Critics call out plastics industry over "fraud of plastic recycling"

A new report, called "The Fraud of Plastic Recycling," accuses the plastics industry of a decades-long campaign "To mislead the public about the viability of plastic recycling," despite knowing the "Technical and economic limitations that make plastics unrecyclable" at a large scale.

In the 1980s, when some municipalities moved to ban plastic products, the industry began promoting the idea of recycling as a solution.

At a trade conference in Florida in 1989, an industry leader told attendees, "Recycling cannot go on indefinitely, and does not solve the solid waste problem." In 1994 an Exxon executive told the staff of the plastics council that when it comes to recycling, "We are committed to the activities but not committed to the results." Allen said, "They always kind of viewed recycling not as a real technical problem that they needed to solve but as a public relations problem." The industry just launched a new ad campaign, called "Recycling is real," and says it's investing in what it calls advanced recycling technology.

The American Chemistry Council, an industry trade group, responded to "CBS Sunday Morning" in a statement, calling the Center for Climate Integrity's report "Flawed" and "Outdated," and says "Plastic makers are working hard to change the way that plastics are made and recycled." Jan Dell doesn't believe plastic will ever be truly recyclable: "It's the same process they were trying 30 years ago, and my response to that is, it's science fiction," she said.

Plastic production is set to triple by 2050, and with so much plastic waste piling up on land and sea, more than 170 countries are working on a United Nations treaty to end plastic pollution.

U.N. taking first step toward "Historic" treaty on pollution from plastics, including "Epidemic" of plastic trash In a letter to President Biden about the negotiations, the plastics industry says it opposes any bans on plastic production, but supports more recycling.

To which Dell says, "The only thing the plastics industry has actually recycled is their lies over and over again." 

https://www.yahoo.com/news/critics-call-plastics-industry-over-135355869.html