Back in the sixties when recycling was heralded as a solution to pollution, it was greeted with enthusiasm
by the public. It was a process an individual could contribute to saving the planet, and was promoted widely by industry, What these businesses were not telling consumers for thirty years was that recycling was never going to be an economic or technically feasible solution to product waste. Plastics are made from hydrocarbons and are notoriously difficult to recycle, requiring meticulous sorting, cleaning and transportation that requires labor and energy, which in turn increases product cost. Also, plastic material degrades after a few re-uses making it unusable. Now after decades of recycling, our planet and its oceans are drowning in plastic waste. It is in our food chain and our bodies, now.
The packaging and oil industry deliberately hid this information from consumers according to a report by the Center for Climate Integrity. Their advertisement promoted the use of recycling as a viable solution to the waste crisis, In 1988 eight major plastic producers formed the Council for Solid Waste Solutions with a budget of $13 million annually to promote recycling. Exxon Chemicals founded the Plastic Recycling Foundation at Rutgers University to research all aspects of plastic recycling in 1985. The problem was becoming acute even in the '80s. Landfills were reaching capacity, but Americans were producing ever more disposable waste. One estimate from the period was that one American produced 1240 lbs of solid municipal garbage every year, ninety percent of which went to landfills. Recycling was not considered a permanent solution since eventually the un-useable residue would have to be disposed. Markets for recycled material are limited. A director of the Vinyl Institute told a trade conference in 1989,“Recycling cannot go on indefinitely, and does not solve the solid waste problem.” What the recycling public relations campaign did was buy time for the industry to continue selling its plastic products.
Lately, industry has resorted to a new pitch, so-called "chemical recycling", which breaks down polymers to the molecular level. This process is energy intensive and creates even more pollution than traditional recycling. Critics call this approach another example of deception intended to prolong product life.
The plastics industry is coming under increasing legal scrutiny. Two years ago, the California AG launched an investigation into the petrochemical industry's role in causing and exacerbating the current plastics pollution crisis. The horrific toxic train derailment in Palestine, Ohio has ignited a movement to ban vinyl chloride. EPA announced a health review of the chemical, the first step towards banning it from the market. In 2003 New York State filed a lawsuit against Pest-Co of its single use bottles for violating its public nuisance laws. Unless the companies producing plastics change the way they do business they can expect more public pressure to ban their products altogether.