Cummings: The myth of recycling as the answer to plastic waste

Plastic recycling isn’t working. Only about 6% of plastic in the U.S. is recycled, and the vast majority of all the plastic ever produced on this planet still exists somewhere. In the ocean alone, it is estimated that tens of trillions of pieces of plastic lie on the sea floor — that is, what hasn’t been pulverized by currents into micro-particles or is floating brazenly on the surface. Ocean plastic is even finding its way into the human food chain. Despite all of this, the plastics industry is spending millions to convince us that recycling is the answer, even though, according to a recent joint NPR/PBS investigation, their own internal studies suggest otherwise.