Recycling can be great for the environment and cutting down on waste, but when it comes to recycling plastic, it’s mostly a big fat scam.
And you’ve probably already guessed it – money plays a huge role in all of this.
From a Replacement Material in WWII to Booming Industry Today: The Origins of Plastics
Let’s take a trip back in time to the 1930s when the entire plastics saga began.
It was during World War II that the allies had a crucial mission: to find a replacement for the heavy steel and wood used in planes, tanks, and other equipment.
Their quest led them to discover the magic of plastic – a lightweight, flexible, and cost-effective solution that changed the game.
In just a few intense wartime years, plastic production in the United States skyrocketed by over 300%. However, once the war ended, the surge in demand for plastic subsided.
Rather than simply shutting down all the new plastic factories established during the war, the Society of the Plastic Industry came into existence with a clear mission – to ensure that consumers would continue to purchase as much of this material as possible.
America quickly developed a strong fascination with plastics.
However, the plastics industry faced a significant hurdle – people were not so keen on throwing these items away; instead, they were happily reusing them.
Up until then, reusability was a common practice for various products like milk, food items, cosmetics, and cleaning products, which predominantly came in metal or glass containers that could be easily cleaned and used again.
The Problem of Reusing Plastic
When plastic first became popular, people naturally began reusing plastic containers.
However, this wasn’t ideal for the plastic industry as it meant they were selling fewer new packaging items.
To counter this, the industry launched an advertising blitz to encourage people to use more plastic and avoid reusable items.
They propagated the notion that single-use disposable items were the future, convincing society that life would be easier if they simply discarded their packaging instead of cleaning the containers or returning bottles to the milkman.
They wanted people to buy into the idea that disposability was the way to go.
Thanks to all that advertising, people quickly adopted the habit of tossing everything away.
Consequently, by 1960, plastic production exceeded that of aluminum for the first time in history.
However, this wasteful trend didn’t last long as, within just a decade, people began to take a stand and declare that enough was enough.
The Wake Up Call for the Public
And so, in April of 1970, the United States witnessed a historic event as it celebrated the very first Earth Day.
An impressive 20 million people, approximately 10% of the entire country’s population, participated in rallies held nationwide.
This massive demonstration aimed to put pressure on the government to pass environmental-friendly laws.
The plastic industry and its highly wasteful practices became one of the primary targets of these demonstrations.
People were determined to make a change and advocate for a cleaner, more sustainable future.
The plastic industry faced public anger over its environmental impact, but at the same time, they couldn’t afford to let their business suffer.
So, like many big industries facing critical observation, they resorted to using lies and manipulation as their defense.
Despite successfully convincing people a decade earlier to embrace disposability, they now had to shift tactics.
Instead of investing in making their products less damaging, they chose to shift the blame onto consumers, portraying us as the root of the problem.
How the Plastic Industry Misled the Public to Drive Plastic Sales
The plastic industry came up with a series of ads that placed responsibility on consumers blaming them for the widespread use of single-use plastics and resulting pollution.
Their narrative emphasized that it was our actions of discarding these items that caused the problem.
They spent millions on campaigns to make the public feel responsible for recycling while diverting attention from their own harmful practices that worsened the environmental crisis.
Instead of owning up to their actions, they manipulated public perception.
One of the most well known ads was the Crying Indian ad, also known as “Keep America Beautiful”, which aired in the 1970s, featuring a Native American man shedding a tear as he witnessed the environmental impact of littering and pollution.
And to make matters even worse, this manipulative tactic continues to have a lasting impact.
Despite being created over 45 years ago, it still deceives a significant portion of the world into believing that recycling is a noble and effective solution.
Why Recycling Plastic is Nearly Impossible
As the world kept pushing and more data came out about how harmful their products were to the environment, the plastic industry realized they had to do something about it.
In the 1980s, the plastic industry decided to invest heavily in researching the effectiveness of recycling plastic as a way to cut down on waste.
They were hoping for some good news, but unfortunately, their findings didn’t turn out in their favor.
According to the plastic industry’s own reports – most plastic just can’t be recycled effectively at all.
A degradation of resin properties and performance occurs during the initial fabrication, through aging, and in any reclamation process.
From the article: How Big Oil Misled The Public Into Believing Plastic Would Be Recycled
Facing the Reality: The Challenges in Recycling Plastic
The major challenge lies in plastic’s inherent flexibility that leads to rapid degradation after only a few uses.
As a result, each time plastic is recycled, its quality significantly declines.
Moreover, several other problems stand in the way of effectively recycling plastic, making the entire process even more complex and difficult to tackle.
Most of the time, it turned out to be more cost-effective and energy-efficient to produce plastics from new materials rather than using recycled materials.
While all used plastic has the potential to be transformed into new items, the process of collecting, sorting, and melting it is expensive.
Also, each time plastic is reused, it degrades and therefore can only be reused once or twice.
In contrast, new plastic made from oil and gas is much cheaper and products are of higher quality.
Also, recycling plastic doesn’t make economic sense because there are too many different types of plastic that cannot be melted together and need to be sorted separately.
But the public didn’t want to accept that.
People demanded greener and more environmentally friendly alternatives to plastic, urging for recycling options.
Plastic Recycling is Greenwashing
However, the plastic industry didn’t want to lose profits, so they came up with a manipulative scam to make people feel okay about using their products, while ensuring they could continue selling their highly profitable product – plastic.
So, by simply lying to people they kept the industry thriving and the profits flowing, despite its detrimental effects on the environment.
In the words of the president of the plastic industry:
If the public thinks that the recycling is working, then they are not going to be as concerned about the environment.
Larry Thomas – former president of the Society of the Plastics Industry, known today as the Plastics Industry Association
Documents reveal that industry officials were aware of the true state of plastic recycling as early as the 1970s.
For many years, these problems have remained despite advances in recycling technology and machinery.
Less than 10 percent of plastic has ever been recycled, and the public is largely unaware of these problems.
The industry knowingly promoted the idea that most plastic could and would be recycled, even though they knew it wouldn’t work.
All the while, the industry made billions of dollars by selling new plastic to the world.
Also, the oil and plastic industry didn’t want recycling to succeed because recycled plastic would compete with their sales of new plastic made from oil.
They preferred to sell virgin materials and didn’t want recycled plastic to replace it.
More Facts and Truths About Recycling Plastic
Greenpeace discovered that no plastic, including common items like soda bottles, meets the standard to be labeled “recyclable” according to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation New Plastic Economy Initiative.
To qualify, plastic should have a recycling rate of 30%, but no plastic has ever come close to being recycled and reused at that rate.
Data from May 2002 showed that the amount of plastic being recycled into new products in the US had reached a record low of around 5%.
As plastic production increases, this recycling percentage is likely to drop even further.
The crisis just gets worse and worse, and without drastic change will continue to worsen as the industry plans to triple plastic production by 2050.
Lisa Ramsden, senior plastic campaigner for Greenpeace USA
In a nutshell, the plastic industry has been a leader in greenwashing, using deceptive tactics to present itself as environmentally friendly while continuing to contribute significantly to pollution and waste.
The Story Behind the International Recycling Symbol: More Lies
The international recycling symbol was designed by Garry Anderson and introduced in the 1970s with the idea to show to people how recycling is working.
This symbol is now prominently displayed on nearly all disposable plastic products available in the market today.
Or, is it really?
In reality, the symbols found on plastic products that resemble the international recycling symbol are, in fact, resin identification codes.
These codes were introduced by the plastic industry in 1988 and are used to identify the type of plastic resin used in the product, aiding in the recycling process.
They may look similar, but they serve different purposes and should not be mistaken for the international recycling symbol.
The arrows on the resin identification code don’t actually mean anything related to recycling.
The only important part of the code is the number in the middle, which tells you the type of plastic the item is made from.
The plastic industry intentionally added the arrows to the resin identification code to make it resemble the recycling symbol to make people believe that the plastic products were recyclable.
It was a tactic to ease people’s guilt about using those products.
Of course, by creating the false impression that plastic products were recyclable, the plastic industry could sell more plastic and increase their profits.
Today, you can find these symbols on the bottom of almost every plastic item sold worldwide, but in many cases, the products are not actually recyclable.
In reality, of the main seven plastic resin identification codes, generally only the first two are recyclable.
Some of the other five may be recyclable in specific circumstances, but many places are not equipped to handle these specialized plastics.
As a result, these items often end up in landfills or are incinerated like regular garbage, rather than being recycled.
Industry Spends Millions Promoting Recycling to Boost Plastic Sales
Over the past century, the plastic industry has engaged in deceptive practices to increase their profits.
Since the 1980s, they have successfully convinced billions of people, including possibly you and I, that single-use plastics are not as harmful to the environment as they truly are.
In the 1990s, the public saw a growing number of ads and messages promoting plastic recycling.
The ads that sounded like environmental messages were actually funded by the oil industry companies like Exxon, Chevron, Dow, DuPont, along with their lobbying and trade organizations in Washington.
Among such ads was also this one, one of many that carried a message how special plastic is and that consumers should recycle it.
Industry companies invested tens of millions of dollars in these ads, running them for years to promote the supposed benefits of a product that, in reality, was mostly buried, burned, or even ended up in the ocean.
This misinformation has contributed to the widespread and excessive use of single-use plastics, leading to severe environmental consequences.
Unfortunately, the unethical practices in the plastic industry, coupled with the booming plastic recycling business, show no signs of stopping anytime soon.
By now, the plastic industry has become a massive global business with significant economic interests.
Follow the Money: Unraveling the Financial Motives Behind Plastic Industry Practices
The ten largest recycling companies in the world generate an annual revenue exceeding 60 billion dollars, with a significant portion originating from recycling plastic.
These companies are often contracted by cities or governments to handle plastic recycling within communities.
Decreasing our plastic recycling efforts would consequently reduce their income derived from profitable government contracts, which are funded by taxpayers.
These companies invest substantial sums each year in shaping public perception to portray plastic recycling as universally beneficial, making us feel less guilty about using plastic products.
Furthermore, in the United States alone, plastic manufacturers spend over 300 million dollars annually to promote their products and ensure a continuous demand for plastic.
Also, companies like Apple, Patagonia, and Adidas engage in extensive PR campaigns to portray themselves as environmentally friendly because they incorporate recycled plastic into their products.
These companies strive to create the appearance of being environmentally conscious, but ultimately, they aim to strike a balance where their efforts don’t significantly impact their profits.
This strategy allows them to maintain a positive public image while still prioritizing their financial interests.
Plastic production is highly lucrative, with the plastics industry in the US generating over $450 billion annually and directly employing almost 1 million people.
The global plastic market size was valued at USD 609.01 billion in 2022 and is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 4.0% from 2023 to 2030.
Grand View Research
Paving the Path for a Greener Future
To clarify, we are not suggesting that you should avoid recycling plastics altogether.
Some plastics can indeed be recycled, but it’s essential to understand that only a small amount of plastic waste will successfully be returned as new products.
While recycling remains a positive step, it’s equally important to address the larger issue of reducing overall plastic consumption to have a more significant impact on the environment.
Fortunately, there is a simple and straightforward solution to tackle humanity’s addiction to plastic: stop using it altogether!
Instead, choose reusable materials like metal, glass, or wood, just like people did before single-use plastic became widespread.
By making these conscious choices, we can protect the environment and work towards a sustainable future.
And don’t be fooled by companies using positive messaging to promote plastic products.
Even if it’s a recycled plastic item like a jacket, it still encourages the use of plastic and supports the recycling industry’s dependence on plastic usage.
Even though a recycled plastic jacket might seem appealing, it still supports the ongoing use of plastic and contributes to the recycling industry that relies on us continuing to use plastic.
To combat plastic pollution effectively, it’s crucial to be mindful of the products we choose and prioritize alternatives that reduce our overall plastic consumption.
The less plastic you use, whether it’s recycled, new, or any other form, the less you support profit-driven industries that contribute to plastic pollution.
Plastic is widely used in many industries, including fashion, and its harmful microplastics are now found even in human blood.
Choosing non-plastic alternatives is crucial to reduce environmental and health impacts.
Until we have better alternatives like plastics from mushrooms, seaweed, or hemp widely available, it’s important to remember that almost no plastic is good plastic.
If someone tries to convince you otherwise, they likely just care about making money.
So, it’s best to choose non-plastic options whenever possible to reduce the negative impact of plastic on the environment.
To show that the future is not completely dark, we are sharing a Time’s article about a young Dutch inventor Boyan Slat who designed the world’s first ocean plastic cleanup system.
The destination of his System 001 which is an almost 2,000 feet long floating barrier, is the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, which, at the time of writing of this article, is twice the size of Texas positioned in the Pacific Ocean between California and Hawaii.