Only 5% of plastic in the US is recycled

No matter where you live in the United States, it’s pretty much standard practice that on the day when your trash is picked up, you’re supposed to sort out all of the recyclables and put them out separately from the “regular” trash. Some areas are even more finicky, demanding that you separate the paper from the plastic from the metal cans so all of it can be taken away to their respective processing centers. It’s a satisfying system because they get to reuse all of that material and you get to feel like you’re helping to save the planet. But where does all of that material go to be processed? In the case of all of the plastic you dispose of, you may be surprised to learn that nearly all of it winds up in the trash with everything else. A new report from Greenpeace (yes… I know) claims that barely 5 percent of all of the plastic picked up for recycling is actually recycled into new, “green” products. The rest is simply treated as garbage. (CBS News)Read More