New Greenpeace USA report, Circular Claims Fall Flat Again, claims that most plastic in the US “simply cannot be recycled”.
The report says that US households only recycled 2.4 million tonnes of plastic waste out of 51 million tonnes generated.
According to the report, no type of plastic packaging in the US meets the definition of recyclable used by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s New Plastic Economy (EMF NPE) Initiative.
Greenpeace USA says two of the most common plastics in the US that are often considered recyclable – PET #1 and HDPE #2, typically bottles and jugs – fall well below the EMF NPE threshold, only achieving reprocessing rates of 20.9% and 10.3%, respectively. The non-profit continues that for every other type of plastic, the reprocessing rate is less than 5%.
We are at a decision point on plastic pollution. It is time for corporations to turn off the plastic tap.
While PET #1 and HDPE #2 were previously thought of as recyclable, the report claims that being accepted by a recycling processing plant does not necessarily result in them being recycled, which Greenpeace USA says effectively negates the recyclability claim.
Greenpeace USA says the original comprehensive, objective survey of acceptance of plastic items at US residential material recovery facilities for kerbside recycling has been continually updated since its creation in October 2019 and was reverified in August 2022.
According to the report, which is an update to a 2020 report, mechanical and chemical recycling of plastic waste fails because plastic waste is extremely difficult to collect, virtually impossible to sort for recycling, environmentally harmful to reprocess, often made of and contaminated by toxic materials, and not economical to recycle.
The non-profit says that the survey was performed and verified by technically qualified volunteers of The Last Beach Cleanup, which are two registered professional chemical engineers and a recycling industry expert.
The report urges companies to take several additional steps to mitigate the systemic problems associated with plastic recycling, including phasing out single-use plastics, committing to standardised reusable packaging, and adopting a Global Plastics Treaty to help set international standards.
The Greenpeace USA report focuses on the situation in the US, which contrasts with what’s happening in the UK.
Greenpeace USA Senior Plastics Campaigner, Lisa Ramsden, said: “Corporations like Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Nestlé, and Unilever have worked with industry front groups to promote plastic recycling as the solution to plastic waste for decades. But the data is clear: practically speaking, most plastic is just not recyclable. The real solution is to switch to systems of reuse and refill.
“We are at a decision point on plastic pollution. It is time for corporations to turn off the plastic tap. Instead of continuing to greenwash and mislead the American public, industry should stand on the right side of history this November and support an ambitious Global Plastics Treaty that will finally end the age of plastic by significantly decreasing production and increasing refill and reuse.”
CIWM Policy & Technical Director, Lee Marshall, said when commenting on the report: “The Greenpeace USA report focuses on the situation in the US, which contrasts with what’s happening in the UK.
“Plastic packaging recycling has been increasing year on year since 2016 and it increased even further than expected in 2021, reaching 593,000 tonnes. The UK could reach the milestone of recycling over 600,000 tonnes in 2022, which is a 33% increase from 2019.”
