The War on Plastic isn’t working – recycling myths exposed

There’s a war on plastic – government around the world are trying to cut the amount we use it. But does the science make sense?

Plastic waste is polluting the ocean and harming wildlife. But where does your recycling go? Most of it ends up getting shipped abroad – to the very countries responsible for the most marine plastic waste.

The EU is bringing in measures to restrict our use of plastic. But even after Brexit, the UK government has lots of plastic policies of its own.

But do they make sense? Or are we just making things worse – and ignoring the broader issue of climate change? Is recycling actually worth it?

Read our full FactCheck reports on plastic here:

Plastic straw claims:

Plastic bag sales:

Is recycling worth it?

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[dennisklomp]

I work in the recycling sector and the biggest problem by far is the massive diversity of plastics.

Most plastics could be recycled if it came in pure and consistent form. The problem is that you have chunks, foils, foam, composites of all varieties and various additives to alter its properties.

A consumer cannot be asked to split his wastestreams and his consumed products into hundreds of parts. At the same time, the plastic stream becomes almost inseparable.

Besides this, you need to develop a recycling method for almost every single product nowadays. That's almost impossible to do financially and sometimes it's also impossible to do it in a sensible way.

The only solution is to get a team of universities, scientists and industrial designers together to develop a set of rules and codes that would reduce the massive diversity in plastic products. Go thicker instead of thinner, less composites if possible, etc etc.

[teeqtoque]

How about reusable bottles for liquids? Take your bottle of milk, water and juice then refill it at the shop. The stores could have refill pumps just like for fuel.

[weiwenwwe]

Bringing back old methods such as the milkman can really help with the problem

[scribblezgfx]

Maybe the problem is our consumer behaviour to always buy, buy, produce, produce, buy, buy. Focus on improving the things we have.

[RubsNL]

The whole idea that tossing something in the right bin is recycling or green is a misconception to begin with. We need to stop wasting precious/ damaging resources as a whole.

[tiffypop]

I’ve been watching a lot of environmental videos lately. All of them highlight serious problems, but none of them give solutions. I thought using my tote bags was a good thing, but here I’ve created more problems due to the manufacturing of them. Give more ideas for positive change! I eat less meat, I’ve become more minimal, I buy from the bulk section, I carry a metal water bottle, etc...but I’d like to do more!

[RandyLy]

The three R's (reduce, reuse, recycle) must be changed. Here's what I think.
1. Rethink. You probably don't need to buy that item anyway, and if you do, be mindful of its lifecycle.
2. Reduce. If you're going to buy it, buy just the right amount -- no more than is necessary.
3. Reuse. Use that item as much as possible to get the most out of it.
4. Refurbish. Once that item begins to fall apart, try to repair the bits and pieces.
5. Recycle. Last resort should be to discard it in the recycling bin, hoping that the item can be made into another secondhand item.

[mell]

War on plastic? You're talking as if people are actually doing something about it...

[lozhennessy]

I was worried that this video would make people think that there was no point in recycling and I found that a bit irresponsible. But the comments here are very reassuring! In my view we need to rebel against our government and bring in a new system which does not put profit above all else!!!

[Mr_Chris__]

In the old days (before plastic bags became so commonplace), people were more resourceful and less wasteful. Cardboard boxes were often reused to put your groceries in, fish was wrapped in newspaper and bags were often made of straw or paper.

Whenever I go food shopping, I take a cardboard box off the shelves to put my shopping in. I will then repurpose some of the boxes to be used as parcels.

[Anita-mdze]

What kind of government makes up report stats like that? Didn't even pay for a scientific study? Wtf?!

[lucilledelorme]

It's madness and hardly carbon friendly to be transporting plastics/ trash around the planet. We should all be responsible for dealing with garbage at a local level. To encourage manufacturers to use less plastic and packaging and to change to something biodegradable just tax them to the hilt. Once it's starts affecting their bottom line they'll soon change. Research into alternative materials that are reusable, recyclable or biodegradable or even some enzyme or compound that can break down plastics should be funded. We should also be more mindful of our own usage and how responsibly we dispose of our own trash.

[lucyward]

An Australian company called LICELLA are reverse engineering plastic and returning it to its source materials so that it can be re-used again. Best idea to deal with plastic, reverting it back to liquid oil so that it can be used as fuel again or other things. They use a method of heating water to break down the chemicals in plastic.

[ericabruskin]

I think the best way to deal with the plastic problem is to completely phase out all plastic, and replace it with various things like compostable bioplastics, hemp, canvas, etc depending on the product. The burden should be on producers, not consumers.

[amazingpromotionalmerchand]

First of all there is tech now to turn plastic into Hydrogen with little impact regarding carbon.
What you then need is to feed it with rubbish.The councils need to employ more people to collect our rubbish not only household but coastlines, green spaces and the sides of roads.They then sell it to the companies that can turn it into hydrogen as the councils then get two jobs done, the make the environment better for the public and here the crunch they can get some £££ to make it worth there while.

[shooglechic]

It is messed up that we ship most of our "recycling" overseas in the US instead of having recycling facilities here to support it. Imagine the jobs we'd have. I even see trash fly out of garbage trucks.

[RobVaderful]

Aargh...That's what we said in the eighties in germany. We had a bottle payback system for glass bottles. Than the companies changed to plasticbottles because they are lighter, more durable and "come on plastic is the future". They have been right.

[Martin-bxet]

Pick up a cardboard box (before a shelf-stacker squashes it) to tote your shopping.

[lothean]

We create more problems than we try to fix. That's the reality of it all.

[sysghost]

I wonder: Why do these countries even accept receiving the shipments of garbage?