SPONSORED CONTENT -- (StatePoint) Have you tossed plastic into a recycling bin recently? There’s a large chance that material won’t be recycled. That’s according to a new report, which finds that after decades of being touted as a solution to pollution, plastic recycling is not all it’s cracked up to be. The report also highlights the growing scientific consensus on the health risks and economic costs of plastic pollution.
“Merchants of Myth,” the Greenpeace USA report, uncovered that less than a quarter of the most commonly produced types of plastics – found in items like bottles, jugs, food containers and caps – is actually recyclable. Moreover, plastic recycling rates in the United States have been cut in half since 2014, from 9.5% to roughly 5-6% today, due to recycling access gaps, as well as infrastructure and technical limitations at recycling facilities. Up to 43% percent of U.S. households lack access to basic recycling services, and participation in recycling is actually decreasing. Meanwhile, only 12% of national municipal recycling facilities are even capable of processing common consumer plastics. Despite the small amount of plastic recycling actually taking place, the public pays to collect and sort plastics, while most of it ends up burned or dumped in landfills.
Researchers say that the plastic industry, retailers, prominent plastic-reliant brands, and related trade associations are retracting their sustainability commitments while continuing to rely on single-use plastic packaging. And with global plastic production projected to triple by 2050, voluntary measures made by corporations won’t be enough.
“Sufficient change will only come with regulatory intervention and with politicians holding corporations accountable. Instead of investing in real solutions, the plastic industry, and corporations that rely on plastic, have poured billions into public relations campaigns making false claims about the recyclability of their products to avoid bans and reduce public backlash,” says John Hocevar, Greenpeace USA oceans campaigner director. “My sincere hope is that a year from now, no one with any credibility is still talking about a circular economy for plastic, and that we are united in focusing on reducing plastic production and use.”
To read the report, visit greenpeace.org.
“The plastic crisis grows worse every day we fail to act – for biodiversity, environmental justice, human health and our climate. It’s time to stop pretending we can recycle our way out of it,” says Hocevar.
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