Micro-Sustainability Monday: Plastic Use
Did you know the only two types of plastics recyclable in the U.S. per the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) are PET and HDPE?
“Recyclable” means that a “substantial majority” of U.S. residents (60%-plus) are near a recycling facility and that the collected product could be used in a new item. To make sure you caught that, 60% of consumers are near a recycling center, but that doesn’t mean 60% of plastic is recycled.
In the U.S., only 20.9% of PET plastics and 10.3% of HDPE plastics are actually recycled. A majority of the remaining plastics are incinerated (15.8%) and landfilled (75.5%). It might just be me, but a Wall-E earth isn’t appetizing. To have a reduction in plastics, we as consumers will need to reduce our plastic use and substitute other materials like paper and cardboard.
– Michael Echtle (mechtle20@georgefox.edu)