Most plastics aren't recyclable, Greenpeace finds

About 95% of the plastic used by U.S. households winds up in landfills rather than at the recycling station, environmental group Greenpeace said Monday.

Greenpeace found that only about 5% of the discarded plastic is recycled. That means about 5 million tons of plastic winds up in landfills and waterways each year. That works out to be about 300 pounds of plastic per person, according to federal U.S. estimates.

The advocacy group finds this isn't so much a problem of improper disposal as it is the type of plastic. Only a few types of plastic are recyclable. The rest are considered "economically impossible to recycle."

Greenpeace suggests much of this is due to corporate mislabeling as only a few items labeled as such are actually recyclable. Lisa Ramsden, a plastics campaigner for Greenpeace, said big beverage companies such as Pepsi and Coca-Cola have worked to promote recycling as a way to reduce waste.

"But the data is clear: practically speaking, most plastic is just not recyclable," she told The Guardian newspaper.

In April, the California attorney general launched a probe into fossil fuel and petrochemical companies, alleging they engaged in an "aggressive" and "deceptive" campaign beginning in the 1980s to lead the public to believe they could mitigate plastic pollution by recycling, a claim the companies knew was not true

But apart from the plastic itself, Greenpeace finds the recycling process itself is complicated by issues such as sorting and collection. And even if some types of plastics were recycled, contamination from toxic materials can be an issue.

Meanwhile, the actual rate of recycling is on a bit of a decline too -- dropping from 9.5% in 2014 to 8.7% in 2018. And of the plastic that's left over, millions of tons wind up as exported waste that's either burned off or simply deposited elsewhere.

Some companies, however, are addressing the issue head on. Big box retailer Walmart introduced a heavy-duty reusable bag for its grocery delivery program and Coca-Cola is switching out the signature green bottle for its Sprite line to a clear one that was optimized for recycling.

Plastic remains a growing problem nevertheless. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development estimates global plastic use and waste could triple by 2060.

"The real solution is to switch to systems of reuse and refill," rather than single-use items, Ramsden from Greenpeace said.

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