This VPM article in their newsletter got me wasting time making a thread on Bluesky the other day. I'm reproducing it here with some changes and additions because… content!
State data shows a steady decline in the Virginia recycling rate between 2021 and 2024
Chesterfield started charging for their curbside program somewhere in
this time span. My sister, being a single mom with two kids, simply
stopped recycling as a direct result. Turns out if you start charging for something that used to be and should be free, they'll stop doing it. Surprising, eh?
Sounds scary, I guess, but this steady decline doesn't matter much. Everyone needs to know that plastic recycling is (mostly) a lie. Outside of #1 and #2 plastics there's no profit in it, so no one bothers with it. About 9% of all plastic produced since its invention has been recycled. Capitalism, baby!
But it somehow gets even worse! Plastic's constituent polymers break down when recycled, lowering its strength and usability. The recycled plastic is lower in quality than it started. After one or two rounds of recycling, it's of such poor quality that it's of no use, so it gets thrown into a landfill anyway.
That all plastic is labeled as recyclable with that cute little triangle symbol is part of the ruse. The plastic manufacturers themselves were the ones pushing to include it! They were facing consequences, so this was their idea to escape them. It's better for consumers to think plastic is recycled whether or not it's true. Yes, it's all technically recyclable one way or another, but the reality of it is very different. If there's no profit to be had recycling a particular type of plastic, that type will not be recycled. Period.
For instance, pretty much all food stuffs come in #5 plastic, because it's more "food grade" or whatever, and that stuff isn't recycled because it's not profitable to do so. All that effort you, the well-meaning consumer, put in to clean it, bin it, and get it where it needs to be? Wasted. If it ain't #1 or #2 plastic, it's going to a landfill through a middleman.
Forcing the manufacturers of plastics to pay for its recycling is the obvious play, but the problem is those costs would be passed to the consumer via higher prices. After all, corporations must have their lines go up at all costs. Thus, no one wants the political fallout from suggesting corporations pay for their huge mess.
Does that mean my K-Cups™ that have a #5 aren't being recycled?
That's exactly what it means. Stop being absurdly lazy and get yourself an AeroPress or French press or single-cup Chemex or pour-over brewer and goose-neck kettle if you want to brew single cups at a time. Keurig brewers are very uncool, and they brew middling coffee anyhow due to excessive water temperature.