Just saw a stat that only 17% of plastic gets recycled in the US

I was reading a report from the EPA last week and that number hit me hard. I always thought it was way higher, like maybe half of what we put in the bin. Found it buried in a PDF about waste management from 2022. It makes me wonder if anyone else feels like they've been sorting their trash wrong this whole time.

3 comments

3 Comments

charlesanderson2mo ago

Man, that's a real gut punch. I remember sorting everything so carefully for years, and finding out it mostly doesn't matter is frustrating. It feels like we've been sold a story that lets companies off the hook, lol.

jesse2901mo ago

lol yeah @charlesanderson you're not wrong, I basically became a part-time trash sorter for nothing. I mean, I still do it out of habit but now I just assume half of it ends up in the same pile anyway. feels like I'm just going through the motions to make myself feel better about the whole thing. maybe it's just me but I bet the companies are laughing all the way to the bank while we're all here with our little blue bins.

gray_roberts2mo ago

My friend recycled for a decade, @charlesanderson, then saw it all dumped together.