What is the truth about recycling?

When it comes to plastic, it’s now abundantly clear that recycling can’t turn plastic into a safe and sustainable material. The only real solution is to reduce our reliance on plastic by moving to safer and reusable materials.

At the same time, companies are under increasing pressure to show that they are using recycled content as part of their sustainability programs. As long as this effort focuses on plastic recycling, however, it’s doomed to fall short of true sustainability and carries substantial risks.

Recycling does have a role in a healthier economy. With materials like metal and glass, recycling can result in a safe and economical product. With plastic, the answer has to be to reduce our use—and move to safer materials—rather than recycle.

Why Recycling Won't Solve the Problem

Plastics are a complex mixture of chemicals, including toxic additives.

Plastics’ resin codes, often called recycling symbols, give the impression that the composition of the plastic is fully known and that the item can be recycled. However, resin codes only indicate the base polymer of the plastic, for example, PET, polystyrene, or ABS, and not whether a particular utility can recycle the item. Resin codes do not account for additives, such as colorants, softeners, or flame retardants, which are largely untracked and unregulated. Some, such as hormone-disrupting phthalates and flame retardants, are known to be toxic. Additionally, harmful chemicals used to manufacture the base polymer, such as the antimony frequently used to manufacture PET, may remain in the plastic as a contaminant.

Without transparency and regulation, recyclers can’t know what’s in the recycled plastic they produce and be sure that it’s safe.

In today’s marketplace, transparency in the supply chain is still the exception to the rule. That means that recyclers in most cases have very little information on which chemicals beyond the base polymer may be in the plastic they’re recycling. There’s no way recyclers can guarantee a safe product given these constraints.

Toxic additives can turn up in unexpected places when plastic is recycled.

Testing has found toxic flame retardants in products like kitchen utensils and toys, most likely due to use of plastic recycled from electronics. Because of the use of toxic additives and the lack of transparency and regulation, our system currently cannot prevent dangerous levels of harmful contaminants when recycled content is used.

The vast majority of plastic will never be recycled because it’s cheaper for companies to use virgin materials.

Today, less than 10% of plastics are recycled, and utilities that manage waste struggle to safely dispose of the large quantities of plastic that has ended its useful life. Plastics can in any case only be recycled a few times before the polymers become too degraded for use.

So-called “chemical recycling” won’t solve the problem.

The chemical industry may be touting chemical recycling as a solution, but it’s an energy-intensive process that results in large amounts of waste and emits toxic air pollution. The output is mainly low-quality fossil fuels, not usable plastics, and the factories rely on government subsidies.