Waste management experts say the problem with plastic is that it is expensive to collect and sort. WASHINGTON America's latest recycling report card shows a failing grade. 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. 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. One of the key places where billions of people interact with plastic on a daily basis is their local supermarket. But that's going to put a strain somewhere else on our environment. Greenpeace has not said what will replace those raw materials. . 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. But corporations actually worked with industry groups to kind of create what plastics recycling is now. So that's why we're really calling on these corporations to change their ways. 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. The low reprocessing rates are at odds with plans from the oil and gas industry. 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. Now Greenpeace has seen the light, or at least a glimmer of rationality. Of that, only about 2.4 million tons were recycled. According to the Greenpeace report, no type of plastic packaging . witf.org - Tim Lambert 21h. PP bottles have a recycling rate of 17%." 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. Those sorted plastics are in demand to go back into the supply chain to make new products and packaging. This release updates a 2020 Greenpeace report that found the same things. 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 . 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. 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. RAMSDEN: Exactly. Now Greenpeace has seen the light, or at least a glimmer of rationality. And cups, things like that. 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. And we used to return those bottles and they would be cleaned and refilled. And so they can kind of wipe their hands clean of all the plastic that they're producing. 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. Like I wash out my thing, so it's not dirty, I send them off. 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. 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. 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. 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. So it's really important to talk to these corporations who are producing so much plastic and get them to change their ways. The latest information available for PET and HDPE bottles is from 2020 and shows a recycling rate of 28%. By EMF NPE standards, an item must have a 30% recycling rate to receive the recyclable classification. It was this rate Greenpeace used to compare different plastics with the Ellen MacArthur Foundation's 30% threshold. The report cites separate data published this May which revealed that the amount of plastic actually turned into new things has fallen to new lows of around 5%. But as this report points out, these plastics aren't being recycled. 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 . START HERE: Thank you so much for the time. Most plastic simply cannot be recycled, a new Greenpeace USA report concludes. In interviews with NPR, industry officials were unable to explain how they planned to reach a 100 percent recycling rate. 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. 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. For every other type of plastic, the reprocessing rate is less than 5%. They have a much higher rate of being recycled than plastics 3 through 7. All over the world, communities of color face disproportionate health impacts from the plastics industry, whether through incinerators, landfills, petrochemical facilities, polluted waterways, or the harmful plastic packaging pushed on communities. "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. Taxpayerinvestment of at least $506 million has been identified for these projects. 2 means is what type of plastic it is. 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. Greenpeaces 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. But it's not going to compost in your backyard composting bin. 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. This release updates a 2020 Greenpeace report that found the same things. Download the full report Download 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. 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. Learn more at. 1, No. 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. That number is expected to drop further as more plastic is produced. 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 It's going to a recycling facility and being landfilled someplace else because [you] can't do anything with that material.". 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. It makes me wonder, are those really compostable? 1 and No. 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. The industry has worked to conflate these terms and group them under the umbrella of recycling. And even in one plastic bottle you can have a couple of different types of plastic. 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. But the numbers are low. Unwanted used plastic sits outside Garten Services, a recycling facility in Oregon. 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. RAMSDEN: It's important to keep recycling because again, the problem is not with recycling, it's with plastics and other types [of recycling]. RAMSDEN: Well, what No. By ABC NEWS October 27, 2022, 8:21 AM 3:22 On Location: November 23, 2022 Catch up on the developing stories making headlines. 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. But the data is clear: practically speaking, most plastic is just not recyclable. 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. 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 . 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. Do those mean anything, by the way, the No. People around the world have come together to end plastic pollution, and it's working. More plastic is being produced, and an even smaller percentage of it is being recycled. So those are different types of plastic and those are the two most recyclable types of plastic. It appears that Greenpeace is using all . 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. 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. It's difficult to collect because we have so much plastic in this country and in this world. 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). Like, am I notshould I not beI can't recycle anything? 20. 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 . They are compostable in industrial grade composting machines. 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. 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 . Why is that? The 40-page report is an update from a 2020 survey. The real solution is to switch to systems of reuse and refill., According to the report, which is an update to. ADS Recycling, which used 647 million pounds of reprocessed material last year, is the leader. 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 . Greenpeace found a couple facilities are trying to reprocess cups and containers sometimes called "number 5s" because of the markings on the containers. 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. These technologies promise to convert plastic waste into plastics chemical building blocks to generate like-new material. 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 . Devastating report by Greenpeace on the UK Plastic Recycling fiasco. Other types of recycling do work. They wanted to put their strawberry containers, bags, yogurt cups and all manner of plastic trash in their recycling bin. START HERE: As in people are sending them to a recycling center and they're just not getting recycled? Greenpeace found the more plastic is reused the more toxic it becomes. Paper, cardboard, and metals are all recycled at a high rate, but plastic continues to be trash. RAMSDEN: Exactly. Greenpeace supporters have challenged Coca Cola to use less plastic, while countries like the UK have banned certain microplastics. 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. Recycled plastic bottles. Your #BreakFreeFromPlastic Pictures Are Taking Over the Internet. 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 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. START HERE: Like paper recycling works, you're saying? 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. 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. In this Dec. 26, 2012, file photo, a San Francisco Recology truck drops about 20 tons of trash at the Waste Management landfill in Livermore, Calif. San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images, FILE. It's really difficult to sort because there are so many different types of plastic. 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. Greenpeace Report on UK Plastic Recycling. 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.. Much of this drop off has to do with the fact that China stopped accepting American plastic refuse in 2018. 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. It's not a new concept. 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. by Axel Barrett July 18, 2022. Conventional plastic recycling doesn't workeven Greenpeace says so. 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? Most single-use plastics are not or cannot be recycled properly, and thereby end up polluting our oceans, waterways, and communities, negatively impacting our health directly, as well as the health of land- and marine-based ecosystems. A recent Greenpeace USA report about the state of plastic recycling in the United States shocked many residents. 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. 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. Plastic recycling was estimated to have declined to about 56% in 2021, down from a high of 9.5% in 2014 and 8.7% in 2018. 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. 99% of plastic is made from fossil fuels, like fracked gas and oil, and it contributes to climate change throughout its life-cycle. 2? 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. 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. RAMSDEN: Yes, exactly. It's often hard. 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? 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. Because I take a lot of pride in [recycling]. 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. Overall, the U.S. has a 5% plastic recycling rate, it added. "Most plastic simply cannot be recycled," said Greenpeace in a recent report.What's next? As Plastic News notes, 58 percent of the recycled plastic is post-industrial and 41 percent is post-consumer. Greenpeace report finds plastics recycling is a dead-end street Majority of plastic produced in US isn't recycled, according to new report. An accomplished campaigner, explorer, and marine biologist, John has helped win several major victories for marine conservation since becoming the director of Greenpeace's oceans campaign in 2004. Ramsden said: Single-use plastics are like trillions of pieces of confetti spewed from retail and fast food stores to over 330 million U.S. residents across more than 3 million square miles each year. 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. Thank you for making it happen! 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. The Myth of Single-use Plastic Recycling 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. 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. 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. 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. Plastic also degrades after one or two uses. 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 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 . Turning plastic into even more unneeded fuel is a bad investment and certainly should not be considered recycling. Learn how you can help hold retailers accountable. It is time for corporations to turn off the plastic tap. Plastics are a really difficult material to recycle. Steve Alexander, president of the Association of Plastic Recyclers (APR) issued the following statement on the Greenpeace report: "Circular Claims Fall Flat Again": 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. So there's not a huge market for it. 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 . START HERE: Can you describe this new report you guys have because it freaked me out. The Greenpeace report touches on a number of concerns related to plastics recycling - growing volumes of waste generated and possible toxicity complications, for instance. Join the wave of people demanding corporations #BreakFreeFromPlastic! The report concludes that plastic recycling is a "myth" that's been spread by plastic producers, industrial groups, and global corporations. 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. 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. Like when I go to the bodega down the street, should I be using glass instead of plastic? 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. Unwanted used plastic sits outside Garten Services, a recycling facility in Oregon. , 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. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) A new Greenpeace report estimates that only 5% to 6% of U.S. plastics are being recycled. Its simply not possible to collect the vast quantity of these small pieces of plastic sold to U.S. consumers annually. 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. The group's overall policy remains delusional - the report proposes a . START HERE: That's fascinating. More plastic is being produced, and an even smaller percentage of it is being recycled. "The real solution is to switch to systems of reuse and refill," Ramsden said. The new documentary film that BIG PLASTIC doesnt want you to see. So what's, what's the problem? New plastic, on the other hand, is cheap and easy to produce. It is time for corporations to turn off the plastic tap.". 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. It was this rate Greenpeace used to compare different plastics with the Ellen MacArthur Foundation's 30% threshold. 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. There are now thousands of different types of plastic, and none of them can be melted down together. 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 . However, plastic is not just an ocean and waste problem, it is also a climate, health and social justice problem. Some industry leaders took issue with some of the claims. Turn on desktop notifications for breaking stories about interest? 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. START HERE: So what do we do? A shocking new Greenpeace report reveals that most types of single-use plastic cannot be recycled in the United States. WASHINGTON, DC (October 24, 2022)Most plastic simply cannot be recycled, a new Greenpeace USA report concludes. , 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. START HERE: This is enraging. "We had to re-educate individuals that a great deal of that material is ending up in a landfill," Carpenter said. Microplastics are created sometimes, and it can be toxic for the workers who work in these recycling facilities. 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. It's how the milkman used to get milk to people. 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.". This is a huge problem that brings us to our headline. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. 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,. 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. 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. 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,. 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. RAMSDEN: So the problem isn't with recycling. 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.". Greenpeace, the iconic environmentalist organization, now says traditional plastics recycling (separation, concentration of waste stream . 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. Together, we are turning the tide on single-use plastic pollution and saving our oceans! 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. 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. 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. PET and HDPE have reprocessing rates of about 20% and 10%, respectively, the report said. The Greenpeace report goes on to list why plastic recycling has been such . However, facts do not cease to exist because they are ignored. WEKU. "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. Single-use plastics are like trillions of pieces of confetti spewed from retail and fast food stores to over 330 million U.S. residents across more than 3 million square miles each year. Circular Claims Fall Flat Again, a recent report released by Greenpeace USA, claims that most plastic simply cannot be recycled. "That's greenwashing at its best.". "More plastic is being produced, and an even smaller percentage of it is being recycled," says Lisa Ramsden, senior plastic campaigner for Greenpeace USA. We're just beginning to realise the scale of the problem, but fortunately the answer is simple: make and use less plastic. "More plastic is being produced, and an even smaller. 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 . 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.. 702 H Street, NW, STE 300, Washington, D.C. 20001 | 1-800-722-6995. 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 . Greenpeace believes they have propagated the. 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. 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 issue is with plastics. Greenpeace USA just released a new report titled Circular Claims Fall Flat Again, which is an update of a 2020 report. Is that something we want to be getting companies to do to adopt more? WASHINGTON, DC (October 24, 2022)Most plastic simply cannot be recycled, a new Greenpeace USA report concludes. 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. The result is that plastic trash has few markets a reality the public has not wanted to hear. So that's why we're really calling for this real systemic change, switching to systems of refill and reuse and package-free solutions. 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 . 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. Majority of plastic produced in US isn't recycled, according to new report. Industry lobbyists say they plan to recycle every piece of plastic they make into something new by 2040. 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. 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. Appeared in the Toronto Sun, December 7, 2022. And is it a good solution? "We are at a decision point on plastic pollution. 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. 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. Now Greenpeace has seen the light, or at least a glimmer of rationality. 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. We at Greenpeace are calling on corporations to switch to systems of refill and reuse. 1 or No. Overall, the U.S. has a 5% plastic recycling rate, it added. A recent Greenpeace Study about plastic recycling had some harsh criticism for producers of plastic products and for the recycling industry itself.. These technologies encompass two general categories plastic/waste-to-fuel and plastic-to-plastic. 2. And is there an onus on a consumer then to just consume less plastic? for curbside recycling has been continually updated since its creation in October 2019 and was reverified in August 2022. It's often cheaper for companies to buy new plastic than it is to buy recycled plastic. Plastic waste isn't just a problem for nature, it's a problem for people too 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. A lot of times these compostable plastics aren't actually compostable. Now Greenpeace has seen the light, or at least a glimmer of rationality. October 25, 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. This is a No. 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. 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. 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. While APR is still reviewing the report, it seems that Greenpeace is "recycling" a number of misleading claims. And all of these come down to the main point, that is that plastic recycling is just not economical. 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. And so by putting that 'please recycle' symbol on their bottle or whatever type of plastic material, they're hoping that it will get recycled. The real solution is to switch to systems of reuse and refill.. What's going on? It is time for corporations to turn off the plastic tap. Learn more at www.greenpeace.org/usa. 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