Plastic Recycling is a LIE

[@afterhourscinema782]

*Corporation:* "Do your part to combat climate change!" *The public:* "How about you do yours??" *Corporations:* "......."

[@eshine2001]

Corporations: “fuck you we have profits to make and shareholders to appease”

[@Your_mom736]

We are the problem. None of this is possible without our support.

[@richardschaeffer3204]

Public, "Oh well, we'll, buy your plastic anyways" ​@eshine2001

[@brev653]

​@@Your_mom736 do a degree, but it'd be an awful lot easier to not use their product if not for them buying... I mean "lobbying" our politicians.

[@casbot71]

"Join us in the battle to stop us from destroying the planet..."

[@MikeStavola]

You know what angers me about this? About 30% of plastics *are* recyclable. But nobody wants to do it. No manufacturers wanted to properly invest to do it right, and the recycling companies make better profits by not actually recycling.

[@lynnefox4892]

And the plastics companies just love it.

[@AlexJames-jv3em]

When things are good for us but not profitable, that's when the government is supposed to be doing it, funded by taxes.

[@spirahsass]

Force producers of the raw ingredients like Exxon to be responsible for the full life cycle of the product, they will quickly find a way to make plastics recycling more than feasible

[@Padraigp]

It's not profitable. Why don't you do it?

[@spirahsass]

@@Padraigp if the creator of a raw material claims it is recyclable it’s reasonable to expect them to claim responsibility over the lifecycle of the product.

[@theloveandshareplace]

I really wish the soda companies would go back to glass bottles. We used to take our empty Coke bottles to the grocery store and get 5 cents a bottle. The bottles went back to the soda plant to be washed and reused.

[@saschamayer4050]

5 cents is not nearly enough to be a good incentive. Maybe 50 to 100 cents could do the trick.

[@Ice-c-o8q]

​@@saschamayer4050back in the day 5¢ did the trick. Just like 25¢ is enough for people to return their carts at Aldi's.

[@TheAmericanAmerican]

Germany still does this with beer bottles!

[@lunaqueer]

Denmark still does this with nearly every plastic bottle too :)

[@iggysixx]

In the Netherlands we now have fake recycling when it comes to bottles. Remember when plastic coca cola bottles were tough as nails, and used to have scratches on the outside? And when beer bottles had scratches on the outside..? That's because they went through the filling process multiple times. At some point it became cheaper to buy new bottles. So now, they just grind up your neatly returned plastic bottles. And they smash your neatly returned crate of beer bottles. Next round; always new bottles. Because brands don't want their bottles looking more scuffed than those of their competitors. And because it's cheaper. (Also; it's in the name - "single. use. plastics."... How did this ever fool politicians? ..oh, right... money. Now I remember)

[@GhostWriter520]

I've been telling people plastic doesn't get recycled for years, because I had a job that required I know about recycling. There's grades of plastic, and most plastic in use simply cannot be recycled or it costs so much that no one will do it

[@Ice-c-o8q]

Me, too. I've known recycling was a hoax since the late 90's. But people still got mad at me when I refused to play the recycling "game".

[@joiathegreat]

​@@Ice-c-o8q Lots of materials like glass, paper, and metal are viably recycled, just not most grades of plastic.

[@etienne8110]

Not even mentionning the plastic mixed with other materials (like a paper bag with a plastic screen or a juice pack mixing cardboard, plastic and metal)... These are just too hard to separate to be worth it.

[@yourlocalit1701]

We've known this for years but the left wouldn't hear it. Lol😅 called it a conspiracy theory sad little leftist how's it going now. Not such conspiracy is it now when it's true. 😅😅😅

[@Rick-np9vz]

​@@yourlocalit1701too many times people are lied to so much that it simply becomes impossible to recognize honesty! If the only information available comes from liars, how does one recognize honesty when it's not available to the general public?

[@willymack5677]

Small correction: this is not misinformation, but Disinformation. The distinction being that it is strictly a lie, spread knowingly to the public.

[@nikkijubilant]

Ah, thank you, I learned something new

[@saschamayer4050]

Like cigarettes being not unhealthy. They knew about the cancer and all the other diseases for decades and lied about it.

[@phillipsofthedriver]

Yeah, misinformation is unknowingly spreading false info. DISinformation is KNOWINGLY spreading false information.

[@Rick-np9vz]

​@@saschamayer4050now you know why big business wants you to be uneducated!

[@maverator]

I wonder if actively conspiring to destroy all of human civilization will ever become a punishable crime.

[@Ice-c-o8q]

Not as long as multi-billionaires are doing it.

[@Rick-np9vz]

It's called genocide and there's no money in it! Crime has become a matter of perception!

[@yourlocalit1701]

@@maverator yeah not as long a wef and woke idiots exist.

[@EM2024a]

"it's a victimless crime" /s

[@startoast1]

Remember, reduce and reuse come first for a reason!

[@wyvern723]

Big corporations will say and do whatever they can to make money. That's all they care about

[@avgjoe5969]

Some, yes, and most of them are DEI.

[@Ice-c-o8q]

​@@avgjoe5969What's DEI got to do with anything?

[@nmize7623]

​@@avgjoe5969I think we found our NPC

[@Nevarek_]

​@@avgjoe5969 just say you hate brown people, we all know that's what you really want to say but you are too weak to say it, even in YT comments lol

[@oceantransistor]

All plastic that can't be recycled should be banned.

[@The_Hagseed]

Better throw away your phone then. It‘s made from non recyclable plastics.

[@HollyDutton-wz8fe]

When I was a kid, just about everything was stored in reusable glass or stainless steel. Now one-use only plastic bottles are used.

[@BadThrusher]

Even sodas. Do you have bottled soda in US? They are even sweeter than those in plastic bottles

[@JanelleChristmas-w6u]

To reduce liability& prevent lawsuits

[@GenesiisDavid]

The conspiracy conspiracy theorists aren't talking about

[@andromedaspark2241]

Spreading false conspiracies through social media seems to be an intentional tactic to distract from actual, problematic conspiracies like this. Keep people upset about scandalous, virally-talkable baloney and things like this fly under the radar. It isn't like journalists in the US talk about these things; they won't bite the hand that feeds them.

[@doftly]

Because they don't give a shit about recycling and don't believe in global warming lol

[@AlexJames-jv3em]

Isn't it the #1 reason that boomers were against mandatory recycling? I'm Gen-X, and I used to hear boomers accuse recycling of being a farce.

[@billySquanto]

They've been talking about it

[@ngotemna8875]

​@@billySquanto No they haven't lmao They talk about how any kind of global enviornmental damage is a hoax not how it's real

[@daffodil1017]

And now we all have nanoplastics in our organs, blood, brains etc. 👍

[@Speed_of_Sloth]

Thank you for bringing this into the light! They need to clean up the mess that's been spread worldwide!

[@JubeiKibagamiFez]

Plastic recycling on a large scale is 100% feasible, if only a company would stop caring about massive profit margins. Profiteering is destroying the planet.

[@fgoindarkg]

Here in Manitoba the government collects plastic for recycling. They charge us for that service. They store it in a makeshift plywood warehouse. Every 2 years it fills up and mysteriously burns down.

[@Ice-c-o8q]

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣😭😭😭😭😭😭🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@thetasworld]

Why do people still believe that capitalism and the profit motive will solve the issues they created? That whole notion is truly bizarre...

[@AB-ou8ve]

Stupidity or self interest.

[@thetasworld]

@@AB-ou8vesadly you are probably right.

[@waysaboutthings6444]

People talk a lot of shit about California but it’s one of the few governments in the western hemisphere that stands up to corporations over health and environmental issues. All corporations? No definitely not! Yes there are a LOT of things that are problematic about California, not saying it’s perfect.

[@larkohiya]

That's WHY it gets shit. The people who don't like it have money to influence media stir shit.

[@nimblehuman]

Still my favorite place I've ever lived, by far, and I've lived all over the US and Asia.

[@crissd8283]

I worked at a plant that used plastic bags. We didnt make them, just used them. The bags didnt have the recycle symbol on them because they werent recyclable. Got several calls from customers who wanted the recycle symbol so we put the symbol on with the correct regulated number that we knew there was no way to recycle. The consumers demanded the symbol.

[@jenpink4298]

😳

[@AlluminaOnyxia]

You must be talking about resellers.

[@TubersAndPotatoes]

Like how Big Solar is overselling the recycleability of solar PVs

[@saschamayer4050]

What? They claim that to be recyclable? And people believe that?

[@amanda206]

What do local recycling centers do with the plastic they collect?

[@flowersforalgorithm3492]

almost all of it goes to a dump

[@stevierubalcava5924]

Dang that's messed up. I spent the majority of my life recycling and separating my waste for nothing then

[@Ice-c-o8q]

Yes, if you're 30 or younger.

[@belacemoswen5044]

We should force them to get rid of ALL plastic using their own money.

[@DarkPrincessOfLight]

Take Exxon Mobil to court !!!

[@jorgeposadas1192]

I've known this since the 90's, but you can't tell anything to any government cus they label you crazy.

[@ZachBess-yn7ht]

It is recyclable, just not cost effective.

[@ThistlesGarden]

Came here to say this. I wonder what kind of insensitive would make it financially feasible?

[@TheDisasterMaster2]

Literally been trying to tell people this for years

[@mactastic144]

Most of it ends up in the landfill.

[@saschamayer4050]

Or in the ocean.

[@erikajewel]

shipped off to other countries landfills because we don’t want to look bad

[@Xaeravoq]

99% of possibly recyclable waste is from corporations. if everyone recycled everything we possibly could we would make 1% difference.

[@edwells4769]

How did nobody know this or peer review anything? Did no government or agency check any of this and confirm it? They run recycling centers, should know what's happening to it

[@ngotemna8875]

They know. Who do you think makes contracts with big corpos?

[@edwells4769]

@@ngotemna8875 I guess my point is, why isn't anyone suing California for propagating the same lies for decades? They knew exactly where all that waste was being shipped

[@Ice-c-o8q]

Everybody's too busy looking the other way while they're getting their palms greased🤑.

[@bethderr1443]

Yea bought and paid for by lobbyists to proliferate plastic

[@missles7315]

They sold it on a promise to eventually someone will make it happen 🤣

[@richardschaeffer3204]

California promoted plastic in the 70s to save the rainforest 🎉

[@SpaceGhostTJ]

All recycling is a complete scam except for metal. It is cheaper to recycle aluminum and other metals than to dig new metal out of the ground, but why would you recycle glass when it comes from sand and you can just make more glass from sand way way cheaper. And plastic doesn't get recycled, so it's mostly a scam.

[@mbbno]

Dismantle Exxon Mobil and every other oil company.

[@dillasoul2228]

I'm convinced corporations would try to convince us radiation is healthy if they wanted to sell nukes

[@abigail01441]

That was the propaganda gimmick back in the 1940's or 1950's when they said nuclear power plants could produce electricity that would be too cheap to meter.

[@Naturalintelligence30]

This whole system is a lie 😞🤥 how about that one?

[@erik365365365]

Sooo if they win we’re suing the orange goblin… right???

[@Josh-99]

It's LONG past time we started holding plastic producers to account. Not only is it no possible to recycle the vast majority of it, we use it for a BUNCH of things that we absolutely should NOT use it for, like storing and transporting food, drink, and medical supplies.

[@michaeljmccurdy9449]

I talked to a man recently who worked in the "recycling" department for the city. He said they just buried it. That was his job; burying plastic.

[@pat34lee]

Did they lie? NO. Throw out the case.

[@gailhitson7340]

Yes. FINALLY, government is beginning to hold corporations accountable for their horrifying criminal behavior. Yeah!!!

[@kamal171]

Everything you ever heard lie nothing but lie

[@abigail01441]

Years ago, there was a magazine called World Watch. It was published by a research organization called World Watch Institute. In one issue about nuclear energy, an article mentioned that nuclear waste can be nutralized. It's not done though because there is no profit in neutralizing nuclear waste. It sounds as if plastic is the new nuclear waste 2.0.

[@hahahano2796]

People are unwilling to go back to glass and metal foil and natural rubbers.

[@MrByars]

I mean, you could just make drink bottles glass again and we'll all be better off, there's a placebo effect of drinking from glass that makes it taste better, it's why Fiji water bottles are thicker

[@lynnefox4892]

Rubber is a real issue. Climate change is taking its toll, and the trees are stressed. But it is essential to our modern life. Polymer science has been working to come up with a replacement for decades, as yet to no avail.

[@lynnefox4892]

I have worked hard to banish plastic from my kitchen, using, ie, mason jars instead of plastic storage containers, but it is in fact hard work. Even fresh fruits and vegetables come wrapped in plastic often, I presume to protect in shipping.

[@Rusty_Shackleford-y9y]

Glass isn't recycled either. It's too heavy and expensive to transport and recycle. Aluminum is cheaper and infinitely recyclable.

[@neuroticnation144]

How do we know they are unwilling until a real attempt is made? MAGAts won’t like it, but if the companies were forced to admit the truth, and simply made the change, there would be no choice to argue about. I think most people would just shrug and move on.

[@altrocks]

It's almost like corporations with the sole goal of generating profits actually don't care about anything but profits. Huh, weird.

[@TommyNitro]

Kind of like governments and power.

[@quinn3301]

Reduce and Reuse are a lot more effective than recycling! I recommend buying biodegradable/reusable items and packaging when shopping. Also, if you have plastic that isn't recyclable, there may be ways to reuse it or turn it into something new.

[@ShootingUtah]

I'm a right wing person politically and absolutely think it's time to ban basically ALL plastics immediately!

[@jimcable9689]

The solution is simple; plastic can just be liquified to make gasoline, leaving only 30% behind. That 30% can be used to grow mushrooms, for n-octane.that n-octane, can be mixed with ethanol & methane, in various mixtures, to make various levels of gasoline.

[@12grain]

I remember watching the documentary The Human Footprint in school thinking this was some environmental message for us to do our part and then found out like 15 years later it was actually created by an energy company to get people's eyes off them and what they were doing to the environment

[@nicklang7670]

If they are not going to reuse their oil why are we told to reuse the stuff made from their oil?!!

[@barbiedahl]

Companies that make plastic products should also have to recycle their own product

[@Objective-Observer]

It's not just a matter that some plastics cannot be recycled, IT'S ALSO THE FACT THAT NO ONE WILL COLLECT THE PLASTIC FOR FREE. THEY WANT TO SELL THE COLLECTED PLASTIC TO A RECYCLING PLANT.

[@Ugenburg]

Lobbying should be illegal.

[@nidodson]

It's almost as if we need to charge every executive who has ever served those companies with life in prison, because they knowingly caused global warming, which mankind is almost certainly going to die from.

[@theodditorium436]

Glass is recyclable and doesn’t pollute.

[@YourCapyFrenBigly_3DPipes1999]

A great first step forward would be just to ban all future production of single-use plastics and most consumer plastics. Usable alternatives are becoming more and more available, and people can just learn to just their lifestyle slightly to need less disposable plastic products.

[@JDSileo]

Penn and Teller have been saying this since 2004. Why is this just now hitting the headlines. That was 20 years ago

[@bm1588]

That guy from naturejab is turning plastic into diesel. He even got a grant to further the research. Support him.

[@AbuAfakski]

Read This from 1996: “Recycling Is Garbage Rinsing out tuna cans and tying up newspapers may make you feel virtuous, but recycling could be America's most wasteful activity. -By John Tierney”

[@davidlloyd8135]

California knew for 60yrs.

[@spencermillard1]

I've been telling people that plastic isn't really recyclable for like 2 years and they all look at me like I'm crazy.

[@graftme3168]

I've known for years that recycling is a scam. It's just a way for someone to scam us of our money! But, people fall for just about everything these days.

[@s.d.7946]

About 10 years ago when we lived in ohio, a warehouse caught fire down the road it was full of..... plastic! Plastic that was supposed to have been recycled that was just being stored in this huge warehouse. The fire went on for over a week! We had to call the EPA to have it put out.

[@lohphat]

Privatized profits, socialized losses.

[@solohans4740]

The Dutch realized a report contradicted this I believe confirming you can recycle plastics…..

[@beccalife275]

I knew it didn’t get recycled, I just thought we were going to have to urban mine for it. The fact that it actually isn’t recyclable …

[@grahamwaldo331]

Paper, glass, and metal are all much more recyclable. Plus metal and glass look cooler and are more reusable! Bring back cool glass and metal packaging!!!

[@toddabbott781]

Well sort of. See most plastic is recyclable, but you can only use a small percentage (usually under 10%) of recycled plastic with "virgin" plastic. The second problem is oil is relatively cheap so recycled plastics cost more than non recycled plastics. The only exception to this is stuff used internally in a factory. Often in manufacturing a plant will grind up and re-use failed molded parts and plastic left over for the injection molding process. Since there is no transportation costs, no contaminations, complete control over the type of plastics... is actually saves money.

[@univisiontech1]

California just needs money

[@AutismoGamer]

no. California needs actual politicians instead of these rich a-holes just taking the position to benefit themselves and their income %

[@rynor2691]

There's a reason why the order is reduce, reuse, recycle

[@organicwest]

It wasn't about selling plastics. It is about doubling the truck fleets for picking up the recycling.

[@Ice-c-o8q]

No, it was about reducing costs by using cheap light weight plastic instead of heavy fragile glass. Thus, increasing profits. It's ALWAYS about money. 🤑

[@darkshn1475]

If anybody is surprised by this recent event, I don't know how you couldn't have noticed. This shit so common, I found it hilarious when I saw recycling trash cans that shared the same can as the regular trash can. Everybody just kind of gave up on it in the 2010s.

[@alap1983]

Not Recycling... Not Recyclable.. Two Very different things. The first one part of City Policies and the will of the people. The second is about Chemistry. Plastics CAN be Recycled. The problem is that neither the City Nor the Citizens care.

[@zeekfranco509]

So this is the reason why Costco in California started taxing me 4$ dollars on top of the original price of a water case when I asked they coughed up oh it’s a recycling fee🥴 but Washington don’t do that

[@BadThrusher]

If we are serious about the environment, single use plastics should be banned. I know they offer so much convinience but I am very ready to live a less convinient life for the sake of the future

[@Bethoflife]

In the 70s, we figured there would be less trash by 2000 ! There's more trash, more waste than there has ever been & one doesn't even know how to dispose some of it & where !

[@JeffreyBodenstein]

Honestly coming from California no surprises. The worst state to ever look up to. Recycling is a scam as most places don’t even try anymore. Even Apple can only recycle a very small portion.

[@Franzifii]

It's not misinformation. It being recyclable doesn't mean recycling it is viable. There's a difference. Did they ever say it's viable? It's deception, not misinformation.

[@Ice-c-o8q]

How about we call a lie, a lie and end the discussion.

[@Franzifii]

@@Ice-c-o8q It's not a lie.

[@JayOnEarth12321]

here in Ohio, i followed the recycle truck to the city dump, it allll went into the landfill ☹ ☹ ☹ ☹ ☹ recycling is a LIE nowadays 🤬

[@bethderr1443]

Yep, they up and decided to mak everything out of plastic and yet its the onus of the consumer to figure out what to do with it.

[@Dulceria_La_Princesita]

I just eat all my plastic waste. Makes it easier for it to cross the blood-brain barrier, ya know?

[@jodau3974]

Didn't they find a microbe that feeds on plastic?? I need to find that article again.

[@thelonewrangler1008]

All plastic could be recycled, but its not profitable

[@bastiannenke9613]

Funny that its impossible in the US and germany has like 97% quota on plastic bottles and for 2017 there was a overall quota of 46% already. You can't recycle all kinds of plastics and you shouldn't make everything from recycled plastic but there is much more possible than this clip states.

[@cryptomancer2927]

Look, until these CEOs and their boards are put in jail nothing will change. Oh, we're going to fine them 1 billion (if that). Well that's just the cost of doing business for them. They made tens of billions before this.

[@arcanondrum6543]

Unfortunately, only plastics with either "1" or "2" inside the Recycle Triangle symbol are recyclable. Corporate Lobbying got pointless recycling symbols for "3" (which is PVC) and above - that means that too many Americans that think they are recycling are adding poison (PVC) or materials that inhibit the recycling process. Once they're in the hopper, only hand sorting can take them out. I still recycle properly but at the local transfer station, they don't even bother to add signs. It's frustrating because; we're all busy Americans so going before the town council to argue for signs will mean providing proof instead of trusting that people WILL USE THE INTERNET TO VERIFY! It needs to go from local, to State to nationwide in order to work. Oil companies have the budget to make them happen but will they? What do you think?

[@dremr2038]

"My whole life has been a lie." Environmental engineers studying entire courses on it xD

[@zeusathena26]

Is it recyclable, yes. Will it actually get recycled, probably not. When a corporation needs to make items as cheaply as possible, & recycled plastic codtore, it won't be used as much. Corporations need to have social pressure that forces change. That is difficult.

[@poleschukenshtooken]

Screw big oil!!!

[@rosemarymcbride3419]

Pretty much the only reason to still recycle is just so its all in the same place whenever there is the political will to do something about it

[@spastheghost]

This can’t end with just a slap on the wrist anymore

[@closuitm]

My apartment complex refuses to offer recycling.

[@Dulceria_La_Princesita]

Turns out they were right all along.

[@ExecratedPlaysGaming]

So California is suing ExxonMobil for helping California lie? ExxonMobil doesn't force me to recycle, government does.

[@Dulceria_La_Princesita]

If you're an American you have second amendment rights and nobody can force you to do anything.

[@ExecratedPlaysGaming]

@Dulceria-La-Princesita Government has guns, too, and they point those guns at you and your family is you don't give in to their demands.

[@Janko630]

Excellent content. Recycling plastic is a meme.

[@etienne8110]

Even that is an easy political PR opération. If California really wants to reduce plastic pollution, they can just vote laws to ban it from some uses. The EU banned single use plastics from many uses (cups, plates, straws, plastic bags etc...) and some countries have banned all plastics. So it is doable, but requires more political courage than starting a decade long lawsuit with little conséquence at the end...

[@Nyllllle5553i]

They had people come to our class in first grade to teach us this. We got pulled out of class.

[@tbow7068]

Finally!! I'm 32 and I've known this since I was a teenager.

[@TimWillis-f6z]

Hmmm…that plastics recycling plant I worked at for years must’ve just been a bad dream

[@Dulceria_La_Princesita]

The bad dream is your sperm count is in the negatives. And brother, there's no waking up from that dream.

[@Rick-np9vz]

There's no money in recycling plastic on any level! And the trolls love it because apparently there's something satisfying about spreading hate and discontent!

[@maman89]

It’s amazing how many people think all plastics is 100 percent recyclable. Just mention japan and somehow every single piece of trash can be/is recycled.

[@itranscendencei7964]

Sounds familiar to me. Sound like Phizer and Moderna. And like, literally every other big corporation.

[@yingyang8190]

So do we stop throwing plastic in recycling or??