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akarichard t1_j51w8tw wrote

Reply to comment by ThatDoesNotRefute in Bloomberg: Amazon Packages Burn in India, Final Stop in Broken Recycling System. Plastic wrappers and parcels that start off in Americans’ recycling bins end up at illegal dumpsites and industrial furnaces — and inside the lungs of people by ombx

At my local place plastics #1/#2, metal cans, and aluminum cans all go into the same dumpster. I'm a bit suspicious of where everything actually ends up going.

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Reasonable_Ticket_84 t1_j522qhq wrote

Many US municipalities still run "recycling" operations but ever since China and a few other Asian countries banned imports of "recycling" waste, they largely go to landfill. However, the "all-in one" recycling programs especially go to the landfill because its considered too expensive to even sort the recyclables in the US.

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Telid t1_j52gssw wrote

Well, that made all my effort in making sure to recycle feel very pyrrhic.

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0pimo t1_j52j0dn wrote

If it's a company like Republic, it goes to a sort center where the material is separated and processed further.

Plastic should really just go into an incinerator though. We operate clean incinerators in the US.

There are a few places that take it and make products out of it though. There's a company that will turn it into plastic decking for building patio decks with.

Big part of the problem with Plastic is that China undercut the market for so long, all of the plants that processed it in the US went bankrupt. Then China stopped taking it so now we're all fucked.

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