Only about 5 percent of 51 million tons of U.S. plastic waste was recycled in 2021, according to a study from environmental advocacy group Greenpeace.
The report, issued Monday, determined that only a little more than 2 million tons of plastic waste was recycled last year. Moreover, after reaching a high of 9.5 percent in 2014 and an only slightly lower 8.7 percent in 2018, the number has been steadily declining in the last few years. The level had reached the 5 percent to 6 percent range by last year.
The research also found that no American type of plastic packaging met the Ellen MacArthur Foundation’s New Plastics Economy initiative’s definition of “recyclable” — that is, having a 30 percent recycling rate.
Two of the most common forms of plastic in America, polyethylene terephthalate and high-density polyethylene, are frequently referred to as recyclable, but the report determined that despite their frequent delivery to recycling plants, they are not actually recycled enough to meet the standard. Their recycling rate stands at about 20.9 percent and 10.3 percent, respectively. The reprocessing rate for all other forms of plastic is lower still, at under 5 percent, according to the report.
“Single-use plastics are like trillions of pieces of confetti spewed from retail and fast food stores to over 330 million U.S. residents across more than 3 million square miles each year. It’s simply not possible to collect the vast quantity of…
