The Unpalatable Truth About Recycling Plastic
Authored by: Jordan Moshiri, Sophie McDonald
In today’s world, it’s pretty much impossible to go through your day without encountering a single piece of plastic. Plastics are in our cars, phones, medical devices, clothes, and computers; they package our food and carry our water. Microplastics (incredibly small bits of plastic) can be found in the air we breathe, the foods we eat, and the water we drink. In fact, the United States Geological Survey found microplastics in 90 percent of the rainwater samples they collected.
One promising solution to the plastic pollution crisis is plastic recycling. But what really happens to the plastics you toss into the recycling bin? It might surprise you that not all plastic we put into our recycling bins is made into new products. In fact, the Environmental Protection Agency estimates that less than 10 percent of plastic ever made has been recycled.
While plastic has been advertised as highly recyclable for decades, the situation is more complicated than the plastic industry makes it seem. In theory, all used plastic can be turned into new plastic products. However, plastic degrades quickly, and can only undergo the recycling process once or twice. The bigger issue is that sorting the recycled plastic and melting it down is more expensive than burying it in a landfill and replacing it with new plastic. Because plastic is made out of oil and gas, companies that make up the plastic industry, like Exxon and Chevron, don’t want their plastic to be recycled because they make more of a profit from making brand-new plastic. Unfortunately, the United State’s challenge to make plastic recyclable mostly boils down to an equation of what is most profitable.
The Recycling Process
What happens to the plastic this is actually recycled? It’s not as simple as just melting plastic bottles and putting them into molds to make new ones. Once you put your plastic into the recycling bin, it goes to a distribution center. There, it often goes through a manual sorting process, and afterward, the plastic is cleaned and prepared for the next step.
The next step involves shredding and breaking down the plastic into small pieces to make it easier to melt. Then, the plastic is melted and processed (which may also include coloring) to prepare it for the next step.
Next, plastics are sent to distributors to be transformed into their final form. This is where companies that use recycled plastics get their packaging, bottles, and other materials that use recycled plastics. Some companies do this part themselves, while others employ other companies to create their containers for them.
After the plastic is molded into its final form and ready for product packaging, it’s very much like the product you buy off the store shelves. All that’s left to do is to incorporate the recycled plastics into the final products.
How to Help
If we don’t take action now, the problem of plastic pollution will only become worse. It’s important that every person does their part to help preserve our ecosystem.
For teachers and parents, it’s especially important to equip the younger generations with the knowledge they need to help continue the efforts currently in progress. For the youth of today, the movement towards conservation is growing. It is important that younger generations use their voice and their choices (when possible) to help with the efforts to reduce plastic pollution and continue the studies and changes that are so important to not just maintaining our world, but also improving it.
On an individual level, there are times we can’t avoid plastic. But, there are even more ways that we can use something besides plastic. If you do use disposable plastic, make sure it ends up in recycling, rather than the trash.
Here are some ideas to reduce the plastic you use:
Use biodegradable paper products instead (paper packaging, paper straws, etc.)
Instead of plastic water bottles, reuse a water bottle or thermos
Switch to reusable containers for food, instead of plastic bags
Buy drinks that come in glass bottles instead of plastic
Take your own shopping bags to the store
Ditch plastic silverware, instead keep your own travel set
If we can see traces of pollution from generations and generations ago, imagine the impact to our environment if we fail to take any action today. Perhaps the best thing we can do to secure our future, and that of our planet, is to take action right away.
Sources & Quotes
Plastics consistently make up 80% of all marine debris studied.
(IUCN, 2020)
Plastic production has been forecast to grow by 60% by 2030 and to treble by 2050.
(Center for International Environmental Law, 2019)
Every day approximately 8 million pieces of plastic pollution find their way into our oceans.
(OSPAR, 2009)
