Is Recycling Actually Worth It?

By Mallory Williams 03/24/25

“Less Than 10% Of Plastic Ever Produced has Actually been Recycled”

Unfortunately “less than 10% of the plastic that’s ever been produced is recycled” (www.earthday.org) . Which yes, this is better than 0 of course! So to quickly answer my own question; recycling is worth it in that sense. 

But why is there such a large push on recycling if less than 10% is actually being recycled? Well,  If there is potential in recycling the product then we may think, “what’s the big issue then?”. Like literally, I’m taking the words out of big plastic’s mouth. Here is a quote from Larry Thomas, the former president of the Society of the Plastics Industry, “If the public thinks that recycling is working, then they are not going to be as concerned about the environment” , (https://www.npr.org/) . 

Like everything nowadays, and for a while – money is the root of it all. The big plastic companies make bank off of selling their non degradable, but breakable product. We have started to run off plastic and it would be hard to pump the breaks on it. Think of how much plastic we use in our daily lives: it’s in the device you are reading this post off of, the food we eat most likely comes in some sort of plastic, we use it to store our food or anything really, it’s what your children’s toys are made of. It is literally in everything. According to dataforprogess.org  the plastics and fossil fuel industries have sneakily promoted recycling as a solution to plastic waste for more than 50 years, despite their long standing knowledge that plastic recycling is not economically viable or easy to do at the scale that plastic is produced.
 The issue lies with the lies that we are told about plastic and recycling. The truth is, plastic is not as recyclable as we think. A great video to watch on this topic is “Plastic Recycling is an Actual Scam” from Climate Town on Youtube to ,https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJnJ8mK3Q3g, here is their closing statement a little bit in my own words:  “we are not going to fix the issue with making a decision at the grocery store, or saying no to straws at the restaurant – we need to take it up with legislation. We need to use our voice to put a ban on single use plastics. Unfortunately, legislation has preemptively banned plastic bans ; which is just like a slap in the face. Of course they would, the plastic company makes bank! But at what cost? Anywho , by getting involved in the plastic legislation is the best way to make an impact on the huge plastic issue we have here.” I have some links below, that Climate Town had added in their description of their video : Plastic Recycling is an Actual Scam

NCSL Overview: https://www.ncsl.org/research/environ…

Earth Day Plastic Action: https://www.earthday.org/act-on-plast…

Cleveland Preemptive Ban: https://www.cleveland.com/open/2019/0…

Nat Geo breakdown: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/en…

CIF: https://www.clf.org/blog/the-truth-ab…

WSJ: https://www.wsj.com/articles/plastic-…
NRDC: https://www.nrdc.org/stories/single-u…

Why Most Plastics Can’t be Recycled:

So, most plastics are produced to only be used once. The ‘recycling’ symbol that is on most products nowadays isn’t actually a recycling symbol. If the symbol has a number within the middle of the symbol, it is a resin code and they do not indicate that the product can be recycled. The numbers correspond to the resin code that said plastic has, this was actually put out by the plastic industry. It’s convenient that it literally looks nearly identical to the recycling symbol created by Gary Anderson in 1970.  Unfortunately, given the current problems in the recycling market not all plastics with the 1 through 7 symbol are recyclable at this time. ‘ (www.shakerheightsoh.gov) 

According to https://cambrianpackaging.co.uk/, here are the resin codes 1-7 ability to be recycled and a little bit about the type of plastic they are made of. I have found that resin codes 1 and 2 are most likely to be recycled among the 7. 

• PET Plastic Resin Code 1 Polyethylene terephthalate this material can be recycled , and is the most widely recycled plastic
• HDPE Plastic , Code 2: High Density Polyethylene , Widely Recyclable plastic ; this type of plastic is found in milk jugs or shampoo bottles 
• PVC Resin code 3 , polyvinyl chloride is not recyclable  –  this type of plastic is found in cling film, hoses, and plastic pipes
• LDPE Resin code 4 Low Density Polyethylene is said to be recyclable it is found in products like garbage bags, squeeze bottles, single use plastics like fruit containers at the grocery store , but may not be in your area , use https://www.recyclenow.com/ to check 
• PP Resin code 5 Polypropylene is a highly used type of plastic and is said to be recyclable ,but  recycling rate is low, examples of polypropylene plastics are food storage containers, textiles, some automotive parts, medical devices , storage bins, construction materials 
• PS resin code 6, polystyrene Is NOT recyclable , it is a brittle plastic or styrofoam like take out containers, egg cartons, CD and DVD cases, some plastic utensils 

Resin code 7 signifies that the plastic is not one of the standard types (PET, HDPE, PVC, LDPE, PP, or PS and they are not recyclable

Recycling Centers Get A Bit Overwhelmed

I think it may be ideal to consume and discard while thinking that the product isn’t going to be recycled. I know I mentioned prior we aren’t going to be the deciding factor of stopping big plastic, but we do have the power in being the consumer. The big companies notice our habits, and if we are actively choosing products that aren’t wrapped in plastic, bringing our own reusable bags, or choosing glass products over the alternative; they will notice. When recycling any type of plastic it is important to look into if that plastic can be recycled, if you do not know or cannot find sources that can identify it is best to just throw it out. A lot of people have been spoon fed misinformation for years, I know I have, that whatever the plastic : it can be recycled. From learning about the resin codes and the regulations that is not the case. 

Here are some tips to try to remember for recycling, but again if you are unsure – just throw that bad boy out. 

If the product is dirty with food waste, clean out and dry the product before recycling.

If there is the plastic ring and lid around a water bottle or milk jug, remove it as this saves time for the recycle center workers where they may not even take the time and just throw it away regardless. 

For fast food cups, most of the plastic used to produce them is too thin to be recycled, but if you are willing to do the research look into the brand of cup to see if it can be. If it can, make sure to remove the lid and straw before recycling. 

Look into the local regulations on if or what can be recycled. 

Recycling centers have been getting backed up with their tall order of waste for a while now, but that doesn’t mean to just give up on recycling in total. Try to inform yourself before recycling to help out in that way. I sound like a broken record, but if you are unsure if it can be recycled ; just throw the product away.

Long Story Short . . .

Long story short guys , yes recycling is worth it, but it’s important to know about the issues that lie within the recycling system. Have you ever gone to recycle something at a fast food restaurant or store, and the recycling bin is attached to the trash? It is just an illusion of choice. And the unknown knowledge of how most plastics can’t be recycled as they are meant to just be thrown away as it costs less money for big plastic to produce new rather than recycle the old. I won’t even get into the micro plastic issue we have in the world in this blog, but if that’s something you’d like me to touch on let me know! I would love to get into that topic. I have a  lot of passion for topics evolving the illusion that the consumers are the problem, when in reality it is the big companies and legislation that got us here; and they are the way of getting us out. Thank you for getting this far in the post, and I hope I may have brought something to your attention that you didn’t think of before.

All in all less than 10% or near, or around it, is way better than 0% recycled plastic. It is difficult to get away from plastic, but rather than looking at recycling, try to reduce and reuse as much as possible and petition for legislation to make a change !

Sources that I used: 

Plastic Recycling is a Lie

https://www.npr.org/transcripts/912150085#:~:text=THOMAS%3A%20If%20the%20public%20thinks,they’ll%20keep%20buying%20plastic.

Climate Town : ,https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PJnJ8mK3Q3g 

Highly recommend Climate Town for interesting and entertaining vids about what’s going on with the environment 

https://www.shakerheightsoh.gov/199/Recycling 
https://cambrianpackaging.co.uk/what-are-resin-identification-codes/