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The 5% Club
Of 51 million tons of household plastic, only about 2.4 million got recycled. Every plastic except bottles and jugs is under 5%.
Greenpeace USA, 2022
Only about 5% of America's plastic actually gets recycled. The rest is landfilled, burned, or shipped around the world. Skip the boat ride. Refill the landfill.
That's how much U.S. household plastic actually got recycled in 2021.
Greenpeace USA, Circular Claims Fall Flat Again (2022)You rinsed it. You sorted it. Here's what happened next.
Of 51 million tons of household plastic, only about 2.4 million got recycled. Every plastic except bottles and jugs is under 5%.
For years the U.S. shipped its "recycling" to China. In 2018 China said no thanks, so it went to Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand and Turkey instead. Much of it was burned or dumped.
Plastics industry insiders had "serious doubt" recycling would ever pay off. Then they spent tens of millions telling you to do it anyway.
One Indiana city paid $105/ton to recycle vs $63.64/ton to landfill everything. Guess which one it kept.
A brand-new recycling plant was estimated to release up to 75 billion microplastic particles per cubic meter of wash water.
Spoiler: put it in the landfill. It's lined, it's designed for this, and plastic just sits there.
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We're not anti-recycling. We're anti-pretending.
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