A big plastics problem

Washington: The rate of plastic waste recycling in the United States fell to between 5% and 6% in 2021 as some countries stopped accepting US waste exports and as plastic waste generation surged to new highs, a report yesterday said.

The report by environmental groups Last Beach Clean Up and Beyond Plastics shows the recycling rate has dropped from 8.7% in 2018, the last time the Environmental Protection Agency published recycling figures. Meanwhile, the per capita plastic waste went from 27kg per year in 1980 to 99kg in 2018 — a 263% total increase. — Reuters