Truth of Plastic Recycling
As part of the internship, I am researching on the economics of recycled market. Today, I came across this website by Ecology Center, which unveils the seven misconceptions about plastics and plastics recycling. It states that
“A chasing arrows symbol means a plastic container is recyclable. The arrows are meaningless. Every plastic container is marked with the chasing arrows symbol. The only information in the symbol is the number inside the arrows, which indicates the general class of resin used to make the container. The attorneys general of 11 states objected to false and misleading claims about plastic recyclability. The recent settlement that they reached with the American Plastics Council paves the way for a first-ever definition of what claims can or cannot be made about plastic recycling and recyclability.”
I thought a chasing arrow means it is recyclable, so I googled it. According to a paper by Resource Recycling, North America’s Recycling and Composting Journal, Gary Anderson created this symbol in 1970. However, today the use of this symbol is not regulated. This is a public domain, just like the no-smoking sign.
The recycling of plastics is a complicated matter as well. Even the meaning of the word “recycling” is confusing. At present, recycled and recovered plastic are made into other plastic products that are not currently being recycled, such as carpets. This means, we are only temporarily diverting plastics away from the landfill, but they eventually end up there. Therefore plastic is not truly recyclable. Secondly, the society of Plastics Industry developed the resin identification code, which categorizes plastics into 7 categories. This is the number we often see surrounded by the chasing arrow printed on plastic products. Only a few types of plastics, mainly PET and HDPE, are currently being so-called recycled. Other types can be recycled too, but are not currently being recycled due to economic reasons. Less than 10 percent of plastic is actually being recycled in the US and less than 7 percent in the UK. We have to reduce the consumption of plastics to truly eradicate the problem of plastic pollution in the ocean.
To begin your part in reducing plastic pollution, earth911.org provides us some tips to reuse plastic. Check it out! http://earth911.com/news/2010/06/07/fresh-tips-for-reusing-plastic/
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