Recycling won't work

Most people reasonably think plastic gets recycled, after all, we've been told this for decades and are encouraged to dutifully segregate our waste into recycling categories

The reality is the majority of plastics cannot be recycled— they never have been and never will be

OECD estimates just 9% of plastic worldwide was recycled in 2019 and expects this to rise to only 17% by 2060. In the US, the recycling rate for plastic in 2021 was estimated to be only 5-6%

In some countries, plastic recycling rates are higher, but still only a minority of plastics get recycled. By far the majority of plastic goes to landfill, incineration or leaks into the environment and to the oceans

Even plastic that get recycled cannot be done so in perpetuity. Quality degrades and toxicity rises. After one, perhaps two, rarely three or more times being recycled plastic becomes waste

Inadequate plastic recycling infrastructure, practical problems of waste dispersal, technological constraints and challenging economics mean plastic recycling will never be a solution to plastic waste

Despite this, it is promoted as a solution by companies that use plastic packaging as well as for-cause organisations that seek to protect the environment

In our view, the solution is to shift from using plastic and to remove or reduce its use where possible. Where plastic use is practically unavoidable, we need to move to reuse that enables large reductions in overall plastic consumption

REUSE FOUNDATION it was established to fund and promote reuse solutions that can quickly make a large impact on plastic use