My impression was that plastic recycling was cost-prohibitive, not physically impossible; and that pretty much all plastic recycling was a greenwashing campaign

My impression was that plastic recycling was cost-prohibitive, not physically impossible; and that pretty much all plastic recycling was a greenwashing campaign. If you can't make recycled plastic cheaper than virgin, then nobody will actually use it, or at best you can make it a compliance item like EVs used to be. The industry will not pick up it's plastic trash unless you make them do it, or make it worth their while to do it.