a bin specifically for that, recyclable plastics will be filtered out and recycled. If you have that and they don't, that's on your municipality to fix. Deciding to not bother with the process which is right there in front of you because you read it's "not 100%" is super dumb.
From the NPR source I listed earlier. Industry has no interest or ability in fixing this issue by recycling, and vanishingly few municipalities are likely to subsidize plastics recycling to a level at which it makes an appreciable dent in plastic waste.
The plastics industry has cynically forwarded the idea of plastics recycling despite knowing it was unfeasible. We need to drastically reduce plastic use, and probably limit the types of plastic produced for the sorting problem to be mitigated enough that recycling or a clean disposal method is feasible.
https://www.pbs.org/newshour/show/the-plastic-industry-knowingly-pushed-recycling-myth-for-decades-new-report-finds
Right. As I said (whether or not they have interest) the fix for usage, production and sorting is on them. Much like if you have plastics recycling available, it is absolutely on you to use it.
Plastic is a finite resource that is not going to disappear from global usage any time soon. Just throwing your hands up and saying "only x% actually gets recycled" or "where I live they don't do it well" is just adding to the existing problem.
Just fucking recycle.
These statements are you throwing up your hands, but towards the actual problem of plastic waste.
Where I live is on Earth, they don't do it well anywhere here. In the US, people have been actively trying to get people to recycle more since the 70s, plastic recovery from recycling barely gets over 5% and that's consistent throughout that 50 year period. That's not just "not 100%" that's dismal.
As an initiative it has been wildly unsuccessful at best, and a cynical distraction at worst. The plastics industry is largely the same entities as the oil and gas industry, and they have run the same playbook to defer meaningful action against their damaging products.
To bring it back: People not recycling plastics is equivalent to people not eating their pizza crusts in that they are trivial and ineffectual solutions to the problems of waste.
Welcome to earth. Here outside the US there are countries that recycle up to 35% of plastic waste and intend to recycle more through regulations on types of plastic used and improvements in processes. https://www.scb.se/en/finding-statistics/statistics-by-subject-area/environment/waste/waste-packaging/pong/tables-and-graphs/recycling-targets/
It's not dwindling, it's not dismal and it's certainly not pointless.
To bring it back: choosing to not recycle your plastic because you think only 5% of it will get recycled is indeed as stupid as throwing away your pizza crusts and thinking it doesn't contribute to food wastage.