Virgin metal companies said steel recycling would never get very far. It did. So can plastic follow in its footsteps?
The global plastics industry generates over 280m metric tons in waste every year (pdf). The majority ends up in landfills, incinerators or as marine and land litter.
The US Environmental Protection Agency estimates that 32m tons of plastics waste were generated in 2012, with only about 9% recovered for recycling (collected, sorted, baled and sold). Actual recycling rates are even lower because not everything in the bales is recycled. This is especially true with mixed plastic bales, which are mostly sent to developing countries for “low-cost” recycling.
Related: Closing the loop on steel: what we can learn from a manufacturer in Ecuador
Related: Mike Biddle: Why plastic is still 'the last frontier' of recycling
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