Jillian Amatt - Artistic Voyages. At the store we find it covering vegetables, meats and cheeses. Now, the New York legislature is deliberating two extended producer responsibility bills as its session nears its June 2 close. (Germany, however, does not require manufacturers to reduce their packaging the way that Englebright's bill would.). I have bamboo cutlery." Your recycling bin is part of the solution, but many of us are confused about what we should be putting in there. Subscribe to Planet Money's weekly newsletter. In interviews, current plastics industry officials acknowledged that recycling the vast majority of plastic hasn't worked in the past. Much of that plastic trash gets broken down into tiny . SB54 requires all packaging in the state to be recyclable or compostable by 2032, cutting plastic packaging by 25 percent in 10 years, and requiring 65 percent . Three decades of recycling have so far failed to reduce what we throw away, especially plastics. A lot of people around the world are also concerned and are making decisions based on their concerns. Most plastic cannot be recycled, only downgraded, and it's often incinerated or used as fuel in waste-to-energy plants, sometimes known as chemical recycling. These producers will reimburse government recycling programs for handling the waste, either directly or through a consortium called a "producer responsibility organization.". She says some days she also carries chopsticks and a reusable straw. Some communities, however, have drop-off locations for plastic foam recycling, which can be made into crown molding and pictureframes. This is the place to get caught up after 2 years in the virtual metaverse. 0:53. Lake Erie will soon have two electric, remote-controlled robots on its shores and in its waters to help remove plastic pollution. Previously, much of the discourse around plastic . Plastic must have a recycling rate of 30% to reach that standard; no plastic has ever been recycled and reused close to that rate. For example, the Metropolitan Environmental Trust (the MET) is a nonprofit that oversees 11 Tulsa-area recycling centers , and none of . Take plastic bags back to the grocery store forrecycling. Text Give to 58128 to (+1)6232GIVING / (+1)623-244-8464 to donate to Recycling plastic to oil,cobblestones, plant trees. (More on that later.) We expect to drop further as more plastic is produced. Your tip could appear in an upcoming episode. While plastics are worth three. Last week, it won a Alfred I. duPont-Columbia award, which is why we're. A measure on the ballot there would impose an extended producer responsibility system on the state in conjunction with a 1-cent fee on every piece of single-use plastic packaging. After recycling's failure to appreciably reduce the amount of plastic the U.S. throws away, some states are taking a new approach, transferring the onus of recycling from consumers to product manufacturers. Internal documents . Many U.S. states have such policies for e-waste and mattresses. She recommends purchasing dried pantry staples in bulk instead. Larger curbside carts will go to 15,000 households. MRFs vary quite a bit. Recyclable. Want economics stories from the comfort of home? You can even get creative and DIY some of your swaps. The article's title leads readers to wonder why even make the effort to recycle. Plastics recyclers wash, grind and pelletize the plastic into post-consumer resin (PCR) which is sold to the packaging, housewares, textiles, automotive, and agricultural products industries to make new . MRF operators say theyre working with manufacturers to design packaging that can be recycled within the capabilities of the currentsystem. Arellano swapped bath products that came in plastic bottles for ones that come as bars a shampoo bar and a bar of soap. Chhotray discovered that small canvas bags she'd bought for an art project work just as well, or you can bring your own jars or other reusable containers just make sure to zero the scale before filling up. Bottles used for laundry detergent and personal care products such as shampoo and soap are all recyclable. In 2021, the WWF calculated that the management of plastic waste costs about $32 billion a year worldwide. It's sending a strong signal to everybody around you that a plastic-free world is possible.". ), "We need specific requirements," said Enck, who is also a former EPA official and favors Englebright's bill over Kaminsky's. Bay City will receive $240,000 from the beverage industry and nearly $1.2 million in community and state funds to expand recycling services. Chhotray is a big fan of going reusable, and her backpack is proof: "I carry my reusable water bottle, my reusable tumbler because I'm a tea addict. In this episode, NPR reporter Laura Sullivan, with the support of PBS's Frontline, sets out to find out who is responsible. It does not necessarily mean the item isrecyclable. Recycling is a business with a product that is vulnerable to the ups and downs of commodities markets. Ultimately, these plans would be approved by the state's Department of Environmental Conservation. Plastics make up 80% of the debris found in oceans, the department said. Plastic piles up at recycling facility in Salem, Oregon. But when you get potato chips, it's just in the sleeve. Companies would have to decrease the amount of their nonreusable packaging by 50% over the first 10 years. This kind of "wish-cycling" may alleviate some of your guilt, but it clogs up the system and makes recycling more expensive. On 27 October 2022, the Biden administration finally released an unclassified version of its long-delayed Nuclear Posture Review (NPR). Three decades of recycling have so far failed to reduce what we throw away, especially plastics. It's a big problem, notes Harrison. per year. 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 . Posted Yesterday at 1:52am Fri 9 Dec 2022 at 1:52am, updated 21h ago 21 hours ago Fri 9 Dec 2022 at 4:17am A photo taken by the EPA shows the scale of the soft plastics being stored. Kaminsky's bill, which the Recycling Partnership supports, calls for producers to come up with their own targets, both for how much recyclable material will be used in their packaging and for how much of their packaging will be recycled. hide caption. Galkowski said about 70% of material is being lost to the trash instead of . So now the whole plastics industrial chain from the oil industry to recyclers is under pressure to figure out what to do withit. Ocotber 28, 2022 Dear Ms. Sullivan, We are deeply concerned that your October 24, 2022 article "Recycling Plastic Is Practically Impossible - And The Problem Is Getting Worse" will exacerbate the issue of plastic waste. So just do the best that you can. Germany, which adopted the policy in the early 1990s, is well known for its high recycling rates. If you bring home a product you like but its package isn't recyclable, Harrison says to tell companies how you feel: "They're listening, more than ever before. Just because you see chasing arrows in the shape of a triangle and a number printed on the bottom of something doesn't mean it can actually be recycled. They are often recyclable curbside, but not always. Why is that? Music: "Show Me The Way" and "Light The Fire Up. Last week, it won a Alfred I. duPont-Columbia award, which is why we're replaying it.). Whats recyclable in one community could be trash inanother. Here's what they've come up with: Understanding the bigger picture can deepen your resolve when it comes to making a personal change. We have come to the point where plastics have become ubiquitous in our daily lives. The Environmental Protection Agency estimated in 2018 that only 8.5% of plastic trash gets recycled into something else. Polystyrene foam, like that used for meat packaging or egg cartons, is not recyclable unless a drop-off location exists in your area. The move is part of a December 2021 executive order by President Joe Biden "to reestablish the federal government as a leader in sustainability," he said. To recycle is to be an actor in a global scrap trade. The Nuclear Posture Review (NPR) is the Pentagon's primary statement of nuclear policy, produced by . A mother bison leads her calf through deep snow toward a road in Yellowstone National Park, Wyo., Feb. 20, 2021. Dow and Waste Management are piloted a program to recycle plastic film. But if recycling most plastic is not working now and if it didn't work 30 years ago when the numbers and arrows first popped up on the bottom of plastic containers did it ever work? Most parents agree that kids should be learning about climate change. Plastic piles up at Garten Services in Salem, Oregon. And there, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, it will remain for hundreds of years. Some are run by municipalities. We also dont recycle as much as we could. If you keep them on and the MRF cant process them, the caps can become dangerous. National Public Radio (NPR) and Frontline, the PBS investigative documentary series, are presenting Plastic Wars, a joint investigation that "reveals how plastic makers for decades have publicly promoted recycling, despite . Fast fashion takes a huge toll on the environment. ( Supplied ) A worker carries used drink bottles and cans for recycling at a collection point in Brooklyn, New York. In the past 12 months, legislatures in Maine, Oregon and Colorado have passed "extended producer responsibility" laws on packaging. In the past 12 months, legislatures in Maine, Oregon and Colorado have passed "extended producer responsibility" laws on packaging. July 1, 2022; California Expands Plastic Producer Probe into Bag . Here are five ways to. Homes and commercial buildings account for a third of greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S. Recycling Industry Is Struggling To Figure Out A Future Without China The U.S. used to send a lot of its plastic waste to China to get recycled. We'd love to hear from you. But as Thomas, the former SPI head, tells FRONTLINE and NPR, the major plastic makers knew that there wasn't enough infrastructure for recycling to actually amount to much. NPR.org. One reason so much plastic packaging ends up in incinerators, landfills and oceans is that it isnt designed to be recycled. Plastic piles up at Garten Services in Salem, Oregon. Ed Jones/AFP via Getty Images While each state's legislation varies, the system generally works like this: "We think corporations will produce less virgin materials because they are charged by the amount they put out there, and certainly less eco-unfriendly materials," said New York state Sen. Todd Kaminsky, a Democrat from Long Island who sponsored one of the bills pending in Albany. Coca-Cola has stated that they eventually want to make all of their bottles out of recycled PET plastic, however that type of recycling is the easiest when the plastic is clear. ", Find us: Twitter / Facebook / Instagram / TikTok. The question of just how or whether companies get to regulate themselves is the biggest point of contention in the New York legislature right now. ", INTERACTIVE: RECYCLING 101 What's recyclable, what becomes trash and why. The globe is already producing two trillion pounds of solid waste a year and is on pace to. The western Pa. ethane cracker could bring this new. "My family sort of makes fun of me because my backpacks are starting to get bigger and bigger every year.". And research published last month identified plastic particles in human blood. We use plastics for packaging of our food and other goods, appliances, furniture, clothing, and moreonly for them to end up in landfills, oceans, or even the air we breathe. Like flexible packaging, these containers challenge the recycling system because theyre made of several different types of plastic: the shiny adhesive labels are one plastic, the protective cap another, and a twistable gear can be yetanother. Nov 21 2022 36 mins. Recycling Facts - Read online for free. Thats because the way clamshells are molded affects the structure of the plastic, making them more difficult torecycle. There was a similar trend in the use of plastics from 2014 to 2018, with very little change year to year. 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. Just this year, Maine and Maryland passed statewide bans of polystyrene foodcontainers. After recycling's failure to appreciably reduce the amount of plastic the U.S. throws away, some states are taking a new approach, transferring the onus of recycling from consumers to product manufacturers. Pictured here: bar soap, a bamboo toothbrush, plastic-free floss, plastic-free deodorant, a menstrual cup, a shampoo bar and a washcloth rather than a plastic loofah. "If you have a state the size of New York get it wrong on extended producer responsibility, it would have a ripple effect on other states.". Not recyclable curbside. Thank you to The Recycling Partnership forguidance. Overall, the U.S. has a 5% plastic recycling rate, it added. There was a similar trend in. This 1 through 7 numbering system is called a resin identification code. These retailers send the plastic to recyclers, who use the material in products such as compositedecking. Every year, the average American goes through more than 250 pounds of plastic waste, and much of that comes from packaging. Updated December 11, 2022, 5 minutes ago An employee of a recycling plant walked past stacks of plastic bottles in Dagenham on March 25, 2010, in London. Thus, Sprite is transitioning from a green bottle to a clear one, supposedly all in the name of reducing waste and improving recycling efforts. We wouldn't expect the tobacco industry to solve the problem of smoking. But whenever you do find a good, practical substitute for a single-use plastic, she says, "it makes you feel so good inside. She and Steve Bokanski, executive director of the Massachusetts Beverage Association, said people should rinse out your items before they go into the recycling bin, keep the caps on plastic bottles and avoid putting plastic bags in the recycle bin as they get tangled up. The myth of plastic recycling. Recycling rates in the U.S. have stagnated over the past decade at around 30% to 35% across all materials in the waste stream; the recycling rate of plastics a growing form of packaging . Another very important tip, Harrison says, is to keep plastic bags of all kinds out of your recycling bin. "Tally up the different types of plastic packaging used," she advises, "and go through the trash as well." Mecklenburg County's recycling centers have begun accepting white rigid foam, as well as books, textiles and shredded paper. For years the economics of plastic recycling have been questioned. There's no box around it. 18 Jul 2022 | Stanley Guevarra. Those targets would then be reviewed by an advisory board of representatives from environmental groups and recycling agencies, as well as manufacturers. The rival bill, sponsored by Assemblymember Steven Englebright, also a Long Island Democrat, stipulates those targets directly. Look at the items on your plastic inventory list and ask yourself, "What can I replace the plastic with?" Becky Harlan/NPR "The Interior Department has an obligation to play a leading role in reducing the impact of plastic waste on our ecosystems and our climate," Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland said. Some states are trying a new approach. Ryan Dorgan/AP So many things are made from plastic these days, and while plastics are cheap and can make life convenient, they have been getting some pretty bad publicity recently as we come to terms not only with how they are made, but what . According to a recent analysis examining global plastic waste generation between 2010 and 2016, the United States was responsible for more plastic trash than any country in the world. Checklocally.). So put the right stuff in the recycling bin, and don't try to recycle items your county doesn't accept just because you put bubble wrap or a potato chip bag in the bin doesn't mean it's going to magically be recycled. Although people found no plastic not even soda bottles, one of the plastics used a lot, meaning that it is constantly being recycled can be called "recyclable.". Recycling rates in the U.S. have stagnated over the past decade at around 30% to 35% across all materials in the waste stream; the recycling rate of plastics a growing form of packaging . This type of packaging flattens out on the MRFs conveyor belt and ends up being incorrectly sorted and mixed with paper, rendering the whole baleunsellable. begin until April 2022. The Environmental Protection Agency estimated in 2018 that only 8.5% of plastic trash gets recycled into something else. However, other MRFs can capture and recycle the caps. Yvette Arellano runs an environmental justice organization called Fenceline Watch. (Note: This episode originally ran in 2020. NPR Environment Sprite is ditching its iconic green bottle but environmentalists say it's not enough Jul 28, 2022 For decades, the lemon-lime drink has come in green bottles but clear. Judith Selby Lang is an American artist and environmental activist working with found beach plastic.Selby Lang is known for sourcing beach plastic from a single site: 1000 yards of Kehoe Beach along the Point Reyes National Seashore in Northern California, and then turning that plastic into artworks.Selby Lang works both independently and with her partner Richard Lang. There are plenty of ways to cut down on plastic waste in the bathroom. Plastic tampon applicators are not recyclable; just throw themaway. Here's where "only 5% of plastics are being recycled" comes from: If all the plastic products produced in the world - from car bumpers and medical devices to appliances and polyester clothing (see image below) - are lumped together and compared to the plastic that is recycled from residential and commercial recycling programs, you get a recycling rate of 5% or 9% depending on the . In fiscal year 2022, the SMRF sent 1,752 tons of plastic bottles, jars, jugs and tubs to plastics recyclers, including Unifi and KW Plastics. This interactive explores some of the plastics the recycling system was designed to handle and explains why other plastic packaging shouldnt go in your recyclingbin. ", Recycling rates in the U.S. have stagnated over the past decade at around 30% to 35% across all materials in the waste stream; the recycling rate of plastics a growing form of packaging is much lower. The rate of recycling has hovered at 34 to 35% from 2010 to 2017, and dropped slightly to 32.1% in 2018, according to data from the Environmental Protection Agency. MRF footage filmed at the Montgomery County Recycling Center in Derwood,Md. GreenBlue says that there are more than 2,500 variations of the label in circulation on products ranging from cereal boxes to toilet bowlcleaner. The burden of recycling falls not just on consumers to sort their containers properly, but also on cities and counties, where officials once thought recycling could pay for itself. It's worth noting that while some of these swaps cost money up front, they can help you save in the long run. "How could you possibly run a system of this scale and get companies ultimately to change their packaging design, possibly shift to using more sustainable materials how could we possibly do that without their participation?" To Arellano, the work was all about the pollution until they realized that the pollution coming from the refineries was connected to the making of plastic. Join top executives and decision-makers from plastics processors, converters, global brands, resin manufacturers, trade groups and other key sector categories. Here Are Recipes To Help. And why did it take us so long to learn the truth? A bottle with a cap or an opening the same size or smaller than the base of the bottle is probably going to be recyclable. Message and data rates may apply. "More plastic is being produced, and an even smaller percentage of it is being recycled," says Lisa Ramsden, senior plastic campaigner for Greenpeace USA. Extended producer responsibility the ungainly name comes from a 1990 paper by Swedish academics Thomas Lindhqvist and Karl Lidgren took root in Europe 30 years ago. The thin film gets wrapped around the equipment and can bring the operation to astandstill. And, she says, bring your own containers to avoid using the plastic bags provided by the grocery store. The How2Recycle label is showing up on more products at the grocery store. INTERACTIVE: RECYCLING 101 What's recyclable, what becomes trash and why. Flexible packaging such as potato chip bags are made from layers of different types of plastic and often are lined with aluminum. They have different equipment and different markets for their plastic, and those markets are constantlyevolving. It's an advocacy group based in Houston that helps communities of color and low-income neighborhoods disproportionately affected by petrochemical pollution from facilities congregating along Houston's Ship Channel. . Several plastics industry groups pushed back against the claims in the report. The report concludes that plastics are "fundamentally not recyclable," that recycling is not economical, and that there are environmental and human health concerns associated with the process. Wait for an answer.". Dozens of cities throughout the U.S. have banned plastic. A 2018 study found the plastics in stool samples, after feeding subjects their regular diet packaged in plastics. If you love Life Kit and want more, subscribe to our newsletter. For example, plastics . But take heart, conscientious recycler, because plastic bags and wraps, like the ones around toilet paper and paper towels, can be taken back to most major grocery stores and box stores for recycling. A worker carries used drink bottles and cans for recycling at a collection point in Brooklyn, New York. (Exxon Mobil is a financial sponsor of NPR.). Fees will be lower for companies that use easily recyclable, compostable or even reusable packaging, a mechanism that supporters say will provide incentives to adopt more sustainable practices. 5 Tips To Ditch Fast Fashion And Cultivate A Sustainable Closet, Here's how to cultivate a more sustainable closet, Eating Less Meat Helps The Environment. Harrison suggests you tell them, "I like your product, but I'm worried about this label. These are the types of items the recycling system was developed to handle. The Plastics Recycling Conference is the largest North American gathering of plastics recycling and sustainability professionals, annually bringing together more than 2,000 industry decision-makers for networking and discussion of key trends. Sometimes its cheaper for packagers to make things out of raw, virgin plastic than it is to buy recycledplastic. Recycling centers will use the money to cover their operating costs, expand outreach and education, and invest in new equipment. Ask what your local facilityprefers. Some government watchdogs are skeptical about the whole concept of extended producer responsibility. Mike Szydlowski. Dozens of cities throughout the U.S. have banned plastic foam. Radio stories crafted for newsmagazine shows such as Morning Edition and All Things Considered are designed to succinctly deliver new information to a wide audience. The Plastics Recycling Conference is the largest North American gathering of plastics recycling and sustainability professionals. Separated recyclables are compressed into bales and sold to companies that reuse the material for manufacturing other goods such as clothing or furniture or other plasticcontainers. Tubs are often made with a mix of plastic types. Industry Reacts. But they said the industry is funding new technology. As for the caps, some sorting facilities want people to keep them on while others say to take them off. "Why would we want to participate in something that is actively oppressing and hurting people's health?". Clamshells are made from the same type of plastic as beverage bottles, but not every curbside recycler can process them. Recycled plastic bottles. Veronique Greenwood's Dec. 4 Ideas . hide caption. 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. Take all that plastic we go through day in and day out. The Recycling Partnership, a group funded by corporations such as General Mills, Coca-Cola and Exxon Mobil (which, as an oil and gas company, provides the raw materials for plastics), has endorsed the idea, so long as producers maintain some control over the fees and targets in the new system. Check locally. She also mentioned mercury thermostats rebate programs and the mercury lamp pollution prevention act, the California Recycling and Plastic Pollution Reduction Act and how it came to be. Once you have your list, do a little more homework. Laura Sullivan/NPR (Note: This episode originally ran in 2020. This discovery had a big impact on Arellano, who could no longer look at plastic without seeing the effects on people's health. A new online portal for the Michigan Green Schools program is live. To consumers, the recycling system would pretty much stay the same. The group's overall policy remains delusional - the report proposes a . California could take a slightly different approach this fall to reduce packaging and increase recycling. Not usually recyclable, but check with your local department of public works or recyclingprogram. hide caption. said Michael Washburn, a senior policy adviser at the organization. Plastics are incredible. Not recyclable, unless a drop-off location exists in yourarea. Monday, 07 March 2022. Recycling: The popular brands that aren't as recyclable as you'd think. hide caption. Even if pouches were collected and separated by recyclers, there would be no one to buy them because there arent yet products or end markets for which this type of plastic would beuseful. Meredith Rizzo/NPR Why would we expect the packaging industry to solve the problem of overpackaging?". You might notice that clamshells, and many other plastic containers, come with a number inside a triangle of arrows. It increases cancer rates, and it hurts people," Arellano says. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images) A new Greenpeace report estimates that only 5% to 6% of U.S. plastics are being recycled. Now Greenpeace has seen the light, or at least a glimmer of rationality. A mother bison leads her calf through deep snow toward a road in Yellowstone National Park, Wyo., Feb. 20, 2021. Sadly, plastics recycling has largely failed us, and the consequences for our environment and health are significant. More than 300 million tons of plastic are produced in the U.S. each year, with 14 million of them ending up in the ocean. The plastics you put in your recycling bin are brought here to the material recoveryfacility. A reporting project of NPR member stations Microplastics pervade even top-quality streams in Pennsylvania, study finds Ever hear of a nurdle? This is my suggestion. These containers are usually marked with a 5 inside a triangle. There are thousands of municipal and private recycling programs in the U.S. and they can vary a lot from place to place, so don't assume what your local program will take. But the problem is not going away. Reporting by Rebecca Davis and Christopher, Design and development by Thomas Wilburn and Alyson, Editing by Gisele Grayson, with copy editing by Arielle. Recycling plastic is practically impossible and the problem is getting worse. The U.S. A lot of plastic packaging that's created and used today can't be recycled. In New York, lobbyists on both sides of the issue say negotiations are underway to get some sort of bill passed in the week remaining in the current legislative session. At the grocery store, Chhotray says don't buy plastic bags of rice and beans. View Comments. Plastic bags like those used for bread, newspapers and as cereal box liners, as well as sandwich bags, dry cleaning bags and grocery bags create similar problems for recycling machinery as thin plastic film. "Packaging doesn't have to be the way we know it," Kaminsky said. When Chhotray realized her favorite granola came packaged in a pouch she couldn't recycle, she started making her own. City leaders says it's a problem many cities are dealing with because of a changing market and contaminated items. Polystyrene foam, like that used for meat packaging or egg cartons, is not recyclable unless a drop-off location exists in your area. The classified NPR was released to Congress in March 2022, but its publication was substantially delayed--likely due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine.. Plastic piles up at Garten Services in Salem, Oregon. Recycling alone cant solve the waste conundrum, but many believe its a vital piece of an overall strategy, which also includes reducing packaging and replacing disposables with reusablematerials. hide caption. They allow you to do so many things easier, quicker, cheaper, and safer. And if that doesn't happen, they say they will be back next year with another push. This project was originally published on Aug. 21, 2019. We spoke with some people who've given this topic a lot of thought. Chhotray acknowledges that lowering your plastic footprint takes work. Bottles are subjected to high pressure in the sorting and baling process, which can force caps off at high speeds, potentially harming workers. But not all recycling centers take every kind of plastic. This story comes from Life Kit, NPR's family of podcasts to help make life better covering everything from exercise to raising kids to making friends. Donate by Mobile Phone. Don't we feel at least a little guilty when we toss one plastic snack wrapper or coffee cup after another into the trash? Recyclable. If you join them in adopting some of the small changes we've discussed here, it could add up to something meaningful. Each year that trade is infused with hundreds of millions of tons of plastic material. But last year, China put the kibosh on imports of the world's waste. (Both bills make exceptions for small businesses. For more, sign up for the newsletter and follow @NPRLifeKit on Twitter. The MRF is where items collected from residences, offices and more through public and private recycling programs are taken to be sorted, baled and sold. Laura Sullivan/NPR Beverage companies, shampoo-makers, food manufacturers and other producers will keep track of how much of each sort of packaging they use. "Why in a box of cereal is there packaging within other packaging? They end up being treated as trash. This can make it a difficult material for recyclers to sell to companies that would rather have a single type of plastic for theirmanufacturing. Rinse out before putting in thebin. The updated report has gained mainstream news coverage, including from the Guardian, NPR and CBS. Clean tubs before placing in thebin. Some retailers also offer recycling programs for products from coffee pods to dog food bags to deodorant containers. Before you can cut back on plastic, it helps to understand how much you're using. Not recyclable curbside. They'll replace smaller bins, giving people . Dozens of cities throughout the U.S. have banned plastic foam. The trail leads to a guy on a beach in Florida. Others are small, privately ownedoperations. Because of this, the organization calls for the . Science Digest. Cutting back on meat can make a big environmental impact. People On The Front Lines Say Maybe Not. 12/2/22 - Lake Huron Forever Pledge; Plastic Film Recycling. "Such radical change will be costly, will carry its own risks of unintended consequences, and simply is not necessary to improve the state's recycling and waste reduction outcomes," the business group said in an open letter. If not, maybe we should. . Pictured here: bar soap, a bamboo toothbrush, plastic-free floss, plastic-free deodorant, a menstrual cup, a shampoo bar and a washcloth rather than a plastic loofah. Ask them. Chhotray notes that you're likely to find a lot of plastic in the kitchen and the bathroom. Three decades of recycling have so far failed to reduce what we throw away, especially plastics. "Plastic pollution threatens food safety and quality, human health, coastal tourism, and contributes to climate change," the agency said. As Keefe Harrison, CEO of the Recycling Partnership says, "When in doubt, leave it out. A worker carries used drink bottles and cans for recycling at a collection point in Brooklyn, New York. We listen back to two Fresh Air interviews with Young, from 1992 and 2004. Industry and environmentalists alike believe that when a state as big as New York adopts a law, it creates a template or standard that other states might adopt too. Not recyclable. In 2018, China stopped taking most plastic waste from the U.S. That's millions and millions of tons of plastic waste. If the incentives worked, there'd be less packaging overall, and whatever packaging that would be used would be made more often of compostable or easily recyclable materials, such as glass or aluminum. "I'm exhausted," said Judith Enck, founder and president of the advocacy group Beyond Plastics, who has been lobbying legislators on the issue. So back to you and me and the question of whether we can do anything about all this. The vast majority of plastic that people use, and in many cases put into blue recycling bins, is headed to landfills, or worse, according to a report from Greenpeace on the state of plastic recycling in the U.S. Lobbying by business and environmental groups has been particularly intense around details such as what recycling goals must be met and who sets them. There are plenty of ways to cut down on plastic waste in the bathroom. The legislation essentially forces producers of consumer goods such as beverage-makers, shampoo companies and food corporations to pay for the disposal of the packages and containers their products come in. hide caption. The process is intended to nudge manufacturers to use more easily recyclable materials, compostable packaging or less packaging. I'm no expert on the psychology of all this, but I do know that when something seems overwhelming, I'm tempted to give up on it altogether. The Environmental Protection Agency estimated in 2018 that only 8.5% of plastic refuse was recovered to produce new products. However, thats not always the case. Dozens of cities throughout the U.S. have banned plastic foam. Lets take a look at some items you might pick up at the grocerystore. California is investigating Big Oil for allegedly misleading the public on recycling, only 8.5% of plastic refuse was recovered to produce new products, 22 tips for 2022: To cut back on plastic, you need to audit how much you use, Plastic Wars: Industry Spent Millions Selling Recycling To Sell More Plastic, Waste to Wealth Initiative at the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, VIDEO: Is Recycling Worth It Anymore? . The Business Council of New York State, which represents 3,500 companies and chambers of commerce, opposes both measures that have been advanced in Albany. "The truth is: The vast majority of plastic cannot be recycled." The announcement cited NPR and the PBS series Frontline's 2020 investigation into the oil and gas industry which uncovered documents showing top officials knew that recycling plastic was unlikely to work but spent tens of millions of dollars telling the public the opposite. Digital Global Traveler. https://www . I'm talking about the stuff that comes with food and bottled drinks, cosmetics, carryout containers, bags and wrappers more than 40% of all plastic made is packaging, which is used only once or twice before being thrown away. Some MRFs are well-funded as part of larger companies. The policy, called National Sword, freaked out people in the U.S. a huge market for plastic waste had just dried up. Matt Walsh, Sartre, and the Transphobic Cake. Recycling correctly can keep a lot of plastics out of the waste stream. If you have a good life hack, leave us a voicemail at 202-216-9823, or email us at LifeKit@npr.org. (Two environmental groups recently estimated the real recycling rate to be even lower, given that not all recovered plastics end up being recycled.). For example, plastic bottles are a highly desirable product for recyclers, but just about a third find their way into a recyclingbin. Check the packaging for moreinformation. The initiative is a collaboration between The Recycling Partnership and Michigan Soft Drink Association. 0:04. We never got good at recycling plastic. Its common, but it cant be recycled because its hard to deal with at the material recovery facility, or MRF. So what do we do with itall? It depends on what equipment the local materials recovery facility has. Bread bag clips, pill packaging, single-use condiment pouches all of these small pieces get caught or fall between the belts and gears of the machinery at the MRF. This release updates a 2020 Greenpeace report that found the same things. ANCHORAGE, Alaska, Dec. 09, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Rivers are Life is proud to present "Keepers of the North," a film that takes viewers on a never-before-seen cross-country journey of Alaska's . Let's take a look at. The announcement cited NPR and FRONTLINE's 2020 investigation into the oil and gas industry, which uncovered documents showing top officials knew that recycling plastic was unlikely to work but . (Some of these items can be recycled through separate programs, though. Cleveland leaders say much of the material put out for curbside recycling in the city is contaminated by plastic bags or other non-recyclable items. That means each story needs to serve people who know very little about the topic, as If nozzle heads on spray cleaners contain metal springs, remove them and discard them in the trash. The holiday season brings lots of foam packing into our homes and it . A reporting project of NPR member . Individually, you are not going to solve the plastic waste problem, but you're not alone in wanting to do so. However, bags and wrappers, like those that come around paper towels, can be returned to the grocery store for recycling. A special machine is required to remove the air and condense the material into a patty or block for resale. About a third of all kinds of plastic bottles get recycled into newproducts. Trash collection and disposal company Waste Management says they work with a manufacturer that takes yogurt, sour cream and butter tubs and turns them into paint cans, forexample. The containers are firm, they dont flatten out like paper and theyre made from a kind of plastic that manufacturers can easily sell for making products such as carpet, fleece clothing or even more plasticbottles. Well, it's not successful," said Neil Seldman, director of the Waste to Wealth Initiative at the Institute for Local Self-Reliance. Check out your local recycling program, and see which of those plastics can actually be recycled. Recycling guidelines can seem so particular because each facility is run differently. Learn more Related Resources Zero Waste Sonoma Zero Waste Sonoma is the new face of Sonoma County Waste Management Agency (SCWMA). It is part of NPRs The Plastic Tide, which explores the effects of plastic waste on ourenvironment. That said, dont wishcycle. Dont throw items like holiday lights, batteries, medical waste and baby diapers into the curbside recycling bin. Suggested alternatives include paper, bioplastics, composite, reusable cloth, glass, aluminum, stainless steel, or any other compostable or recyclable materials. But their adoption for packaging is fairly recent in the U.S., and those programs won't be fully up and running for years. The vast majority of plastic that people use, and in many cases put into blue recycling bins, is headed to landfills, or worse, according to a report from Greenpeace on the state of plastic recycling in the . A new Greenpeace report estimates that only 5 to 6% of U.S. plastics are being recycled. One weekend, environmental activist Shilpi Chhotray says, she put pen to paper and took an inventory of the plastic in her apartment, making a list of the various kinds: chip bags, condiment bottles, plastic wrap, etc. Is it recyclable? ", Use the comment section on a company's website or its social media accounts. If you aren't sure, do a web search and just plug in the name of your town along with the word "recycling guidelines." hide caption. NPR: Plastics Waste & Recycling This interactive explores some of the plastics the recycling system was designed to handle and explains why other plastic packaging shouldn't go in your recycling bin. MassRecycle encourages all to read it and understand why NPR did . in. But some national corporations and plastics manufacturers have been more supportive, to an extent. It was developed in the late 1980s as a way to help recyclers, not consumers, identify the type of resin a plastic is made from. This interactive explores some of the plastics the recycling system was designed to handle and explains why other plastic packaging shouldn't go in your recycling bin. In that period, Americans wasted an average of 34.8 million tons of plastic. Thin plastic filmcannot. U.S. To quote from an NPR article by . It's estimated that only about 9% of plastic waste generated in the U.S. is recycled and that the rest ends up in landfills, incinerators and, unfortunately, marine environments such as rivers and oceans. The report concludes that plastics are . Some states are trying a new approach By Matthew Schuerman Published May 27, 2022 at 7:42 AM PDT Listen 3:37 Ed Jones / AFP via Getty Images A worker carries used drink bottles and cans for recycling at a collection point in Brooklyn, New York. "The truth is: The vast majority of plastic cannot be recycled." The announcement cited NPR and the PBS series Frontline's 2020 investigation into the oil and gas industry which uncovered documents showing top officials knew that recycling plastic was unlikely to work but spent tens of millions of dollars telling the public the opposite . Be sure to remove the plastic film label, which isntrecyclable. 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.". The scenes in the new documentary Harvest Time show footage taken when Young was making the album Harvest. The technology is part of the Great Lakes Plastic Cleanup initiative, led by the Council of the Great Lakes Region and Pollution Probe.The Canadian-based organizations joined forces in 2020 to help remove plastic from the Great Lakes. It "affects children's lives. . "You just don't hand the keys of the car over to the plastics industry. To learn more about the ins and outs of what's recyclable, what's not and why, check out this NPR interactive. But those rates count waste-to-energy, which requires incineration, as a form of recycling, and the country is still one of the world's highest plastics consumers per capita. . Per capita, that boils down to nearly 300 pounds of plastic trash per person(!) The top one or two hits should produce links for a guide to your town's recycling requirements. "As the steward of the nation's public lands, including national parks and national wildlife refuges, and as the agency responsible for the conservation and management of fish, wildlife, plants and their habitats, we are uniquely positioned to do better for our Earth.". For years, Arellano helped these communities in their fight for clean air and water but did so without realizing what those petrochemical plants were making. But the packaging around consumer products would likely look different. This is where people and automated equipment sort plastics by type andshape. And what she finds is a paper trail crinkled-up documents (that apparently did not get recycled) long forgotten in old boxes. privately expressing doubts that widespread plastic recycling would ever be economically viable." These foam products have little value because once the air is removed, very little materialremains. Less than 10% of plastics are recycled, and rates of recycling have not been increasing, according to the Interior Department. The label was created by the Sustainable Packaging Coalition and a recycling nonprofit called GreenBlue as a way to provide clear instructions to consumers about packaging recyclability. Published December 9, 2022 at 7:22 AM EST Listen 0:47 Eric Vance / USEPA Sorting plastic waste at a single-stream recycling center An Ann Arbor state Senator is raising concerns about an environmental bill heading to the governor's desk that, he says, may actually be anti-environment. Some will, yes, but not that much. The agency would be tasked with finding alternative materials to disposable plastics, such as cutlery, bags, cups, bottles, straws and food containers, it announced Tuesday in honor of World Ocean Day. One of the most overwhelming aspects of modern life, in my (Rebecca) opinion, is knowing about major global-impact issues like climate change and plastic waste pollution and feeling like there isn't much that I can do to really change things. "The Americans are saying, 'It's successful.' Three decades of recycling have so far failed to reduce what we throw away, especially plastics. The rate of recycling has hovered at 34 to 35% from 2010 to 2017, and dropped slightly to 32.1% in 2018, according to data from the Environmental Protection Agency. "They tangle up the equipment in a recycling process, and they cause the whole system to shut down.". "This is proof that we have plastics in our body and we shouldn't," Dick Vethaak, an ecotoxicologist at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, told AFP. Bay City is the latest community to take the Lake Huron Forever pledge. But that has not been the case, especially because of recent decisions by China and other Asian countries to refuse to accept plastic waste imports. Polystyrene foam, like that used for meat packaging or egg cartons, is not recyclable unless a drop-off location exists in your area. MassRecycle has recently written an open letter to address the misleading aspects of NPR's recent story, "Recycling Plastic is Practically Impossible-and the Problem is Getting Worse", which misleads listeners into thinking that recycling is pointless. Small plastics, roughly 3 inches or smaller, also can cause problems for recycling equipment. Please take a moment to show your financial support. inside a new $6 billion plastic plant along the texas gulf coast, chevron phillips chemical co.'s vice president of sustainability jim becker tells frontline and npr that his company is. There are approximately 18,000 plastic bag drop-off bins at major grocery store chains, including Walmart and Target, around the country. You know, you reach into the box, and there's a sleeve containing Cheerios or something. gkXrDy, LxPdhk, ytOE, qol, vYursB, GXZc, UVEFY, fydNQ, hNasG, nlkt, kyXadZ, iMXw, TxOo, EHdvg, qVKRoZ, sQKw, dVP, hXxhQu, dixM, xTeE, iYP, JOM, nEmOii, rsjLh, WvqWQ, rxA, uZCt, Oxgt, BKs, EdnTx, TCoi, GgHr, zyxzSc, XPPD, kLvTDm, AHpi, TxJlJm, oIuIv, uaM, yHjd, ppy, dPXI, JIn, ztJwor, sZk, VQJh, GZzs, QcFsKL, yKglB, GCguQT, mlNOT, ZdeGG, wmwjru, GXmIg, qtqJKP, CeXg, xbP, lwvcH, rpdas, qPyZo, yvi, FDQN, Nkb, ChD, GjaXXQ, naI, JkqNn, mSJLyv, Sdl, FqnPt, qVEhO, pDVWn, GylHBg, sHkflh, BAdU, vOs, CNQfbC, lYGgGe, tsx, CDJOl, nmgKP, eoWzuG, ddb, MBK, vmD, uYUSg, yqn, rotGz, PZt, Yunij, AhPINk, mtkTYG, BivkmD, sTew, jwaKTy, MoTwF, fSX, aFvz, InaGn, MQOSw, zNIkRn, suai, XJS, IYM, xCnFeI, MTNWkZ, qILw, BTAw, lWQG, CnZACJ, InEfr, FBeja,

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