Are we actually helping by recycling our trash?
By: Riley Duignan
According to The Recycling Partnership, only 21% of total collected recycling actually gets recycled in the U.S.; even worse, only 5% of plastics are actually successfully recycled. Is there more to it and why is this?
Around 73% of households in the U.S. have full access to recycling services, which leaves the other 27% or around 20 million people without proper access to recycling services or none at all. But despite the people with full access to recycling services, only around 43% of these populations actually participated in recycling within their household. Within this 73% only around 21% of the recyclables actually get recycled, this means the other 52% isn’t being recycled or properly disposed of. According to Oberk, Alaska, Mississippi, Tennessee, Alabama, and Louisiana , are the 5 worst states for recycling. A lack of recycling services can be seen in states with weakening infrastructure, and a lack of commitment to high recycling costs. Often (though it can vary by state), city and state recycling services are paid by tax dollars, states like the ones mentioned above who are among the “poorer states”, including Mississippi and Louisiana are the top 2 poorest states. With lower funding through taxes, local governments likely will put more money into other public services, leaving low funding for recycling; and therefore lack of accessibility for people in these states.
The cost for recycling isn’t cheap either, varying around $20-150 per ton; With sorting recyclables being over $100. However, landfilling costs around $45-85 per ton, also with less and easier processes, making it favorable for convenience and wallet friendly for companies.
So why is the actual rate only 21%? It’s a mix of many things, from residents not putting correct materials into the recycling bin, some recycling collections made unusable because of food waste, and separation costs and process. Because recycling includes many different types of plastics and other such mixed materials, some cannot be properly recycled or melted down together. Due to this, recycling requires proper processing and separation of necessary materials, the majority of which are plastics. In addition, its cheaper for companies to make plastic or other materials from virgin plastic, processed and completed freshly. Using recycled materials to make plastic can cost around $1,200-1,400 per ton, while producing virgin plastic costs around $950-1,100 per ton; being an overall cheaper option for companies.
In addition, unbeknownst to many, food residue needs to be cleaned off of recyclable materials because of risk of contamination, decreased quality, and blocked machinery; which usually is not done by residents who actually recycle. This makes the efforts almost useless, with companies not recycling the material at all if it has food residue. In addition, many don’t know, but many plastics are harder or almost impossible to recycle compared to others. With plastics like soda bottles, cooking oil containers, milk jugs, etc. being easiest to recycle, and things like styrofoam, piping, vinyl fencing, grocery bags, plastic film, and takeout containers are all plastics that may or may not be able to be recycled (usually because of mechanical risks or what the product is composed of).
With this, around 79% of materials meant to be recycled actually end up not being recycled, and the majority end up in landfills in the end because of risk of contamination, inability to be processed, risk for machinery, and improper sorting on hand of residents and the companies. According to The Recycling Partnership, around 75%-80% of trash and waste in landfills are technically recyclable, and either tossed by the companies or improperly disposed of by residents.
What can you do?
Though we can only do so much to control what recycling companies are doing, we can control what we do and how we dispose of recyclables. If you are someone who has access to recycling services on the regular, to properly dispose of and recycle materials, keep any materials clean, dry, and with no food residue or waste. Make sure to not bag any of your recyclables and keep them loose within the bin, do not include grocery bags or plastic bags inside of recycle waste, break down and flatten any of your boxes going to recycling, and check your local recycling rules and regulations to make sure what you are attempting to recycle is able to and will be properly disposed and recycled.
Sources:
https://worldpopulationreview.com/state-rankings/poorest-states
https://www.epa.gov/sites/default/files/2015-09/documents/region_5_state_funding_mechanisms.pdf
https://www.epa.gov/facts-and-figures-about-materials-waste-and-recycling/frequent-questions-regarding-epas-facts-and#:~:text=The%20EPA’s%202018%20*Advancing%20Sustainable%20Materials%20Management:,resulting%20in%20a%2032.1%20percent%20recycling%20rate.
https://english.umd.edu/research-innovation/journals/interpolations/interpolations-spring-2011/cost-benefit-analysis#:~:text=Although%20recycling%20programs%20in%20the,$3%20million%20(Black%201006).
https://www.plasticpollutioncoalition.org/guides/singleuseplastics/recyclingvslandfill#:~:text=Add%20to%20these%20challenges%20the,quickly%20exceeded%20the%20cost%20of
https://www.plasticsforchange.org/blog/which-plastic-can-be-recycled
https://pollution.sustainability-directory.com/learn/how-does-food-residue-affect-the-recycling-of-polymers/
https://www.oberk.com/packaging-crash-course/states-best-worst-recycling#:~:text=The%20worst%20state%20at%20recycling,just%2063%20pounds%20per%20capita.
https://www.asyousow.org/insights/why-nearly-half-of-americans-lack-recycling#:~:text=The%20short%20answer%20is%20that,highly%20sought%2Dafter%20recycled%20plastic.