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Universal ‘chasing arrows’ recycling symbol could be dumped in US (theguardian.com)

submitted 1 year ago by alyaza@beehaw.org to c/news@beehaw.org

15 comments fedilink hide all child comments

[...]the widespread use of the symbol on products that are not routinely accepted for recycling is helping stoke “consumer confusion about what is recyclable and/or compostable” and is leading to “deceptive or misleading” claims on packaging, according to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

At issue is the use of the logo along with the “resin number” of different types of plastics. Resin one and two plastics, such as bottles and jugs, are the most easily recycled products, but those marked with numbers three to seven, categories that include plastic bags, styrofoam and plastic trays, are typically not recycled and are instead sent to landfills or burned.

The placement of the chasing arrows symbol upon these hard-to-recycle single-use plastics “does not accurately represent recyclability as many plastics (especially 3-7) do not have end markets, and are not financially viable to recycle,” the EPA said in its comments.

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[–] ptz@dubvee.org 11 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

Plastic recycling has got to be one of the biggest lies we've ever been fed. I'm sure it varies widely by location, but only a very few types of plastic are accepted in my area, and I've got my doubts that they go anywhere besides the landfill.

I just try to avoid buying products that use excessive plastics and especially single-use plastic items (the "reduce" part of reduce, reuse, recycle)

[–] squaresinger@feddit.de 3 points 1 year ago

Yeah, it really sucks how they turned "reduce, reuse, recycle" on it's head. Recycle was the last of these three on purpose.

[–] itchy_lizard@feddit.it 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Yes, places with glass and deposit systems are the best