The US has a serious plastic problem. Over the summer it emerged that the recycling rate of the ubiquitous material had sunk to less than 6 per cent. For context, the European Union together with Norway, Switzerland and the UK recycled on average 37 per cent of the plastic waste they generated in 2020.
The US generates more plastic waste than any other country in the world, according to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). In 2019, Americans generated 220.5kg of plastic waste per person, whereas Europeans generated an average of 121.6kg. Plastic production is expected to increase dramatically, with the amount of plastic waste produced globally on track to almost triple by 2060. Around half of this will end up in landfill and less than a fifth will be recycled, according to the OECD.
Given this trajectory, Dr Neil Tangri, science and policy director at the Global Alliance for Incinerator Alternatives (GAIA), says that, like...