{"id":125457,"date":"2024-02-19T07:58:34","date_gmt":"2024-02-19T05:58:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tietopankki.crnet.fi\/fi\/news\/plastic-industry-knew-recycling-was-a-farce-for-decades-yet-deceived-the-public-report-reveals\/"},"modified":"2024-02-19T07:58:34","modified_gmt":"2024-02-19T05:58:34","slug":"plastic-industry-knew-recycling-was-a-farce-for-decades-yet-deceived-the-public-report-reveals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tietopankki.crnet.fi\/fi\/news\/plastic-industry-knew-recycling-was-a-farce-for-decades-yet-deceived-the-public-report-reveals\/","title":{"rendered":"Plastic industry knew recycling was a farce for decades yet deceived the public, report reveals"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mp_wrapper\">\n  <div class=\"mepr-unauthorized-message\">\n    <p>You are unauthorized to view this page.<\/p>\n  <\/div>\n  <div class=\"mepr-login-form-wrap\">\n            \n<div class=\"mp_wrapper mp_login_form\">\n                  <!-- mp-login-form-start -->     <form name=\"mepr_loginform\" id=\"mepr_loginform\" class=\"mepr-form\" action=\"https:\/\/tietopankki.crnet.fi\/fi\/login-2\/\" method=\"post\">\n            <div class=\"mp-form-row mepr_username\">\n        <div class=\"mp-form-label\">\n                              <label for=\"user_login\">Username<\/label>\n        <\/div>\n        <input type=\"text\" name=\"log\" id=\"user_login\" value=\"\" \/>\n      <\/div>\n      <div class=\"mp-form-row mepr_password\">\n        <div class=\"mp-form-label\">\n          <label for=\"user_pass\">Password<\/label>\n          <div class=\"mp-hide-pw\">\n            <input type=\"password\" name=\"pwd\" id=\"user_pass\" value=\"\" \/>\n            <button type=\"button\" class=\"button mp-hide-pw hide-if-no-js\" data-toggle=\"0\" aria-label=\"Show password\">\n              <span class=\"dashicons dashicons-visibility\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/span>\n            <\/button>\n          <\/div>\n        <\/div>\n      <\/div>\n            <div>\n        <label><input name=\"rememberme\" type=\"checkbox\" id=\"rememberme\" value=\"forever\" \/> Remember Me<\/label>\n      <\/div>\n      <div class=\"mp-spacer\">&nbsp;<\/div>\n      <div class=\"submit\">\n        <input type=\"submit\" name=\"wp-submit\" id=\"wp-submit\" class=\"button-primary mepr-share-button \" value=\"Log In\" \/>\n        <input type=\"hidden\" name=\"redirect_to\" value=\"\/fi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125457\" \/>\n        <input type=\"hidden\" name=\"mepr_process_login_form\" value=\"true\" \/>\n        <input type=\"hidden\" name=\"mepr_is_login_page\" value=\"false\" \/>\n      <\/div>\n    <\/form>\n    <div class=\"mp-spacer\">&nbsp;<\/div>\n    <div class=\"mepr-login-actions\">\n        <a\n          href=\"https:\/\/tietopankki.crnet.fi\/fi\/login-2\/?action=forgot_password\"\n          title=\"Click here to reset your password\"\n        >\n          Forgot Password        <\/a>\n    <\/div>\n\n      \n    <!-- mp-login-form-end --> \n  <\/div>\n      <\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"smart_content_wrapper\">\nPlastic producers should \u2018pay for the damage they\u2019ve caused\u2019 after decades of deception, the report&#8217;s authors say. Recycling has been promoted as a solution to plastic waste management for more than 50 years. But big oil companies and the plastics industry have known for decades that it\u2019s not a technically or economically viable solution, a new report reveals.<\/p>\n<p>Combining existing research and recently revealed internal documents, the report by the Center for Climate Integrity Research (CCI) could form the foundation for legal action, its authors say. \u201cWhen corporations and trade groups know that their products pose grave risks to society, and then lie to the public and policymakers about it, they must be held accountable,\u201d says CCI President Richard Wiles. \u201cAccountability means stopping the lying, telling the truth, and paying for the damage they\u2019ve caused.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The report unveils the fraudulent marketing and public education campaigns used to promote plastic as recyclable, despite knowing that it is not a workable solution. These strategies allowed the single-use plastics industry to expand, while avoiding regulation to effectively address waste and pollution, the report says. \u201cRecycling cannot be considered a permanent solid waste solution [to plastics], as it merely prolongs the time until an item is disposed of,\u201d reads a 1986 report by industry trade group the Vinyl Institute (VI). The group\u2019s founding director, Roy Gottesman, highlighted the issue again in 1989 at a conference, warning, \u201cRecycling cannot go on indefinitely, and does not solve the solid waste problem.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>With thousands of different types used in everyday products, plastic is expensive to collect and sort. It also degrades after just one or two uses, becoming more toxic each time it is repurposed. Despite knowing this, oil and plastics companies pushed forward with campaigns promoting recycling.<\/p>\n<p>Picture the triangle of \u2018chasing arrows\u2019 symbol to denote that packaging is recyclable, for example. This was introduced even though the VI had noted that the system was unlikely to work due to the trend towards composite containers, made up of multiple types of plastic. \u201cWe are committed to the activities, but not committed to the results,\u201d Exxon Chemical Vice President Irwin Levowitz said in a 1994 meeting with the American Plastics Council (APC).<\/p>\n<p>The following year, internal notes from an APC staffer acknowledged the impossibility of recycled plastic competing with virgin materials. \u201cVirgin supplies will go up sharply in [the] near future [and] kick the shit out of PCR [Post-Consumer Recycled material] prices,\u201d they wrote.<\/p>\n<p>How could companies be held legally accountable for lies about plastic recycling? This public deception could be a violation of laws designed to protect consumers and the public from corporate misconduct and pollution, according to the report\u2019s authors. \u201cAttorneys general and other officials should carefully consider the evidence that these companies defrauded the public and take appropriate action to hold them accountable,\u201d says Alyssa Johl, CCI\u2019s vice president of legal and general counsel.<\/p>\n<p>It adds to a growing list of complaints against plastics producers, including a 2022 California investigation into ExxonMobil\u2019s role in the plastic pollution crisis, and New York suing Pepsi Co in 2023 over plastic pollution. The best way to reduce plastic pollution is to avoid single-use plastics entirely. However, it is still better to recycle plastic at home than throw it away. Around nine per cent of the world\u2019s annual plastic waste is successfully recycled, and with many companies committing to using recycled plastic in their products, it can find a purpose.<\/p>\n<p>Under the European Strategy for Plastics in the Circular Economy, the target is that 10 million tonnes of recycled plastics find their way into products in the EU by 2025. Almost 26 million tonnes of plastic waste is generated in Europe every year.<\/p>\n<p>Source: <a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.euronews.com\/green\/2024\/02\/16\/plastic-industry-knew-recycling-was-a-farce-for-decades-yet-deceived-the-public-report-rev\">Euronews Green<\/a> <\/div>\n<p>The post <a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/vastuullisuusuutiset.fi\/fi\/environmental-news-en\/plastic-industry-knew-recycling-was-a-farce-for-decades-yet-deceived-the-public-report-reveals\/\">Plastic industry knew recycling was a farce for decades yet deceived the public, report reveals<\/a> appeared first on <a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/vastuullisuusuutiset.fi\/fi\">Vastuullisuusuutiset.fi<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[575,2278,694,764],"class_list":["post-125457","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-environmental-news-en","tag-industry","tag-plastic","tag-recycling"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tietopankki.crnet.fi\/fi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125457","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tietopankki.crnet.fi\/fi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tietopankki.crnet.fi\/fi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tietopankki.crnet.fi\/fi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tietopankki.crnet.fi\/fi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=125457"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tietopankki.crnet.fi\/fi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/125457\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tietopankki.crnet.fi\/fi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=125457"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tietopankki.crnet.fi\/fi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=125457"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tietopankki.crnet.fi\/fi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=125457"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}