4 ms·

Are you saying that recycling is a scam?

• 8organicbits 8mo ago
  Many recycling programs don't actually recycle. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/critics-call-out-plastics-industry-over-fraud-of-plastic-recycling/ https://www.cbsnews.com/news/critics-call-out-plastics-indus...
• coldtea 8mo ago
  Aside from a few select product categories, recycling IS a scam. E.g.: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/aug/17/plastic-recycling-myth-what-really-happens-your-rubbish https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/aug/17/plastic-... Recycling mostly means "sent to landfills in the third world": https://earth.org/waste-colonialism-a-brief-history-of-dumping-rich-countries-trash-in-the-global-south/ https://earth.org/waste-colonialism-a-brief-history-of-dumpi... https://www.motherjones.com/environment/2023/03/rich-countries-nations-waste-plastic-exports-chemical-contamination/ https://www.motherjones.com/environment/2023/03/rich-countri... https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/14/opinion/trash-recycling-global-waste-trade.html https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/14/opinion/trash-recycling-g...
  • shafyy 8mo ago
    It really depends on the type of material and country. Many monoplastics and almost all cardboard can be recycled and is (e.g. in Germany and other European countries). > Recycling mostly means "sent to landfills in the third world" This is less true now that China banned plastic waste imports. I agree though that the average person might overestimate how much of their waste can be recycled. However, many materials are recycled and then re-used, so it's not like the whole concept is a scam.
• jkestner 8mo ago
  Mostly, yeah. "Yet the industry spent millions telling people to recycle, because, as one former top industry insider told NPR, selling recycling sold plastic, even if it wasn't true." https://www.npr.org/2020/09/11/897692090/how-big-oil-misled-the-public-into-believing-plastic-would-be-recycled https://www.npr.org/2020/09/11/897692090/how-big-oil-misled-...