"The dizzying array of plastics on the market was hardly the only issue plaguing recycling. Plastic's popularity came down to it being light, cheap, versatile, and robust. But being light and cheap hurt on the other end. Haulers, who were paid by the ton to collect recycling, made far more money filling their trucks with heavier aluminum or cardboard than with lightweight plastic."
"They are: Polyethylene terephthalate (PET), used for soda and water bottles High-density polyethylene (HDPE), used for milk jugs, detergent containers, and shopping bags Polyvinyl chloride (PVC), used for credit cards and pill packs Low-density polyethylene (LDPE), used for disposable gloves, trash bags, and dry-cleaning bags Polypropylene (PP), used for yogurt tubs, takeaway boxes, and butter containers Polystyrene (PS): the solid kind is used to make disposable cutlery and cups, while the expanded kind (EPS) is used for foa"
Freeman brought recycling complaints in 1987 to SPI's public affairs committee, where packaging industry members treated recycling as reputational mitigation. Plastics became popular because they are light, cheap, versatile, and robust, but their lightness reduced haulage revenue since haulers are paid by weight, favoring aluminum and cardboard. Some plastics are economically unviable: polystyrene foam is mostly air; bags, wraps, and films gum up sorting machinery and require separate collection. Packaging makers prefer virgin resin for quality and cost reasons, so without buyers technically recyclable plastics go unrecycled. Only PET and HDPE containers saw significant recycling volumes then and now.
Read at Fast Company
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