"Significant global ecological disruption": Plastic is destroying Earth — and recycling won't help

Published on by in Science

"Significant global ecological disruption": Plastic is destroying Earth — and recycling won't help

Children in Western countries have long been taught the virtues of recycling. Because plastic products never decompose on their own, kids are instructed to dispose of them in specially-designated bins so they can be reused. The thinking is that if plastic products are continuously repurposed instead of being simply thrown away, it will lessen the plastic pollution crisis currently choking off life on this planet.

"Many people think that more plastic recycling will resolve the plastics crisis, but plastics are made with toxic chemicals... so recycling plastic is recycling toxic chemicals."

Yet a new report by Greenpeace USA reveals that recycling plastic not only fails to help the problem — it may actually make things worse. More significantly, the report reviews dozens of previous studies about plastic pollution to arrive at a sobering conclusion: If humanity does not get plastic pollution under control, the entire Earth ecosystem could be placed in grave danger.

Attached link

https://www.salon.com/2023/05/30/significant-global-ecological-disruption-plastic-is-destroying-earth--and-recycling-wont-help

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