Is it recycling or 'wishcycling'?

There was recently a program on Frontline called "Plastic Wars, the fight over the future of plastic" that showed the misinformation generated by the oil and plastic industries regarding plastic recycling. The oil industry needs the continued manufacture of plastics in order to sustain a struggling industry, and because oil is so cheap, it is less expensive for manufacturers to make new plastics than to reuse/recycle plastic.

The plastic industry has perpetrated a misinformation campaign by leading people to think that a triangle stamp on a plastic container means the item is recyclable. In this way, people don't feel bad about using lots of plastic products because they think it will be recycled or "wishcycled." The reality is that very little plastic is recycled because there is no market for the product. Currently, items such as water bottles, milk and juice jugs, liquid removed, rinsed out and capped, are desirable.

Only about 9% of the items that can be recycled are actually recycled. Furthermore, SWANCC recently reported that recyclers have seen a 25% increase this past year in contamination levels in curbside residential recycling programs.

There are some simple rules to follow for plastics and recycling. The first rule is to use less. This past year during cleanup along the beaches at Lake Michigan, 90% of the litter picked up was plastic.

When you have plastic, check your community's or SWANCC's recycling guidelines on what can be picked up and recycled. Make sure containers are empty, clean and loose, never in plastic bags. Rinse, and if possible, recap the container.

Never put plastic bags in the recycling bin as plastic bags jam up the machines at the sorting center. If in doubt, throw it out. We can all do better together.

Laura Davis

Inverness