Let us keep that in mind that: plastics are fossil fuel and polluting at every stage of its lifecycle, negatively impacting front line communities that are largely BIPOC or otherwise have low-resources.
Please click on the images for the link to each report.
The Real Truth About the U.S. Plastics Recycling Rate
May 4, 2022 | Beyond Plastics and The Last Beach CleanUp
The Last Beach Clean Up and Beyond Plastics released a new report which documented a recycling rate of 5 to 6% for post-consumer plastic waste in the U.S. for 2021. The groups also revealed that while plastics recycling is on the decline, the per capita generation of plastic waste has increased by 263% since 1980.
October 2021 report by Beyond Plastics links GHG emission from plastic lifecycle to trump that of coal in the US by 2030. The report is titled: The New Coal: Plastics and Climate Change.
PHYS.ORG, March 22, 2022.
“Following disasters, experts say, a lack of government planning often leaves millions of tons of potentially hazardous debris to be swiftly buried in unlined landfills, angering and potentially endangering nearby communities. Even when disposed of correctly, disaster debris takes up landfill space that is already at a premium in many places. Federal data also shows the billions of dollars in average annual cost for debris removal is higher than ever.”
The Conversation, October 20, 2021
The Guardian, December 7, 2021.
Zero Waste Ithaca 