CBS has reported that essentially, plastic recycling is a scam. Only 5 to 6% of the Plastic that we separate out and put in a "recycling" bin is actually recycled. The rest winds up being buried in a landfill, burned, or in the oceans. Apparently there are so many different types of plastic that most cannot be mixed with each other , and sorting the various plastics would be way too complex and time consuming. Some time ago I asked the question on this forum as to what actually happens to the plastic bags that we return to the supermarket? I wondered if it winds up in a dumpster somewhere? Apparently it does, but not necessarily at the supermarket. I'm thinking that beyond Aluminum Cans and glass bottles, I'm just not going to bother separating trash anymore. Hopefully we can return to glass for our soda bottles. I don't know if beer comes in plastic bottles, but nobody who actually likes beer would drink it out of plastic anyway.
I "knew" this 30 years ago. I told this to people but I had no proof. I only had a brain. It only stands to reason that when your town only accepts #1, 2, and 4 plastics, that you need human beings to look at every single last piece to see the number, then separate manually. That's not even including other foreign objects that aren't even in the plastic family. Some of that separation was automatic but still not flawless and not every location had the same capability. So to keep the "programs" going as if they are working beautifully and the town/state gets credit for being "green", they just sweep it all under the ocean or landfill and nobody is the wiser. I'd like to say I am shocked, but I am just the opposite.
I do my part but am skeptical although remember seeing a piece on a co. that was using plastic for something & couldn't get enough. Told my (2b chemical engineer) daughter if you want to get rich, figure out how to use this stuff. The lady @ Walmart said they dump the bags but that Wegmans (NE regional grocer) & Whole Foods don't so I stopped taking them to the the Mart.
I have been in metal recycling industry for 20+ years and had a job once that handled paper products, plastics and metals. Plastic recycling is extremely difficult. In some cases it's practically impossible due to the manufacturing processes. One example that sticks out are the blister packs for disposable razors. We serviced a manufacturer that used PET for the molded section the packaging the razor sits in, and PETG for the plastic printed label that went on the face. Separately both items could be recycled but as a combo they had to go landfill due to different chemical compositions that are considered contaminants when recycling either grade. I also had customers that did injection molding, and couldn't even reuse their own scrap due to additives for things like UV resistance. The spec for their products called for virgin material. Once the additives hit the mix anything that didn't get made into a usable part was trash. If they couldn't use it knowing exactly how it was made how could you expect anyone else to use it as a recycled material? Until the products and/or packaging are designed with recyclability in mind you're going to continue to see plastics recycling be an uphill struggle.
Like Ken, I have been skeptical of the so-called "recycling" for a long time. Materials such as Lead, Aluminum, and Steel are fairly easy to recycle, and it is economical to do so. Approximately 90% of the lead in Lead/Acid batteries is recycled. It's cheaper to recycle Aluminum and Steel as well. The refining process for Aluminum is quite complex, involving many separate operations; to recycle Aluminum you just dump in the scrap Aluminum at the last stage. It's easier to melt scrap steel and form it into new shapes then it is to separate Iron from Iron ore. Sorting Plastics is not impossible, but it is in the same room as impossible.
I have a lot of polymer experience (extrusion, repelletization, etc.) and even worked for a company that made plastic recycling machinery. Plastic recycling makes sense in a factory (post-industrial) where you have excess product (trimmings, etc.) that you want to re-use of the clean, identical material. Post-consumer plastic recycling has never made any sense to me whatsover. And I have years of experience in the industry to be able to say this. My layperson's opinion: The best use of leftover plastics is to incinerate it for electrical power. -Bob C.
I've been on a couple of tours of the Recycling Works facility in Elkhart, Indiana. They have a neat operation. During a tour in 2018 or 2019, they were baling cubes of mixed plastics and shipping them (internationally) for re-use. They were pretty honest about the difficulty in getting rid of mixed plastics. Their biggest struggle was glass at that time. I have used them for companies I have worked for, and recently switched to them for our household waste/recycling when our previous vendor gave up on recycling. I'm not normally a big fan of government involvement in the economy, but fees or surcharges for once-and-done packaging does make consumers think twice.
I have seen where most "recycled" plastic gets shipped to Asian countries where they do nothing with it and it eventually ends up on the ocean. I have also known for a while the recycling claim was a lie.
That video is an excellent depiction of the process involved. I've been to numerous recycling plants over the years, both loading outbound product, and delivering to other facilities, including paper mills for re-manufacturing into various paper products. While generally not permitted to leave the shipping/receiving area, I was able to see some of the processes shown. It's a dirty, difficult job to sort the various items and those workers deserve some respect for doing it. We need to do a better job in educating the public as to what's acceptable and ensuring they clean anything which previously contained food and other perishables. I rinse out EVERY such container before putting into my bin. I also believe in streamlining plastics production to eliminate, or greatly reduce the different non compatible chemical make up of various plastics. Tire recycling is also a very dirty job, which I've also seen up close. Lots of respect for the employees manually unloading trailer loads of used big rig tires which cannot be recapped. Lead acid wet battery recycling, which is now almost 100%, requires employees to wear a full Hazmat suit. Truck drivers are not allowed to leave their truck cab while unloading at Gopher State Resources in Eagan MN as you're inside the facility. Sucked as my Sirius/XM radio wouldn't work. We humans can also strive to reduce or reliance on anything non recyclable, as well as what we throw away. Takes me three weeks to fill one standard, old style grocery bag with trash.
This is a snapshot not the whole story. Plastics can be recycled, but the buyers need a consistent CLEAN stream of material. US recyclers (us) do a terrible job of properly sorting and cleaning plastics before sending them to the recycler. at the recycler attempts to sort and clean and then sell the waste stream. There are times when this waste stream (various plastic) is in demand and a high quality recycler can sell it. There are other times where there is no demand and it all becomes trash. Giving up on this process is sad. doing a good job of understanding what goes where and how to make your contribution work is better. Also, STOP buying cheap made in China plastic crap. It's insane. LOL. As Joe said above single use plastics should be banned. This includes pretty much all the plastic at the supermarket.
Until it's less expensive to do the right thing, we'll keep getting this. I know the example is dated, but it is still accurate. If this is the answer to try and stop items from being stolen, they are just being lazy.
Banning all single use plastics is a dangerous thought given the advances in food packaging created through advance plastic technology. I prefer seeing more uniform standards for their manufacture leading to increased recycling ability. Imagine buying unpackaged fresh baked goods from your local store without knowing how many unwashed hands previously fondled them? I sure as hell don't want that. You cannot compare that with fruits and vegetables since those can be easily washed clean. Try that with your loaf of bread, bagels, or hotdog and hamburger buns. Cardboard packaging is not a viable replacement option IMO. There are far too many plastic packaged food items in use today for that idea to go anywhere without increasing the risk of communicable disease transmission. Who remembers the bulk food sections many stores had prior to Covid? Almost all gone now due to fears of viral transmission. Definitely agree we ought to stop buying all that cheap disposable Chinesium crap. That could also help reduce the number of dirty polluting container ships sailing the open, unregulated oceans.
You make a solid point as plastic is a winner for supermarkets in keeping food on the shelf. But these plastics can be compostable or reusable. They aren't going away, but they should definitely change.
About 15 years ago our local grocery store (in Medway, MA) trotted out what they claimed were biodegradable plastic bags. Just for the fun of it, I clipped one to the railing around our deck. After almost three years I got sick of looking at it, and threw it into the trash.
I gotta be honest. If you throw everything in the garbage, most of it will get incinerated which is light years better than ending up in a landfill or in the ocean. I'm done playing the fool.
