Major bottling companies like Pepsi-Cola and Coke are under pressure to produce more bottles out of recycled bottles, but recycled plastic bottles are increasingly scarce! As a result, recycled plastic is a more expensive raw material than virgin plastic. (The material used for bottles is polyethylene terephthalate, or PET.) The Wall Street Journal explains: “Recycled…
Tag: plastic
Update: Sweeping California Legislation Will Keep a Ban on Styrofoam Off the Ballot
July 2, 2022 Update: Governor Gavin Newsom signs what Waste Dive calls “the most ambitious extended producer responsibility bill for packaging in the U.S.” The California legislature is trying to head off a ban-polystyrene initiative this fall. It is crafting legislation that would require 20 percent of the state’s polystyrene (the lightweight plastic with the…
The Atlantic’s Attack on Recycling Plastic Gets a Rebuttal
Two writers for the Atlantic hit a nerve when they argued recently that we should forget plastics recycling and, instead, push for an end to single-use plastic products. Steve Alexander, president of the Association of Plastic Recyclers, called the article “pitiful.” Writing in the Plastics Recycling Update, Alexander argued that the authors, Judith Enck and…
Should We Even Try to Recycle Plastics?
Pressuring plastic producers to recycle their products has gone on for decades. But two writers at the Atlantic have now concluded, “Plastic recycling does not work and will never work.” In the U.S. in 2021 only 5 percent of all post-consumer plastic was recycled. Furthermore, they say that the plastic producers deny this and those denials…
The Latest Perils of Curbside Recycling
Advocates of curbside recycling are trying to get rid of contamination. Specifically, they are trying to combat “wishcycling.” This is a term for families’ tendency to put into the recycling bin such non-recyclable materials as plastic bags, Styrofoam, food waste, and clothing. Writing on The Conversation website, Jessica Helges and Kate O’Neill observe: “Contaminating the…
In Praise of Styrofoam, Plastic Grocery Bags, and Carbon Dioxide
Roy Cordato’s “politically incorrect” Thanksgiving list includes many items people love to hate. Writing on MasterResource, the economist says: “I love Styrofoam containers, especially in the winter. I like my coffee to be piping hot and I want it to stay that way to the very last drop. Paper cups just don’t do it, plus…