Plastic Recycling: decades of industrial lies exposed

You’ve been mislied, and you didn’t even know it! Surely, like many others, you’ve been deceived by various labels on bottles claiming “100% recycled plastic.” However, this is pure greenwashing, as generating an entire bottle from regenerated plastic is impossible. To understand the reason behind this claim, it’s essential to grasp the methodology used in plastic recycling today.

How Plastic is Recycled Today

The plastic recycling process now involves five main steps:

• • Collection and Sorting: The first step to start recycling as we know it today is the collection of recyclables, followed by sorting plastic materials;

• • Sorting and Selection: This process primarily occurs through machines that sort waste based on size. An infrared scanner identifies and separates different types of plastic, such as PET, PVC, or PE, using compressed air jets;

• • Shredding: Selected waste, often compacted into large blocks, is sent to processing plants where it is further divided based on the product type, such as caps with caps and bottles with bottles;

• • Washing: In this phase, plastic is washed and cleaned from any residues of dirt, food, soap, shampoo, and other substances;

• • Grinding: After cleaning, plastic waste is shredded into flakes resembling confetti. Subsequently, these flakes are separated by color using dedicated machinery, then heated, cooled, and cut into small pieces. The end result is a large quantity of pellets ready to be used in the production of new plastic from scratch.

But the surprises don’t end here. According to a study conducted by the Center for Climate Integrity, the majority of plastic materials CANNOT BE RECYCLED. Why? Let’s discover it together.

The Center for Climate Integrity Report

The report, based on internal industry documents, exposes how petroleum and plastic companies knowingly promoted recycling as a solution to plastic waste management, despite being aware of its technical and economic limitations. This deception has significantly contributed to the persistent plastic waste crisis.

A bit of data

The report, titled “The Fraud of Plastic Recycling: How Big Oil and the plastics industry deceived the public for decades and caused the plastic waste crisis,” illustrates a decade-long campaign of fraud and deception by major oil and plastic companies. Despite internal awareness that recycling is not economically or technically feasible on a large scale, these companies continued to support it, perpetuating the plastic waste crisis.

According to an analysis by the OECD, less than 10% of the produced plastic is actually recycled. In 2019 alone, 460 million tons of plastic were produced, generating 353 million tons of waste. According to the OECD, of this waste, only 9% was recycled, while the remaining portion was distributed as follows:

• • 19% was incinerated, causing considerable environmental damage.

• • 50% of the waste ended up in controlled landfills.

• • The remaining 22% was dumped in illegal landfills, burned in the open, or thrown into the environment.

Why is all this plastic scattered in the environment if industries claimed to have found an effective method for plastic recycling? Simple: BECAUSE, TO DATE, THERE IS NO EFFECTIVE METHOD FOR PLASTIC RECYCLING!

Key Revelations: The assertion mentioned is confirmed by the report, which presents compelling evidence, including documents from major petroleum companies like ExxonMobil dating back to the 1980s. The report emphasizes statements such as “recycling cannot be considered a permanent solution to solid waste [plastic] as it simply prolongs the disposal time of an item.” Additionally, quotes from industry conferences in 1989 and 1992 reveal admissions that recycling is not a limitless solution and may not solve the issue of solid waste.

Responsibility and Accountability

Richard Wiles, president of the Center for Climate Integrity, asserts that it is time to hold these companies accountable for the damage they have caused. The report does not claim legal violations, but it raises suspicions of fraudulent practices by petroleum industries, as they knowingly deceived consumers.

Contemporary Challenges: The report concludes that the industry’s misconduct persists, pointing to recent efforts to promote chemical recycling as an alternative.

Possible Solutions

However, precautions are now being taken to prevent this misleading communication from continuing. From 2025, the EU will require companies to prepare not only the financial balance sheet but also a sustainability balance sheet.

The sustainability balance sheet is a voluntary document that integrates information on the economic, social, and environmental performance of a company. It analyzes environmental and social aspects, expanding corporate representation beyond financial aspects. This document goes beyond institutional and regulatory requirements of the income statement, communicating on company-environment relationships, efforts to mitigate non-economic impacts, and obtaining assurances and certifications. Contents may relate to the environment, personnel, human rights, and other aspects. Addressing all stakeholders, the sustainability balance sheet emphasizes corporate responsibility towards shareholders, employees, customers, suppliers, authorities, journalists, communities, and associations. Stakeholder relationships contribute to wealth creation and the profitability of the company, based on the trust and goodwill of stakeholders. The sustainability balance sheet is a tool to address community expectations, communicate sustainable goals, and increase corporate credibility.

But will it be enough to minimize plastic waste?

Conclusion

The truth about the deceptive practice of plastic recycling is finally exposed. We have all been victims of an illusory greenwashing, believing in promises of bottle recycling labeled as “100% recycled plastic.” The recycling process, detailed in its entirety, reveals a grim scenario where only some types of plastic are genuinely recyclable, and most plastic waste ends up in the environment. The Center for Climate Integrity report sheds additional light on the lies perpetrated by oil and plastic companies, knowingly promoting recycling as a solution despite being aware of its limitations.

The plastic waste crisis persists, with less than 10% of produced plastic actually being recycled. Now, as the EU prepares to introduce the mandatory sustainability balance sheet from 2025, hopes arise for increased transparency and accountability. However, the question remains: Will these measures be sufficient to drastically limit plastic waste? The challenge of reducing the environmental impact of plastic requires concrete commitment, awareness, and tangible actions. Only time will tell if we are moving in the right direction or if more will be needed to protect our planet from the growing plastic waste crisis.