One way I try to stay on top of trends in waste management and recycling is to go to local meetings, I also follow a few zero waste groups on facebook. Although I’m not zero waste, I try my best to reduce our waste output and find alternatives to buying new bags.
This morning, I came across this website: https://www.recyclingfacts.com/
Once you have a minute to pick your chin up off the floor really use your critical thinking skills to determine if this is true or not. I find it awful that they’re finding people and presenting fake information about how plastic is the most environmentally friendly solution. In reality, plastic can be recycled but it must be downgraded and new plastic must be used to recycle. Whereas aluminum can be recycled indefinitely. They are taking data and misrepresenting it – you can see this by looking at the graph regarding plastic waste in oceans, putting China at #1.
In the past, the US used to send plastic to China – probably up to 2017-2018. Now China isn’t taking our plastics and our recycling process is much more fragmented. So although China or other smaller markets may be taking our plastic waste, we are the cause of so much of this trash. I don’t ask that you read this and take it as fact, but we all could do a better job of using our research skills and teaching kids to think analytically about what we do with our waste.
A good starting point for real information on plastic waste and ocean pollution would be to go here: https://www.5gyres.org/truth-about-recycling