This is Part 1 in a 3-part series about the failure of plastics recycling.
Read Part 2, about the deception of “advanced recycling,” here.
Read Part 3, about some potential solutions to this problem, here.
Across the globe, plastic pollution is everywhere. Plastics can be found in the air we breathe, the food we eat, and the water we drink. They’re found near the tallest point on Earth—the summit of Mount Everest—and the deepest—the Pacific Ocean’s Mariana Trench.
For decades, since the 1950s, plastics producers have led marketing and education campaigns claiming plastic pollution can be limited through recycling. But according to a new groundbreaking report by the Center for Climate Integrity, a fossil fuel accountability advocacy group, the plastics industry knew it was misleading the public. Recycling plastics, long believed to be environmentally friendly, doesn’t work. The myth of plastic recycling, plus its actual practice, may even do more harm than good.
READ THE FACT SHEET: THE PROBLEM WITH PLASTICS RECYCLING
Plastics are petrochemicals, products made by combining fossil fuels like oil and natural gas with synthetic chemicals, including PFAS and heavy metals like arsenic, cadmium, and lead, that can leach toxic contaminants into the environment and municipal waterways during the recycling process. That’s if they can be recycled; the vast majority of plastics cannot. For the plastics that can, the amount of plastic actually recycled in the U.S. has dropped to less than 6%, from almost 9% in 2018. The reason is largely cost—companies spend more money recycling plastics than creating virgin plastics, according to the Center for Climate Integrity’s new report.
The tiny amount that can be recycled generates another big problem: massive amounts of microplastics. A recent international study showed 13% of the plastics going into a typical recycling facility came out as microplastics; once a cutting edge filter was added to the facility, the detritus dropped, but 6% of all recycled plastics still left the facility in tiny, shredded forms. These microscopic polymers end up in our bloodstreams and could cause damage to human cells.
According to the report, top petrochemical groups claimed recycling had solved plastic’s waste problem, even as they increased plastic production, especially single-use plastics like straws, bottles, and clamshells. ExxonMobil, one of the world’s largest and most well-known oil and gas companies, also became the world’s top producer of single-use plastic polymers under its petrochemical arm, according to the Center for Climate Integrity report. All the while, companies like ExxonMobil knew recycling plastics didn’t work.
“The companies lied,” Richard Wiles, president of the Center for Climate Integrity, told The Guardian. The report compared the actions of petrochemical companies like ExxonMobil to the tobacco, toxic chemical, and opioids industries, all of which have faced criminal lawsuits and billions in restitution for defrauding the people of the U.S. “It’s time to hold them accountable for the damage they’ve caused.”
Most plastic used in the states over the years hasn’t even remained on U.S. soil. For decades, China and Hong Kong took shipments of over two-thirds of U.S. plastic waste, and almost all of European plastic waste. As a result, for western consumers, plastic seemed to largely disappear. But in 2018, China launched its National Sword policy that ended the export of plastic trash into the country. While the U.S. still exports plastic waste to countries like El Salvador, Honduras, and Vietnam, it has become more difficult to dispose of the growing mountains of plastic trash. In 2018 alone, the U.S. generated over 35 million tons of plastic, according to EPA, and landfills received more than 27 million tons of plastic, representing almost one-fifth of all solid waste.
The Center for Climate Integrity report says that instead of mechanical recycling—which involves sorting, grinding, and melting plastic waste, and then combining it with virgin plastic—the plastics industry began promoting “advanced recycling,” a.k.a. chemical recycling. This involves burning plastic trash in incinerators to break it down to make chemicals or synthetic fuels. The report claims the nascent process burns fossil fuels and creates even more pollution than traditional mechanical recycling.
The American Chemistry Council, an industry group promoting plastics, disagreed with the conclusions of the Center for Climate Integrity’s report, calling it “flawed” in a press release. The statement emphasized the use of “advanced recycling” centers that incinerate plastics.
But Cynthia Palmer, senior petrochemical analyst for Moms Clean Air Force, says toxic air pollutants from burning plastic waste in “advanced recycling” facilities are incredibly high, with extremely harmful emissions linked to cancers, respiratory ailments, neurodevelopmental conditions, and reproductive disorders. Plus, most of the incineration facilities are located in low-income communities of color.
“Plastics harm people along the entire supply chain, from fossil fuel extraction to transport, use, and disposal,” says Palmer. “There’s no safe and effective way to manage plastic waste.”
While Palmer says the Center for Climate Integrity report “shows how the plastic industry employed lies and obfuscation to mislead the American public about recycling,” it also provides an opportunity for experts across the petrochemical and environmental fields to work together. The report can help “in mobilizing communities and legislators to stem the harm to communities, stop the tripling of plastics production, and transition the world to safe and sustainable plastics-free alternatives,” says Palmer.
Learn more about Moms’ work on “advanced recycling.”
TELL CONGRESS: PROTECT OUR FAMILIES FROM PLASTIC INCINERATION POLLUTION