Sharjah24 - AFP: According to a Greenpeace USA analysis released on Monday, plastic recycling rates are falling even as manufacturing soars, and the circular economy claims made by the industry are "fiction."
The study, titled "Circular Claims Fall Flat Again," discovered that only 2.4 million tons, or about five percent, of the 51 million tons of plastic garbage produced by US households in 2021 were recycled.
The trend has been declining since 2014, when it peaked at 10%, especially after China ceased importing plastic garbage from the West in 2018.
While this is happening, virgin production — that is, manufacturing of non-recycled plastic — is fast increasing as the petrochemical industry grows and costs fall.
According to Greenpeace USA campaigner Lisa Ramsden, "industry groups and large corporations have been pushing for recycling as a solution."
She continued, "By doing that, they have abdicated any duty" for making sure recycling actually works. Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Unilever, and Nestle were singled out as major offenders.
Only two forms of plastic are commonly accepted at the 375 material recovery sites around the country, according to a survey by Greenpeace USA.
The first is high density polyethylene (HDPE), which is found in milk jugs, shampoo bottles, and cleaning product containers. The second is polyethylene terephthalate (PET), which is frequently used in water and soda bottles.
She continued, "By doing that, they have abdicated any duty" for making sure recycling actually works. Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Unilever, and Nestle were singled out as major offenders.
Only two forms of plastic are commonly accepted at the 375 material recovery sites around the country, according to a survey by Greenpeace USA.
The first is high density polyethylene (HDPE), which is found in milk jugs, shampoo bottles, and cleaning product containers. The second is polyethylene terephthalate (PET), which is frequently used in water and soda bottles.
There are seven different varieties of plastic, and these are numbered "1" and "2" in accordance with a recognized system.
However, just because a product is recyclable in theory does not guarantee it is recycled in reality.
According to the study, the actual reprocessing rates for PET and HDPE products were 20.9 percent and 10.3 percent, respectively — both somewhat lower than the results of Greenpeace USA's most recent poll in 2020.
Less than 5% of plastic types "3" through "7," which include toys for kids, bags for groceries, produce wrappers, yogurt and margarine tubs, coffee cups, and to-go food containers, were reprocessed.
Products made of plastic types "3" through "7" frequently include the recycling symbol on their labels, although they do not qualify as recyclable according to the Federal Trade Commission.
This is due to the fact that a "significant majority" of the population (defined as 60 percent) lacks access to these kinds of recycling facilities and that the products gathered are not utilised in the creation or assembly of new goods.
The research listed five primary reasons why recycling plastic is a "failing concept."
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