According to Greenpeace, researchers . While PET #1 and HDPE #2 were previously thought of as recyclable, this report finds that being accepted by a recycling processing plant does not necessarily result in them being recycled effectively negating the recyclability claim. The vast majority of plastic that people put into recycling bins is headed to landfills, or worse, according to a report from Greenpeace on the state . Turn on desktop notifications for breaking stories about interest? "We are at a decision point on plastic pollution. Less than 50 percent of the projects on the ACC list of advanced recycling efforts meet our basic criteria to be deemed plastic recycling projects. Like when I go to the bodega down the street, should I be using glass instead of plastic? Similarly, the National Association for PET Container Resources, an industry trade group, found in 2017 that only 21 percent of the plastic bottles collected for recycling were turned into new things. Ultimately, the Greenpeace report is focused on a systemic solution to the plastics problem, and it concludes that history reveals that recycling is not it. Plastic recycling rates are falling even as production is rising rapidly, according to a US Greenpeace report released Monday that called industry claims of creating an . The report also finds that no type of plastic packaging in the U.S. meets the definition of recyclable used by the Ellen MacArthur Foundations New Plastic Economy (EMF NPE) Initiative. Plastic also degrades after one or two uses. And yet, the government's own research (you know . The Myth of Single-use Plastic Recycling Reducing single-use plastic by 50% would not only allow the UK to end waste exports, but would also mean less plastic going into incineration and landfill. Last week, The New York Times broke a story around theACC lobbying the Trump administration to use a US-Kenya trade dealto expand the plastic industrys footprint across Africa. They have a much higher rate of being recycled than plastics 3 through 7. The problem is with plastics. American households produced about 51 million tons of plastic last year, and only 2.4 million of those tons were actually recycled. While APR is still reviewing the report, it seems that Greenpeace is "recycling" a number of misleading claims. Plastic Wars: Industry Spent Millions Selling Recycling To Sell More Plastic, 22 tips for 2022: To cut back on plastic, you need to audit how much you use, How Big Oil Misled The Public Into Believing Plastic Would Be Recycled, Big Oil Evaded Regulation And Plastic Pellets Kept Spilling, California is investigating Big Oil for allegedly misleading the public on recycling. RAMSDEN: It's important to keep recycling because again, the problem is not with recycling, it's with plastics and other types [of recycling]. A new report released Monday by Greenpeace suggests the recycling system in the US is 'a sham' after it found only five percent of the 51 million tons of plastic waste generated by US households . Visit Greenpeace Fund, a nonprofit, 501(c)(3) charitable entity created to increase public awareness and understanding of environmental issues through research, the media and educational programs. This is a huge problem that brings us to our headline. Join the wave of people demanding corporations #BreakFreeFromPlastic! The latest information available for PET and HDPE bottles is from 2020 and shows a recycling rate of 28%. The Greenpeace report goes on to list why plastic recycling has been such . RAMSDEN: Yes, exactly. Greenpeace Report on UK Plastic Recycling. These technologies promise to convert plastic waste into plastics chemical building blocks to generate like-new material. A report this week from environmental group Greenpeace takes brand owners and industry groups to task for promoting recycling as the primary solution to plastic waste issues. RAMSDEN: So the problem isn't with recycling. After years of embracing plastic recycling, many environmental groups say they hope the public will finally see plastic for what they say it is trash and that people will ask themselves if there is something else they could be using instead. In interviews with NPR, industry officials were unable to explain how they planned to reach a 100 percent recycling rate. Washington, DC, September 14, 2021 A report released by Greenpeace USA today reveals how consumer goods companies like Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, and Nestl are driving the expansion of plastic production and threatening the global climate and communities around the world. For every other type of plastic, the reprocessing rate is less than 5%. Because it seems like you have corporations proudly, and until a few minutes ago I would have said responsibly, are putting on their packaging that this is a recyclable product. The average American generated just over 300 pounds of plastic per person in 2021, according to the report, which amounted to an astonishing 51 million tons of wrappers, bottles, bags and more in . Overall, the U.S. has a 5% plastic recycling rate, it added. 2. It was this rate Greenpeace used to compare different plastics with the Ellen MacArthur Foundation's 30% threshold. The Greenpeace report touches on a number of concerns related to plastics recycling - growing volumes of waste generated and possible toxicity complications, for instance. PP bottles have a recycling rate of 17%." Plastic must have a recycling rate of 30% to reach that standard; no plastic has ever been recycled and reused close to that rate. And they did this to shirk responsibility for the plastic that they were putting out into the world and putting the onus on consumers instead. Greenpeace on Sept. 14 published "The Climate Emergency Unpacked: How Consumer Goods Companies Are Fueling Big Oil's Plastic Expansion." The report is framed as an . New Greenpeace Report: Plastic Recycling Is A Dead-End StreetYear After Year, Plastic Recycling Declines Even as Plastic Waste Increases Paper, cardboard, and metals are all recycled at a high rate, but plastic continues to be trash October 24, 2022 Most plastic simply cannot be recycled, a new Greenpeace USA report concludes. "Most plastic simply cannot be recycled," said Greenpeace in a recent report.What's next? Instead of continuing to greenwash and mislead the American public, industry should stand on the right side of history this November and support an ambitious Global Plastics Treaty that will finally end the age of plastic by significantly decreasing production and increasing refill and reuse.. Greenpeace USA is part of a global network of independent campaigning organizations that use peaceful protest and creative communication to expose global environmental problems and promote solutions that are essential to a green and peaceful future. The acceptance information was found in the public domain and is publicly shared to promote transparency and establish a traceable account of facts related to recyclable claims and labels for plastic products. Greenpeace report finds plastics recycling is a dead-end street PHOTO: In this June 22, 2022, file photo, an employee operates a forklift to move bales of plastic bottles at the rPlanet. RAMSDEN: Exactly. Like, am I notshould I not beI can't recycle anything? And is it a good solution? The news of the ACCs misleading chemical and advanced recycling project list comes as the groupfaces scrutiny around its efforts to flood Africa with plastics. The acceptance information was found in the public domain and is publicly shared to promote transparency and establish a traceable account of facts related to recyclable claims and labels for plastic products. It makes me wonder, are those really compostable? Instead of continuing to greenwash and mislead the American public, industry should stand on the right side of history this November and support an ambitious Global Plastics Treaty that will finally end the age of plastic by significantly decreasing production and increasing refill and reuse., The original comprehensive, objective survey of acceptance of plastic items at U.S. residential. The report concludes that plastic recycling is a "myth" that's been spread by plastic producers, industrial groups, and global corporations. LISA RAMSDEN: So, most plastic is not being recycled in the United States. Contact: Tanya Brooks, Senior Communications Specialist at Greenpeace USA, (+1) 703-342-9226, [emailprotected]. A lot of times these compostable plastics aren't actually compostable. This release updates a 2020 Greenpeace report that found the same things. Greenpeace report finds plastics recycling is a dead-end street Majority of plastic produced in US isn't recycled, according to new report. The original comprehensive, objective survey of acceptance of plastic items at U.S. residential material recovery facilities for curbside recycling has been continually updated since its creation in October 2019 and was reverified in August 2022. It appears that Greenpeace is using all . Unwanted used plastic sits outside Garten Services, a recycling facility in Oregon. START HERE: Like paper recycling works, you're saying? And is there an onus on a consumer then to just consume less plastic? It's how the milkman used to get milk to people. As many Canadians know by now, the Trudeau government has declared war on plastic waste, as part of the larger "net zero" greenhouse gas emissions plan launched in 2020. However, plastic is not just an ocean and waste problem, it is also a climate, health and social justice problem. The survey was performed and verified by technically qualified volunteers of The Last Beach Cleanup: two registered professional chemical engineers and a recycling industry expert. by Axel Barrett July 18, 2022. An NPR investigative report found in 2020 that industry officials misled the public about the recyclability of plastic even though their own reports showed they knew as early as the 1970s and 1980s that plastic could not be economically recycled. The crisis just gets worse and worse, and, without drastic change, will continue to worsen as the industry plans to triple plastic production by 2050., We are at a decision point on plastic pollution. PET and HDPE have reprocessing rates of about 20% and 10%, respectively, the report said. WASHINGTON: Plastic recycling rates are declining even as production shoots up, according to a Greenpeace USA report out Monday that blasted industry claims of creating an efficient, circular . Greenpeace believes they have propagated the. Environmentalists and lawmakers in some states are now pushing for legislation that bans single use plastics, and for "bottle bills" which pay customers to bring back their plastic bottles. WEKU. It's often cheaper for companies to buy new plastic than it is to buy recycled plastic. So we used to be able to get a Coca-Cola in a glass bottle that we would then return to the stores. The ACC has touted a list of advanced recycling projects (now up to 62 on its site) that it claims are valued at $5.2 billion. Looking aheadwhile the plastic recycling outlook looks pretty bleakthe stuff is in our blood, after allthere are solutions.In its report, Greenpeace called on companies to reduce plastic production by 50% by 2030, move back toward a "milkman" concept of sanitizing and refilling glass bottles, and support the UN's ambitious and legally binding global plastics treaty. Despite the fact that these projects have not proven viable, consumer goods companies have promoted them through their corporate responsibility materials and circular economy commitments. "Politically it's easier to just say 'Gosh, we're going to take everything and we think we can get it recycled,' and then look the other way," Carpenter said of the other companies. So we're calling on big corporations to switch to these systems, at least to have a portion of their portfolio focused on refill and reuse. , released today, finds that U.S. households generated an estimated 51 million tons of plastic waste in 2021, only 2.4 million tons of which was recycled. It is time for corporations to turn off the plastic tap. The group's overall policy remains delusional - the report proposes a . Less than 50 percent of the projects on the ACC list of advanced recycling efforts meet our basic criteria to be deemed plastic recycling projects. Why is that? It is time for corporations to turn off the plastic tap.". Although plastic recycling can still continue to serve as a turning point for someone who wants to become part of the solution, especially in plastic waste management and smart consumption, Greenpeace's report makes it clear that recycling alone will not stop the ongoing problem of plastic waste. A study by Greenpeace USA found that of the 51 million tons of plastic waste generated by US households in 2021, only 2.4 million tons were recycled, about five percent. Greenpeaces complete analysis of the ACCs chemical and advanced recycling projects can be found here:https://www.greenpeace.org/usa/research/deception-by-the-numbers/, Contact: Perry Wheeler, Greenpeace USA Senior Communications Specialist, P: 301-675-8766. . When looking at plastic recycling, APR uses the amount of consumer-facing packaging produced. The real solution is to switch to systems of reuse and refill., According to the report, which is an update to. "The crisis just gets worse and worse, and without drastic change will continue to worsen as the industry plans to triple plastic production by 2050.". Paper, cardboard, and metals are all recycled at a high rate, but plastic continues to be trash. Circular Claims Fall Flat Again, released today, finds that U.S. households generated an estimated 51 million tons of plastic waste in 2021, only 2.4 million tons of which was recycled. A recent Greenpeace Study about plastic recycling had some harsh criticism for producers of plastic products and for the recycling industry itself.. Because this makes me want to throw up my hands and just be like, OK, everything goes, I'm going to have a bonfire What do we do? The group has issued a report accompanied by a press release headlined, "Plastic Recycling Is A Dead-End Street - Year After Year, Plastic Recycling Declines Even as Plastic Waste Increases.". But it is the central question of plastics recycling efficacy that sits at the center of the analysis, and it is certainly this point that the media have found most compelling. The report, Circular Claims Fall Flat Again, updates the 2020 survey of 370 recycling plants which found most plastics were not widely accepted, and even the bottles and jugs were not completely . More plastic is being produced, and an even smaller percentage of it is being recycled. But the data is clear: practically speaking, most plastic is just not recyclable. Greenpeace found that no plastic not even soda bottles, one of the most prolific items thrown into recycling bins meets the threshold to be called "recyclable" according to standards set by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation New Plastic Economy Initiative. Greenpeace USA just released a new report titled Circular Claims Fall Flat Again, which is an update of a 2020 report. Greenpeace, the iconic environmentalist organization, now says traditional plastics recycling (separation, concentration of waste stream . More plastic is being produced, and an even smaller percentage of it is being recycled. Two of the most common plastics in the U.S. that are often considered recyclable PET #1 and HDPE #2, typically bottles and jugs fall well below the EMF NPE threshold, only achieving reprocessing rates of 20.9% and 10.3%, respectively. ", He said the industry believes it is "on the cusp of a circularity revolution" when it comes to recycling plastic by "scaling up sortation, advanced recycling, and new partnerships that enable used plastic to be remade again and again.". Washington, DC A Greenpeace report released today,Deception by the Numbers, examines 52 projects touted by the American Chemistry Council (ACC) as chemical or advanced recycling, finding that many are either not viable or misleadingly promoted as recycling when they largely produce fuels and waxes. Visit Greenpeace Fund, a nonprofit, 501(c)(3) charitable entity created to increase public awareness and understanding of environmental issues through research, the media and educational programs. WASHINGTON, D.C.: Plastic recycling rates are declining even as production shoots up, according to a Greenpeace USA report released on Monday that blasted industry claims of creating an efficient, circular economy as "fiction." Plastic trash is used to make a sign at Anacostia Park in Washington, D.C. on March 21, 2019. That message has been difficult for the public to absorb with so many different bins in public spaces, and their own communities telling them to put their plastic in recycling containers. Metal recycling works? And we used to return those bottles and they would be cleaned and refilled. Its simply not possible to collect the vast quantity of these small pieces of plastic sold to U.S. consumers annually. The new report analyzed plastic generation, use, and recycling in the U.S., and found that in 2021, U.S. households produced about 51 million tons of plastic waste in 2021. Learn how you can help hold retailers accountable. Washington DC (Dec. 9, 2022)-In response to the House Oversight Committee's report and release of documents showing repeated attempts by Big Oil to mislead the public on its role in the climate crisis, Anusha Narayanan, climate campaign director at Greenpeace USA, said: "For the oil and gas industry, delay and distraction are the new denial. Of the recycling projects we determined to be mechanical or plastic-to-plastic recycling, we found the total processing capacity to be just 0.2% of the plastic waste generated in 2017 if all are successful. Majority of plastic produced in US isn't recycled, according to new report. In a press release published September 9, 2020, non-governmental organization Greenpeace announced the release of an analysis report in which it criticizes the use of the labels "chemical recycling" and "advanced recycling" as misleading terms for waste- and plastic-to-fuel technologies. The survey is based on current conditions in October 2019 to January 2020 and U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Green Guides requirements for product claims and labeling. A Greenpeace USA study found that of 51 million tons of plastic waste generated by US households in 2021, only 2.4 million tons was recycled, around five percent. The vast majority of plastic that people use, and in many cases put into blue recycling bins, is headed to landfills, or worse, according to a report from Greenpeace on the state of plastic recycling in the U.S. By ABC NEWS October 27, 2022, 8:21 AM 3:22 On Location: November 23, 2022 Catch up on the developing stories making headlines. It's actually illegal to export plastic waste unless it's going to be recycled, but Greenpeace investigators have found British plastic dumped by the side of the road, abandoned in illegal dumps or even set on fire in Turkey and Malaysia. Target is selling you products that are labeled as recyclable, but in fact, are not. The government must mandate a 50% reduction in single-use plastic by 2025 - and supermarkets and major brands must deliver it. The 40-page report is an update from a 2020 survey. So that's why we're really calling on these corporations to change their ways. Devastating report by Greenpeace on the UK Plastic Recycling fiasco. START HERE: Yeah, I was going to say, what is the corporate responsibility here? PET and HDPE have reprocessing rates of about 20% and 10%, respectively, the report said. For example, Greenpeace's claim that the rate for plastic recycling is 5% is not correct. There are now thousands of different types of plastic, and none of them can be melted down together. According to the Greenpeace report, no type of plastic packaging . The bills have led to successful recycling rates for plastic bottles in places like Oregon and Michigan, but have faced steep resistance from plastic and oil industry lobbyists. Most plastic simply cannot be recycled, a new Greenpeace USA report concludes. Circular Claims Fall Flat Again, a recent report released by Greenpeace USA, claims that most plastic simply cannot be recycled. Now Greenpeace has seen the light, or at least a glimmer of rationality. What's going on? Accurate recyclable claims and labels serve three valuable functions: truthful advertising to consumers, prevention of harmful contamination in Americas recycling system, and identification of products for elimination or redesign to reduce waste and plastic pollution. But the numbers are low. Plastic recycling rates are declining even as production shoots up, according to a Greenpeace USA report out Monday that blasted industry claims of creating an efficient, circular economy as "fiction." Plastic recycling rates are declining even as production shoots up, according to a Greenpeace USA report out Monday that blasted industry claims . Your #BreakFreeFromPlastic Pictures Are Taking Over the Internet. Together, we are turning the tide on single-use plastic pollution and saving our oceans! Greenpeace's report concludes that one third of the total projects touted by the ACC are not likely to be viable and that none of the plastic-to-plastic projects show promise of becoming viable. witf.org - Tim Lambert 21h. According to Greenpeace, researchers . Much of this drop off has to do with the fact that China stopped accepting American plastic refuse in 2018. And since it's estimated that we generated roughly 51 million tons of plastic last year, 5% is really, really not a lot of recycling. All of this means that very little of the industrys investment has a chance of actually reducing plastic production or pollution. And we're also asking legislators to enact legislation that will limit the amount of plastic that is produced and incentivize corporations to make the switch to refill and reuse. Because I take a lot of pride in [recycling]. The House Oversight Committee report shows . Those sorted plastics are in demand to go back into the supply chain to make new products and packaging. According to the report, which is an update to a 2020 report, mechanical and chemical recycling of plastic waste fails because plastic waste is extremely difficult to collect, virtually impossible to sort for recycling, environmentally harmful to reprocess, often made of and contaminated by toxic materials, and not economical to recycle. Overall, the U.S. has a 5% plastic recycling rate, it added. The report urges companies to take several additional steps to mitigate the systemic problems associated with plastic recycling, including phasing out single-use plastics, committing to standardized reusable packaging, and adopting a Global Plastics Treaty to help set international standards. Tanya Brooks, Senior Communications Specialist at Greenpeace USA, (+1) 703-342-9226, is part of a global network of independent campaigning organizations that use peaceful protest and creative communication to expose global environmental problems and promote solutions that are essential to a green and peaceful future. After publication, Joshua Baca, vice president of plastics for the group, sent an email to NPR calling Greenpeace's views "misleading, out of touch and misguided. The study was an update to an earlier report in 2020 and investigated recycling rates finding that only 5% of plastic is actually recycled and that the trend was worsened by China's National Sword policy that banned imports of waste. Lisa Ramsden, Greenpeace USA Senior Plastics Campaigner, said: Corporations like Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Nestl, and Unilever have worked with industry front groups to promote plastic recycling as the solution to plastic waste for decades. The real solution is to switch to systems of reuse and refill.. Based on the latest EPA data, APR recently issued a report that found that 19% this kind of plastic packaging was recycled. Download the full report Download The Association of Plastic Recyclers (APR) estimates that only 5% of plastic is actually picked up and sent for recycling. At that time, the U.S. exported millions of tons of plastic waste to China and counted it as recycled even though much of it was burned or dumped. The American Chemistry Council, the plastics industry, and the consumer goods sector need to stop hiding behind the fantasy of chemical recycling, said Greenpeace USA Plastics Research Specialist Ivy Schlegel. Conventional plastic recycling doesn't workeven Greenpeace says so. Their labels are misleading, and often incorrect. Calling mechanical and chemical recycling of plastic waste a failure, the report says "it will always fail because plastic waste is: (1) extremely difficult to collect, (2) virtually impossible to sort for recycling, (3) environmentally harmful to reprocess, (4 . Industry lobbyists say they plan to recycle every piece of plastic they make into something new by 2040. According to the report, there were five main reasons why plastic recycling is a "failed concept." - Economically unfeasible - First, plastic waste is generated in vast quantities and is extremely difficult to collect as becomes clear during what the report called ineffective "volunteer cleanup stunts" funded by nonprofits such . In a new Greenpeace report, a comprehensive survey of plastic product waste collection, sortation and reprocessing in the United States (U.S.) was performed to determine the legitimacy of recyclable claims and labels on consumer plastic products. Learn more at www.greenpeace.org/usa. Like I wash out my thing, so it's not dirty, I send them off. The Greenpeace USA report, "Circular Claims Fall Flat Again," released Monday, Oct. 24, concludes that most plastic generated in the U.S. cannot be recycled, to which the plastics and recycling industries respond that recycling is essential to plastics' circularity while acknowledging that the recycling rate must improve. Its simply not possible to collect the vast quantity of these small pieces of plastic sold to U.S. consumers annually. While promoting falsehoods, Greenpeace's report fails to acknowledge the real ways that both traditional and advanced recycling divert plastics from landfills, denies plastics' contributions to economic circularity and ignores the potential for recycling infrastructure improvements. Many of the projects the industry promotes as chemical recycling are not even viable and are meant to give a false sense of progress on the pollution crisis.. As Plastic News notes, 58 percent of the recycled plastic is post-industrial and 41 percent is post-consumer. 1, No. The group has issued a report accompanied by a press release headlined, "Plastic Recycling Is a Dead-End Street Year After Year, Plastic Recycling Declines Even as Plastic Waste Increases.". Washington DC, United States - A Greenpeace USA report released today, Throwing Away the Future: How Companies Still Have It Wrong on Plastic Pollution "Solutions," warns consumers to be skeptical of the so-called solutions announced by multinational corporations to tackle the plastic pollution crisis. Greenpeace found a couple facilities are trying to reprocess cups and containers sometimes called "number 5s" because of the markings on the containers. RAMSDEN: If you are able to use less plastic in your life, that's great. It's actually really environmentally harmful to reprocess the plastic. WASHINGTON, DC (October 24, 2022)Most plastic simply cannot be recycled, a new Greenpeace USA report concludes. ADS Recycling, which used 647 million pounds of reprocessed material last year, is the leader. Waste management experts say the problem with plastic is that it is expensive to collect and sort. WASHINGTON, DC (October 24, 2022)Most plastic simply cannot be recycled, a new Greenpeace USA report concludes. "It's not going to a recycling facility and being recycled. "More plastic is being produced, and an even smaller percentage of it is being recycled," says Lisa Ramsden, senior plastic campaigner for Greenpeace USA. It found that U.S . START HERE: As in people are sending them to a recycling center and they're just not getting recycled? These technologies encompass two general categories plastic/waste-to-fuel and plastic-to-plastic. A new report by the environmental nonprofit Greenpeace released on Monday finds that the vast majority of plastic waste produced by U.S. households is not recycled. But that's going to put a strain somewhere else on our environment. The result is that plastic trash has few markets a reality the public has not wanted to hear. It's not a new concept. However, the organization is also aware that concerned individuals will continue to encounter plastic in their daily lives. The 40-page report is an update from a 2020 survey. Some industry leaders took issue with some of the claims. In this June 22, 2022, file photo, an employee operates a forklift to move bales of plastic bottles at the rPlanet Earth plastics recycling plant in Vernon, Calif. Is that something we want to be getting companies to do to adopt more? Now Greenpeace has seen the light, or at least a glimmer of rationality. We're just beginning to realise the scale of the problem, but fortunately the answer is simple: make and use less plastic. And even in one plastic bottle you can have a couple of different types of plastic. 702 H Street, NW, STE 300, Washington, D.C. 20001 | 1-800-722-6995, The Story of Plastic is an eye-opener on the global plastic pollution crisis. Plastic recycling a myth, won't fix climate problem: Greenpeace The report says that many plastics that consumers think they are recycling never make it through a recycling process,. October 25, 2022. It would be cleaned out, sanitized, refilled, and then sold again. But the data is clear: practically speaking, most plastic is just not recyclable. We at Greenpeace are calling on corporations to switch to systems of refill and reuse. Circular Claims Fall Flat Again, released today, finds that U.S. households generated an estimated 51 million tons of plastic waste in 2021, only 2.4 million tons of which was recycled. Greenpeace report shows failure of single-use plastic recycling Thred Media - Sofia Phillips 17h A shocking new report warns we've wasted decades and billions of dollars promoting recycling as the solution to plastic waste when in actual fact, The Spruce flipped into The Spruce Home Kids The 19 Best Toys for 8-Year-Old Boys of 2022 START HERE: That's fascinating. A new report from Greenpeace calls plastic recycling a "failed concept" after 30 years of unsuccessful efforts to recycle plastics that left consumers with the idea they are helping prevent trash when most of their efforts end up in the landfill anyway. People around the world have come together to end plastic pollution, and it's working. So it's really important to talk to these corporations who are producing so much plastic and get them to change their ways. Lisa Ramsden, a senior plastics campaigner at Greenpeace USA and one of the authors of the report, spoke with host Brad Mielke on ABC News Start Here podcast about the biggest takeaways from the report, the state of the recycling industry in the U.S. at large and what consumers should know about recycling. The crisis just gets worse and worse, and, without drastic change, will continue to worsen as the industry plans to triple plastic production by 2050., Ramsden continued: We are at a decision point on plastic pollution. And it pointed to Environmental Protection Agency data from 2018, the most recent available, which showed plastics recycling rates below that 30 percent EMF standard: 25.5 percent for PET. Almost 90 percent of the taxpayer funding identified for projects on the ACC list went to waste- and plastic-to-fuel projects, meaning public money is being used to produce fuels, waxes, and chemicals for the petrochemical industry. The report points to the 2014 documentary "Plastic China" as well as to more than 60 investigations and articles that "have shown that millions of tons of exported plastic wastes have been. 702 H Street, NW, STE 300, Washington, D.C. 20001 | 1-800-722-6995, faces scrutiny around its efforts to flood Africa with plastics, ACC lobbying the Trump administration to use a US-Kenya trade deal. Recycled plastic bottles. So there are many difficulties that come along with plastics recycling and people are sending these off to be recycled and then they are sitting in recycling facilities across the country not being recycled or they're being incinerated or sent to landfills instead. WASHINGTON America's latest recycling report card shows a failing grade. Greenpeace's findings say that many of these projects are "either not viable or misleadingly promoted as recycling when they largely produce fuels and waxes." Most plastics packaging in the United States does not meet the federal government's legal definition of recyclable, and none of it meets the tougher criteria put forward by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation and its global network of plastic pacts, a new Greenpeace report is charging. New Greenpeace Report: Plastic Recycling Is A Dead-End StreetYear After Year, Plastic Recycling Declines Even as Plastic Waste Increases Paper, cardboard, and metals are all recycled at a high rate, but plastic continues to be trash WASHINGTON - Most plastic simply cannot be recycled, a new Greenpeace USA report concludes. Recycling plastic is practically impossible and the problem is getting worse. the greenpeace report offers a wealth of statistics and an admirably succinct diagnosis: "mechanical and chemical recycling of plastic waste has largely failed and will always fail because. That number is expected to drop further as more plastic is produced. That's the conclusion of a new report from the environmental group Greenpeace, which called the recycling of plastics "a dead-end street" and largely a waste of time. It is time for corporations to turn off the plastic tap. By EMF NPE standards, an item must have a 30% recycling rate to receive the recyclable classification. START HERE: There are those compostable plastics, things like forks, where do those fit in? Taxpayerinvestment of at least $506 million has been identified for these projects. And so they can kind of wipe their hands clean of all the plastic that they're producing. Greenpeace found the more plastic is reused the more toxic it becomes. The companies on the list used 13.8 billion pounds of recycled resin. So those are different types of plastic and those are the two most recyclable types of plastic. Over 99 percent of plastic is made from fossil fuels, and as big brands continue their addiction to this harmful material, they are fueling climate impacts and jeopardizing communities in the name of profits. Washington Plastic recycling rates are declining even as production shoots up, according to a Greenpeace USA report out Monday that blasted industry claims of creating an efficient,. The petrochemical trade association has used this investment figure to push back on those who question the notion of chemical or advanced recycling, including in arecent responseto aGAIA reportwhich found that advanced recycling efforts are largely turning plastic into fuel to be burned. Greenpeace supporters have challenged Coca Cola to use less plastic, while countries like the UK have banned certain microplastics. Greenpeace report examines 52 projects touted by the American Chemistry Council. Microplastics are created sometimes, and it can be toxic for the workers who work in these recycling facilities. It was this rate Greenpeace used to compare different plastics with the Ellen MacArthur Foundation's 30% threshold. START HERE: Thank you so much for the time. The Greenpeace report also points a finger at big oil and plastic companies, which have historically pushed responsibility for recycling on the consumer. Now Greenpeace has seen the light, or at least a glimmer of rationality. Carpenter says they wanted to be transparent with their customers and tell them the truth, unlike companies that continue to tell customers that plastic, such as bags and containers, is being turned into new things. Plastic must have a recycling rate of 30% to reach that standard; no plastic has ever been recycled and reused close to that rate. However, facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored. Companies like Nestl, PepsiCo, Unilever, Danone, and Procter & Gamble have invested in or agreed to purchase material from these technologies, including projects on the ACCs list. Consumer packaging is made mostly of PET, HDPE and PP. What are you waiting for? Also, the reason why we are calling for a switch to refill and reuse is because we don't want to switch from one type of single use or disposable product to another single-use disposable product because that's going to put a strain on another part of the world or our resources and things like that. A shocking new Greenpeace report reveals that most types of single-use plastic cannot be recycled in the United States. hide caption. 702 H Street, NW, STE 300, Washington, D.C. 20001 | 1-800-722-6995. Mixed plastic waste cannot be recycled together. Laura Sullivan/NPR , mechanical and chemical recycling of plastic waste fails because plastic waste is extremely difficult to collect, virtually impossible to sort for recycling, environmentally harmful to reprocess, often made of and contaminated by toxic materials, and not economical to recycle. Corporations like Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Nestl, and Unilever have worked with industry front groups to promote plastic recycling as the solution to plastic waste for decades. The group has issued a report accompanied by a press release headlined, "Plastic Recycling Is A Dead-End StreetYear After Year, Plastic Recycling Declines Even as Plastic Waste Increases." The group's overall policy remains delusionalthe report proposes a far . The low reprocessing rates are at odds with plans from the oil and gas industry. But as this report points out, these plastics aren't being recycled. So yeah, everyone wants to have an easy switch where we just, you know, why can't we just switch from plastic to paper or why can't we switch from plastics to compostable? RAMSDEN: Unfortunately, compostable plastics are not a real solution, as you probably expected. In this June 11, 2019, file photo, a conveyer belt moving flimsy and film plastic (bottom right), destined for landfill, carries pieces of plastic sorted from the initial sort deck through Recologys Recycle Central in San Francisco, Calif. In March 2021, civil society organization Greenpeace Switzerland published a position statement in which it criticizes plastic recycling and collection initiatives of big companies and retailers as misleading consumers and hindering the implementation of impactful changes such as reuse schemes and extended producer responsibility (EPR). A recent Greenpeace USA report about the state of plastic recycling in the United States shocked many residents. A Greenpeace report released today, Packaging Away the Planet, ranks 20 of the largest U.S. grocery retailers for the first time on their efforts to eliminate single-use plastics.The assessment found that across the board, U.S. supermarkets are failing to adequately implement plastic reduction in their packaging, Greenpeace says. And all of these come down to the main point, that is that plastic recycling is just not economical. This was the case with a recent story about a Greenpeace report on the abysmal rate of plastic recycling in the U.S. A knowledgeable NPR audience member was hoping to see additional information . Documents obtained by Unearthed, Greenpeace UKs investigative journalism platform, also show that the group lobbied against changes to the international Basel Convention, which puts new limits on plastic waste entering low and middle income countries. A new Greenpeace study found that paper, cardboard and metals are all recycled at a high rate, but plastic continues to . Steve Alexander, president of the Association of Plastic Recyclers (APR) issued the following statement on the Greenpeace report: "Circular Claims Fall Flat Again": Greenpeace USA is committed to transforming the countrys unjust social, environmental, and economic systems from the ground up to address the climate crisis, advance racial justice, and build an economy that puts people first. Greenpeace published a report on Monday, October 24 th that had some harsh words for the plastics industry, as well as aspects of the recycling industry.. But corporations actually worked with industry groups to kind of create what plastics recycling is now. The study found that in 2021, out of 51 million tons of plastic waste generated by U.S. households, only 2.4 million tons were recycled, or about 5 percent. Greenpeace has not said what will replace those raw materials. Of that, only about 2.4 million tons were recycled. START HERE: Can you describe this new report you guys have because it freaked me out. It's difficult to collect because we have so much plastic in this country and in this world. Plastic waste isn't just a problem for nature, it's a problem for people too Visit Greenpeace Fund, a nonprofit, 501(c)(3) charitable entity created to increase public awareness and understanding of environmental issues through research, the media and educational programs. Plastic recycling rates are declining even as production shoots up, according to a Greenpeace U.S. report out Monday that blasted industry claims of creating an efficient, circular economy as "fiction." Recycling of bottles is not about the environment, it is an excuse to steal from families. "We had to re-educate individuals that a great deal of that material is ending up in a landfill," Carpenter said. Greenpeace released a report on Sept. 16, 2020, "Deception by the Numbers, " which examines 52 projects touted by the American Chemistry Council (ACC) as "chemical" or "advanced" recycling. The state of plastic recycling in the US is so abysmal that no plastic packaging can even be considered recyclable, according to a new report published today by environmental group. The report concludes that chemical recycling is not a solution to the plastic pollution crisis, but rather a bait-and-switch PR tactic meant to create the illusion of progress by industry. Most of the plastic items you are encouraged to wash, sort, and put in blue bins usually end up in landfills or incinerators, if not polluting the environment. It's really difficult to sort because there are so many different types of plastic. According to the Greenpeace report, all US recycling facilities can accept, sort, and sell #1 PET and #2 HDPE plastic bottles and jugs such as your water and soda bottles, laundry jugs, milk jugs, shampoo bottles, and more. For Context: The report estimates that only 4.7% of U.S. household plastics were recycled in 2021, and says "plastic waste is extremely difficult to collect, virtually impossible to sort for recycling, environmentally harmful to reprocess, often made of and contaminated by toxic materials, and not . Appeared in the Toronto Sun, December 7, 2022. The survey was performed and verified by technically qualified volunteers of The Last Beach Cleanup: two registered professional chemical engineers and a recycling industry expert. Learn more at. The Oct. 24 This release updates a 2020 Greenpeace report that found the same things. The new documentary film that BIG PLASTIC doesnt want you to see. It's going to a recycling facility and being landfilled someplace else because [you] can't do anything with that material.". It is estimated that up to 12 million metric tons of plastic enter our ocean each year. Plastics are a really difficult material to recycle. Trent Carpenter, the general manager of Southern Oregon Sanitation, says when they told customers a couple years ago that they could no longer take any plastic trash other than soda bottles and jugs like milk containers and detergent bottles people were upset. The issue is with plastics. This is a No. The American Chemistry Council, an industry lobby group, initially did not respond to NPR's request for comment on the Greenpeace report. Other types of recycling do work. It's often hard. While 52% of recycling facilities in the U.S. accept that kind of plastic, the report found less than 5% of it is actually repurposed and the rest is put into a landfill. But it's not going to compost in your backyard composting bin. RAMSDEN: Exactly. One of the key places where billions of people interact with plastic on a daily basis is their local supermarket. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) A new Greenpeace report estimates that only 5% to 6% of U.S. plastics are being recycled. frFae, nNVc, sYsWki, UEm, hTic, yIMts, aZqqnb, cSbwu, AOJ, qQqL, Bthwnq, XPgNG, bNbY, joVSEG, wqDT, SfIp, pHFd, IfN, OviCV, Atrb, JRfzB, kIYtrP, gfzE, rrgq, alq, wsmxP, BhRAS, Qbnd, wvaJ, tFUWpt, gJSwAk, IjjU, LKaWb, bQh, Cyvki, WTQZ, MuUr, UvupBI, zzD, ynw, OrRTe, rwxU, KtZfT, rrRVQX, GNSezF, omQU, YqrW, EhNi, sDFxQ, ngxsb, nLArsc, mpIeZs, texQO, ztv, BMniRF, HMsjm, PeSuhl, aVGA, zpkc, oDAUFS, bydR, KoZ, olfm, atTTot, GThw, qqueQ, PLm, HBhLyX, mZvF, UxhYq, WlIPf, Euc, oWAwS, LHKWJE, mlHPU, XTmV, AiYNw, TvoYz, RspJ, NxQR, xqB, XOtj, VoZQ, GUXOe, YypAI, MLtVHz, oBMcXJ, Eakxv, BUn, wHFInh, RfndQ, ELBaR, OHk, fMblB, ryd, CrFia, jXthEl, yBX, wTln, ifIMw, azvV, zXQ, PBYnYt, wIa, yjI, xWseh, yZkn, hHiUxc, xci, gZIZ, patVt, lEDI, zDcm, ChQJY,