Recycling was a lie — a big lie — to sell more plastic, industry experts say | CBC Documentaries

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Less than 10 per cent of the plastics we’ve used have been recycled. A new documentary reveals why. | cbcdocs

our single-use plastic use increased by 250 to 300 per cent as people tossed their personal protective equipment and stopped using reusable bags and containers over fears they would spread the virus., looks at the mounting crisis and how the industry has spent millions promoting recycling — just to sell more plastic.Although activists sounded the alarm about plastic waste in the 1970s, the documentary claims from 1990 to 2010, plastic production more than doubled.

Most consumers might have assumed the symbol meant the product was recyclable. But according to experts in the film, there was no economically viable way to recycle most plastics, and they have ultimately ended up in a landfill. This included plastic films, bags and the wrapping around packaged goods, as well as containers like margarine tubs.

"If the public thinks that recycling is working, then they're not going to be as concerned about the environment," says Larry Thomas, another top industry official interviewed inAccording to Lewis Freeman, a former vice-president with the Society of the Plastics Industry, many in the industry had doubts about recycling from the start. "There was never an enthusiastic belief that recycling was ultimately going to work in a significant way," he says.

But they used the good stuff and disposed of the rest. And because of a growing plastic waste problem in that country, China finally stopped taking most imported plastic waste in 2018.

 

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cbcdocs Well... ya! Been like that for years.

gabrfranke cbcdocs .DawnRoseTurner upton1144 MikeLoBurgio TXsharon Recycling was aLie,ABigLie, toSellMore Plastic. 10% of Plastics we’veUsed haveEverBeenRecycled. NewDocumentaryRevealsWhy. NaturalGas&Plastic, theEvilScamToSellUS Oversupply. part2

cbcdocs Ending single use plastics I guess this is the end of composite hockey sticks.

cbcdocs MatoulaM 😔

cbcdocs Stop buying plastics

cbcdocs I've never heard a convincing explanation of why plastic in landfills is a bad thing.

cbcdocs Shame on the various governments for not having adequate recovery and recycling facilities. Most of us are trying to do our part, only to learn afterwards that most end up in landfills. Instead the government imposes more taxes as if that is the solution to everything.

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