As if the title of this Bloomberg article (metered) is not bad enough, the subtitle—Even if you put everything into the right blue bins, a lot of plastics will end up in landfills and the ocean. Consumers can't solve this problem.—is even more telling about the problem facing us now and far into the future. And then there's the intro graf:
Americans were not set up for success in recycling plastics. Even before China stopped accepting plastic refuse from abroad, 91 percent of potentially recyclable plastic in the U.S. ended up in landfills – or worse, in the oceans. Europe does a little better, with only 70 percent getting tossed.
Despite the one-two punch, keep reading. You'll learn how single-stream recycling has a ton of unintended consequences, how differences in municipal recycling programs confuses consumers, and how combination packaging prevents recycling.
