Trash or Recycling? Why Plastic Keeps Us Guessing. – The New York Times

Source: Trash or Recycling? Why Plastic Keeps Us Guessing. – The New York Times

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By Winston Choi-Schagrin and Hiroko Tabuchi
Illustrations by Rinee ShahApril 21, 2022

The universal symbol for recycling, known as the “chasing arrows” logo, is stamped on so many things. But that doesn’t mean they’re recyclable.

Manufacturers can print the logo on just about any product. That’s because its main purpose isn’t to say whether it’s recyclable, but to identify the type of plastic it’s made from. (For example, if there’s a “3” in the center, it’s PVC, which most curbside recycling programs don’t accept.) The logo is so widely misunderstood that last year California banned its use on things that aren’t recyclable.

There are efforts to improve the system. But first, the central question:

Why is this so hard?

The rules are confusing.

The unhelpful symbol is just one aspect of a recycling system that is far too confusing to be broadly effective. It puts the burden on individuals to decode a secret language — to figure out not only whether a thing is recyclable, but also if their local recycling program actually accepts it.

Take those numbers, for example, the ones in the center of the symbol. There are seven types (here’s the full list).

Items marked 1 and 2 are widely recyclable in the United States, and about 30 percent ends up being recycled, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. Type 5 is also accepted by a growing number of curbside recycling programs. But other numbers — particularly for soft plastics like shopping bags, snack bags or resealable sandwich bags, generally labeled 4 — are not accepted in curbside programs. And category 7 is a catch-all for various plastics, so it’s almost never recycled.