Many people ask me what possible good will it do to recycle. What exactly happens to recycled bottles, and plastic wraps, etc.? Well, unfortunately, the news is not good.
In a recent post, I discussed the numbers inside the recycle arrows and what they mean. Numbers 3 through 7 are collected in recycle bins, but are actually useless for recycling.
According to YaleEnvironment360: "The new research (by Greenpeace) found that none of the United States’ 367 facilities are capable of processing coffee pods. Just 14 percent of them can process what are known as plastic clamshells, containers commonly used for takeout food, fruit, and baked goods. Just 11 percent of facilities can recycle plastic cups; 4 percent plastic bags; and just 1 percent can process plastic plates, cutlery, straws, and stirrers."
“This survey confirms what many news reports have indicated since China restricted plastic waste imports two years ago — that recycling facilities across the country are not able to sort, sell, and reprocess much of the plastic that companies produce,” Jan Dell, founder of The Last Beach Cleanup and leader of the new survey.
So, when you look at a plastic package and it says "Recyclable", it probably isn't unless it's has a number 1 (PET, polyethylene teraphthalate) or a number 2 (HDPE, high density polyethylene). Recyclers collect the other plastics, but they end up in landfills and take 500 years to decompose.
Every little bit of trash not disposed of properly creates a problem:
According to the website science.howstuffworks.com: "The trash production in the United States has almost tripled since 1960. This trash is handled in various ways. About 32.5 percent of the trash is recycled or composted, 12.5 percent is burned and 55 percent is buried in landfills [source: EPA]. The amount of trash buried in landfills has doubled since 1960."
My next post will discuss how trash is handled in the U.S.
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