U.S. "Chasing arrows" plastic recycling symbol may get tossed in the trash

[zipplewrath]

10. Repeating a falsehood doesn't make it true

I worked in plastics for 3 years and in fact recycled plastic is virtually necessary to production. However, the 20% or so of recycled material used was almost always pre-consumer material, i.e. from the very factory that is making the plastic containers. Using post consumer material is very difficult. It has to be fairly clean to be used. And that material isn't worth all that much. The costs of cleaning, collecting, and shipping it is prohibitive. Plus, it has to be the right color, otherwise it quickly all turns gray.

It's why an awful lot of plastic isn't actually "recycled" so much as repurposed.