Trashed: The Secret Life of Plastic Recycling
ABC News' groundbreaking investigation looks into how well the U.S. plastic bag recycling system is working, and how communities are impacted by nearby landfills and incinerators.
The Little-Known Unintended Consequence of Recycling Plastics
Instead of helping to tackle the world’s staggering plastic waste problem, recycling may be exacerbating a concerning environmental problem: microplastic pollution. A recent peer-reviewed study that focused on a recycling facility in the United Kingdom suggests that anywhere between 6 to 13 percent of the plastic processed could end up being released into water or the air as microplastics — ubiquitous tiny particles smaller than five millimeters that have been found everywhere from Antarctic snow to inside human bodies.
Does Plastic Bag Recycling From Stores Like Target, Walmart Work or Still End up in a Landfill?
For months, the I-Team and ABC news tracked plastic bags that we dropped off at store recycling bins around the country and several ended up in landfills or incinerators. But how often do bags that are dropped off properly at retail stores get recycled? The I-Team, ABC News, and ABC stations across the country assembled 46 bundles of recyclable plastic bags. Each contained a tracking device.
Who Said Recycling Was Green? It Makes Microplastics By the Ton
Research out of Scotland suggests that the chopping, shredding and washing of plastic in recycling facilities may turn as much as six to 13 percent of incoming waste into microplastics—tiny, toxic particles that are an emerging and ubiquitous environmental health concern for the planet and people.
Advocates Call for a 50% Reduction in Excess Packaging
Advocates for plastic waste reduction and an expanded bottle bill rallied at the Capitol Wednesday for the state to reduce excess packaging on retail items by 50% by 2033. They say a plan by Governor Kathy Hochul to reduce packaging falls short.
U.S. Plastic Recycling Rate Drops to Close to 5% - Report
The rate of plastic waste recycling in the United States fell to between 5%-6% in 2021 as some countries stopped accepting U.S. waste exports and as plastic waste generation surged to new highs, according to a report released on Wednesday by environmental groups Last Beach Clean Up and Beyond Plastics.
U.S. Plastics Recycling Rate Slumps Below 6%, Analysis Finds
Americans are recycling far less plastic, according to an analysis published Wednesday, with rates falling below 6 percent in 2021. The research from Beyond Plastics and the Last Beach Cleanup aims to shed light on the state of recycling in the United States given a delay in federal reporting.
Trash or Recycling? Why Plastic Keeps Us Guessing.
The universal symbol for recycling, known as the “chasing arrows” logo, is stamped on so many things. But that doesn’t mean they’re recyclable.
Smarter: ♻️Which Plastics Are Actually Recyclable?
In a perfect world, all the plastics we put in our recycling bins would get recycled, but (spoiler alert!) we don’t live in a perfect world. This week, I’m examining an uncomfortable truth about plastics, namely, how only certain plastics really get recycled, and the do’s and don’ts of recycling.
Scraping a Living
On a Brooklyn street, Laurentino Marin doesn’t stop to admire the Halloween decorations. Like every morning, the Mexican is busy filling a shopping cart with used cans and plastic bottles, which he will exchange for a few dollars. Marin, who is 80, is one of New York’s estimated 10,000 “canners”, mostly older migrants from Latin America and China who scrape a living sorting and recycling plastics and aluminium.
Chemical recycling won’t solve our plastics problem
The industry claims that this technological approach enables the true recycling of plastics back into the same kind of plastics. Unfortunately, despite the industry fanfare, chemical recycling is not a viable technology and is almost exclusively used to burn plastic waste as a heavily polluting, greenhouse gas emitting fuel.
Plastic recycling could be more dangerous than you think
Efforts to end plastic pollution with recycling could leave people and the environment laden with poisonous chemicals, a new study has found.
Plastic Waste Suppliers: Interview with Judith Enck
Host Bobby Bascomb talks with Judith Enck, founder of Beyond Plastics, about why fossil fuel companies are moving towards more plastic production, as well as what alternatives and next steps we can take to avoid using single-use plastics.