TAMPA, Fla — Those bagless trips to the grocery store may not make much of a difference. A recent study found that of the 51 million tons of plastic waste generated by U.S. households last year, only around 2 million tons were actually recycled.
For Tampa resident Stephanie Rivera, recycling is a habit.
"I recycle a lot because I love turtles! I like to recycle everything, even if I have to put water in an already used bottle, but I think that’s awesome because you can keep on recycling it," Rivera explained.
But year after year, plastic recycling has continued to decline as plastic waste increases. Environmental group, Greenpeace, found that less than 5% of plastic waste discarded by Americans in 2021 was actually recycled.
“Plastics are more complicated in that there’s a wide variety of resins and only a certain amount of those can be successfully recycled," Travis Barnes, Manager for Hillsborough County Solid Waste department, said.
Barnes said there are other items that are being recycled at a high rate.
"In Hillsborough county, I think plastics only make up about 11% of our recycling stream and so there’s a variety of other materials that we target that can be successfully recycled and don’t always have the same challenges that plastic does," Barnes explained.
Metal, glass, paper and, cardboard, even plastic jugs and aluminum bottles are typically accepted in your curbside bin. Barnes stressed the importance of checking with your local service provider so you know exactly what’s recyclable since it varies on where you live.
"The biggest challenge that most municipalities face with recycling is when residents are putting the wrong things in the cart. We call that contamination. That can be a jar of peanut butter that we would normally accept, but it's too dirty," Barnes added.
Liquid residue can also contaminate items. Barnes said people shouldn’t be discouraged by Greenpeace calling plastic recycling a false concept. Instead, he said it should push people to reduce the use of plastic in the first place.
"We don’t want people to be apathetic and throw their hands up and say it’s not worth it. Again, the benefits of recycling are proven in that there’s a lot of environmental benefits and economic benefits of recycling," Barnes explained.
"People should recycle. I know it could be hard for some people that aren’t used to the process, but you’re on the earth. Think about your grandkids, your kids, your family and everyone in the world. It could help everyone," Rivera said.
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