Found a study that flipped my view on recycling plastic

I read this report from a waste facility in Phoenix that said only 5% of plastic actually gets recycled, the rest goes to landfill or gets burned. Has anyone else seen numbers like that and changed how they sort their trash?

3 comments

3 Comments

finley_gonzalez491mo ago

Think the recycling bin's just a guilt-free trash can at this point. Label it a feel-good placebo for climate anxiety. Guess I'll keep sorting though, makes me feel like I'm at least pretending to help.

wood.eric1mo ago

Yeah does anyone actually know what happens after they dump it in the truck? Good point @finley_gonzalez49. Ive seen the same thing at work - we have those big recycling bins in the break room and I swear half the stuff in there is greasy pizza boxes and half empty soda cans. Its like people just toss stuff in and hope for the best but the whole system is built on pretending were helping while the real problem is just too much plastic being made in the first place. Sorting feels pointless when the numbers are that bad.

rowan9691mo ago

Wait, is that really how it goes once it hits the truck? I always thought sorting was doing some good, but what you said about too much plastic being made in the first place kinda makes me wonder if we're all just spinning our wheels.