What if plastic recycling is a myth, if not a scam, that is not only wasteful but environmentally damaging?
Is the Truth Finally Getting Its Boots On? Writing at The Telegraph today, Ben Wright states that not only is plastic recycling a myth, but it's "Unravelling." Consumers dutifully jump through hoops sorting trash, believing it's good citizenship.
Only about five percent of our plastic is recycled, he stated last year.
The issue, both Wright and Stossel note, is that plastic is extremely inexpensive to produce while recycling is costly.
A study conducted by Imperial College in 2019 found that replacing plastic on food packaging with alternatives would on average increase the weight of the packaging by 3.6 times, the energy use by 2.2 times and carbon dioxide emissions by 2.7 times.
Whatever the downsides of eliminating plastic would be, recycling obsessions bring their own harms.
Sadly, all this could be avoided if we'd simply drop the recycling obsession and put the plastic waste in landfills.
https://thenewamerican.com/us/environment/is-the-myth-of-plastic-recycling-finally-being-exposed/
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