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Regardless of the myriad of public awareness campaigns about the importance of recycling plastics, the recycling rate of all types of plastic has dropped according to a report by environmental groups, Last Beach Clean Up and Beyond Plastics. Using 2018 figures provided by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) as a comparison, the report indicates that the plastic recycling rate has dropped from 8.7 percent in 2018 (per the EPA) to between 5 to 6 percent in 2021.
The Last Beach Clean Up and Beyond Plastics examined data from the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine, the latest U.S. exports, and the waste industry to document this U.S. plastics recycling rate. The groups also revealed that while plastic recycling is on the decline, the per capita generation of plastic waste has increased by 263 percent since 1980.
In a recent news release highlighting the report, Judith Enck, president of Beyond Plastics and former U.S. EPA regional administrator, stated, “The plastics industry must stop lying to the public about plastics recycling. It does not work, it never will work and no amount of false advertising will change that. Instead, we need consumer brand companies and governments to adopt policies that reduce the production, usage and disposal of plastics.”
Stacy Savage, founder and chief executive officer at Zero Waste Strategies, said that part of the decline in U.S. plastics recycling can be linked to an uptick in single-use plastics in the era of COVID-19.
“Powerful lobbyists from the petroleum and plastics manufacturing industries have pushed the narrative with elected officials and consumers that single-use plastics are better for protecting health over sanitized reusables wares, such as washable metal cutlery,” Savage said. “Greenpeace has countered industry arguments by recruiting over 100 virologists to sign on to a letter of scientific consensus that proves this as a falsehood. By showing study results of transmissibility of the COVID virus among single-use plastics versus reusable wares, one material is not better than the other. At most U.S. recycling facilities, single-use plastics cannot be recycled due to their size and inconsistencies in polymer composition.”
Also, Savage pointed out that China’s “National Sword” program has halted acceptance of some recyclable materials shipped from other “first world” countries. “Several other nations have mirrored this type of restriction on contaminated imports of recyclable materials, as well,” Savage said. “Through this policy, Chinese port workers can identify and tag contaminated shipments for return to their ports of origin.” When contaminated shipments of recyclable materials are returned to the U.S., it is a common practice to landfill and/or incinerate those tonnages due to the lack of nationwide recycling infrastructure.
Savage suspects the estimated rate of 5 to 6 percent of plastics recycling to be even lower in the U.S. As she explained, the toxicity levels in plastics make it harder to recycle them into new products, and with a major increase in plastics production, virgin plastics are introduced into the commodities market at a much lower price point than plastics that have already been collected and are ready to be used in product remanufacturing.
According to Rick Perez, founder and chief executive officer of Avangard Innovative, the largest waste and recycling company in the Americas with operations in 11 countries, he said the drop in recycling has been due to less access to recycling options, communities reducing what they accept due to overseas countries not buying anymore because of the bans on plastics imports, and lack of options for mixed bales in the U.S.
“The industry is increasing education to better inform consumers that plastics can be recycled, MRFs are upgrading to sort better and produce more grades to market, and capacity for processing post-consumer plastics in the U.S. is on record pace for increasing capacity,” Perez said. “Additionally, the government is stepping in with mandates, PCR requirements and targets for recycling rates. Chemical recycling plants will be able to consume mixed bales and hard to recycle plastics that will help to increase recovery and consumption.”
Savage believes that consumers are chomping at the bit to handle their materials responsibly, but there are several barriers to this happening:
•Recycling plastics can be a cog in the materials loop, but it will never solve the pervasive problem of plastic waste, ever. Consumers need to be incentivized and steered toward minimizing their overall consumption of plastics, not only in their product purchases, but in rejecting single-use plastics and the plastic packaging they’re sold in. •Lack of education about how to recycle properly is common for the average American. They likely don’t know what the number inside the “chasing arrows” recycling symbol means when they look at the packaging they are holding and trying to decide which bin/receptacle it should go into. People who don’t understand the materials will often just put them into the trash so they can be sure they didn’t mess up.
“Convenient access to local recycling programs is key for increasing consumer participation rates,” Savage said. “Tens of millions of U.S. residents do not have access to recycling programs because of local and state policies that do not advocate for them. For the past 30 years, the U.S. has abdicated responsibility for its own proper waste management by relying on foreign export programs overseas. America has been caught unprepared to educate and empower residents and businesses around sustainable choices. We need responsible policies in place that can allow every American resident and business with convenient access to waste diversion programs at home, at work, and in public spaces.”
Consumers also need to understand the economics behind recycling and be shown how their responsible handling of recyclable materials can lead to jobs and business growth.
Plastics have never been a great income producer for recycling companies that collect, process and sell these materials to commodity market buyers. From Savage’s discussions with recycling facility operators, plastics are more of a burden due to their toxicity and inconsistent layering of different polymers per product component. For example, a product may have five different types of plastic throughout the whole item, so how does a processor break it down to deal with that? “It may be a welcome reprieve for some operators, but most municipalities that do have recycling ordinances require recycling of rigid plastics and may even include recycling of thin, plastic film wraps, as well,” Savage said.
Perez believes that overall, this is a short term issue. “We are already changing direction and we will soon realize the results of our industry efforts over the next few years,” he said.
Many companies are reducing the number of plastic materials they’re using in their products, in their product packaging, or both.
“As we’ve seen with take-back legislation for electronics (computers, TVs, etc.), mercury-containing products (light bulbs, thermostats, etc.), batteries, and other products, plastics take-back would put the onus on the product manufacturers to recycle responsibly for consumers and businesses that use their products,” Savage said. “They need to close the loop by establishing ‘cradle-to-grave’ life cycle accountability protocols.”
A successful example of this is “bottle bill” or “container deposit” legislation in at least 10 states that have a deposit and return system to ensure the recycling loop is completed and that high quality, uncontaminated materials are used for remanufacturing.
As a zero-waste consultant and corporate trainer, Savage has conducted dozens of waste audits where she was “up to her elbows for six hours” in business trash sorting, weighing, and cataloging the different streams of materials.
“I can tell you that plastic waste is a pervasive and daunting problem and the political will from elected lawmakers, oil companies, plastics manufacturers, and big business lobbyists to reduce plastic waste is almost nil,” Savage said.
Published in the September 2022 Edition
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