Plastic recycling is worse than useless: due to the filtration needs it's one of the larger contributors towards microplastics in the water supply. This is on top of all the other factors: any recycle-able plastics go in for another 1-2 rounds at most, and given the pace of plastic usage it means the recycling did not accomplish anything. Further, most plastic cannot be recycled, some 3rd party countries just dump it into the ocean, others just ship it to a landfill.
I'd be more rational to give up on most plastic recycling and just burn it industrially, like in waste power plants or to generate process heat. You get decent heat output, it burns fairly cleanly, and any toxins can be filtered. It's not perfect, but it's a lot better than burning 'fresh' oil or gas for the same purpose while doing this whole plastic-recycling charade
I agree that a lot of plastic recycling is greenwashing from the manufacturing industry.
I've seen the statistics, and we need to take dramatic steps in order to reduce the amount of single use plastics – but don't you think that it's better that we try?
I hear you about micro plastics, and I think that it's important to try to do better to fix this.
But given the limitations of our imperfect world, do you really think that we would be net-net better off without even making an attempt to recycle it?
>But given the limitations of our imperfect world, do you really think that we would be net-net better off without even making an attempt to recycle it?
This really depends on the specifics of how much we can move the needle. For instance, there's zero chance we're fully getting rid of plastics. Even in a world where we had perfect political will, you'd need them at a minimum for medical tools.
With regard to microplastic pollution, I think I'd need more information on the major causes. For instance, I've heard that car tires are one of the biggest causes on land, whereas fishing nets are one of the biggest causes in the ocean. To the extent that this is correct, recycling is not going to impact those problems one way or another. If for instance I were to learn that microplastic pollution from recycling was so minimal it can barely be measured, I would be open to changing my position. (my understanding that plastic recycling is a significant cause of microplastic pollution.)
I've rambled a bit here, but ultimately the question needs to be answered whether plastic recycling is doing more harm than good. If it's doing more harm then it makes no sense to "at least try," as "success" would put us in a worse position.
