By definition, recycling is the process of converting waste materials into new products. Plastics are collected from the curb by waste management services, and then brought to Material Recovery Facilities (MRF). The plastic then goes through sorting, washing, processing, shredding, melting, and ends up as plastic pellets.
For a more detailed description into the workings of recycling, read this article by the United States Environmental Protection Agency.
Check out this game to try the sorting process for yourself!
Even though consumers are putting out a higher percentage of plastics for recycling, approximately half of the plastic collected at the curb doesn’t make its way to the facility. The reason most likely is that the collected recycling contains a type of plastic for which there is no way to recycle even though it is labeled with a recycling symbol.
The Problem
The recycling stamps on plastic products were the idea of plastics lobbyists who wanted to improve the reputation of plastics. In the 1980s before we depended on plastics as much as we do today, people saw how much waste was being generated and considered switching away from plastic products as the reputation of the material deteriorated. This would devastate plastics production companies, so they, along with the lobbyists, came up with a solution to positively influence consumers’ views on the products. (Gonzales and Sullivan)
In addition to advertising campaigns that cost up to $50 Million a year, they began stamping plastic products with the recycling symbol since, in theory, plastics can be recycled. They hoped that if people thought the material could be recycled, they wouldn’t be so opposed to it. Environmentalists supported this decision as well, because stamping the plastic with the symbol and number would improve sorting processes.
The problem was, not all plastics can, or should, be recycled. Economically it doesn’t always make sense, it’s chemically problematic and time consuming. Additionally, plastic degrades every time it gets reused, so its value diminishes each time it gets recycled. The oil and plastics industry has known for 50 years that plastic recycling wasn’t going to work as they claimed it would.
