Unfortunately, plastic recycling is a scam

And all the insiders know the truth.

This one made me a little sad to research. Dropping my plastic into a recycling bin always made me feel good, but not any more.

We've been told our whole lives that we need to recycle our plastics. They don't degrade. They ruin the planet. 

But what if the recycling system we've been sold doesn't actually work? What if it's all been a massive greenwashing campaign by the plastics industry, politicians, and even some environmental groups?

In my latest video, I dive into the surprising truth about plastic recycling. Despite our best intentions and dutiful sorting, the reality is that only about 5% of the 48 million tons of plastic waste generated in the U.S. each year is actually recycled. The rest ends up in landfills, incinerators, or shipped overseas to become someone else's problem.

How did we get here? The history is eye-opening. After World War II, plastic production exploded, and so did the waste. Concerns about plastic pollution gained traction in the 1960s, putting the industry on the defensive. Their solution? Promote recycling as the answer, even as their own executives doubted its economic viability. 

Keep America Beautiful, a group formed by plastics manufacturers, spent millions on ads extolling the virtues of recycling. Even the universal "chasing arrows" recycling symbol was cleverly designed by the industry to create a false impression that all plastics are recyclable.

But here's the reality: recycling plastic is technically difficult and expensive. There are thousands of different plastic types that can't be mixed, and even a tiny contamination can ruin a whole batch. Recycling also degrades the material, so most plastic can only be recycled once or twice before it's useless.

So why have politicians and environmental groups played along with this charade for so long? Money and feel-good optics. Cities have spent hundreds of millions on recycling programs while the plastics industry keeps churning out more virgin plastic. And we consumers get a dose of moral satisfaction from doing our part.

There's much more to this story that I unpack in the video. If you watch it, let me know what you think!

    –Ken