The U.S. tossed 51 million tons of wrappers, bottles and bags in 2021. Some 95% ended up in landfills, oceans or scattered in the atmosphere, says Greenpeace.
A scant 5% of the plastic waste generated in the U.S. last year was recycled, according to new research by Greenpeace.
Americans discarded 51 million tons of wrappers, containers, bottles and shopping bags in 2021. That equates to about 309 pounds of plastic per person per year, of which almost 95% ended up in landfills, in oceans or scattered in the atmosphere. And some, as it breaks down, is injested by people and pets as tiny microplastic particles, Greenpeace said in a report Monday.
“It’s simply not possible to collect the vast quantity of these small pieces of plastic sold to U.S. consumers annually,” Ramsden said. “More plastic is being produced, and an even smaller percentage of it is being recycled. The crisis just gets worse and worse, and, without drastic change, will continue to worsen as the industry plans to triple plastic production by 2050.
Even plastics long considered recyclable — bottles and jugs —- fall far short of the 30% recycling rate needed to meet the definition of recyclable by the foundation. The reprocessing rate for the rest of the plastics used by millions of people everyday to wrap leftovers, eat takeout or return unwanted online purchases is less than 5%.
The company said it will sell 25% of beverages in refillables by 2030, up from a current 16%. It may be fitting that the beverage seller made this move; by one measure, a Global Brand audit, Coke is the world’s largest plastic polluter.
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