How Big Oil Misled The Public Into Believing Plastic Would Be Recycled

9/11/2020

The industry sold the public on an idea it knew wouldn't work — that the majority of plastic could be, and would be, recycled — all while making billions of dollars selling the world new plastic. The industry's awareness that recycling wouldn't keep plastic out of landfills and the environment dates to the program's earliest days, we found. "There is serious doubt that [recycling plastic] can ever be made viable on an economic basis," one industry insider wrote in a 1974 speech. 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. - NPR

Melina

9/15/2020 02:55:52 pm

I was surprised to read that industry insider wrote in a 1974 speech recycling wasn't economically viable. I think plastic is a major problem right now especially as it relates to the floating garbage patch aka Plastic island. With just over 2 million tons of plastic entering the ocean each year from rivers, making the switch from something as simple as water bottles can make a helpful impact on our planet.

Kaiya Bullock

9/17/2020 10:10:34 am

After reading this, I have become painfully aware of how ignorant I have been. For a long time I, like most people, blindly accepted what I was told. It makes sense that the idea of recycling our plastic is too expensive to be viable, but I believed that it was happening because that is what I was told. Despite that, I was already aware that corporations are motivated by greed, not our well-being.

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How Big Oil Misled The Public Into Believing Plastic Would Be Recycled

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