Good news: yes. But only if you have the right recycling hauler and they take it to the right place.
If all you do is read the headlines, it looks as though the recycling system is broken. There are some naughty numbers floating around that are horribly discouraging. In a recent PBS article, it says, “Only about 5 to 6 percent of plastic in the U.S. is recycled.”
Many people read it as if only 5-6% of the plastic they place inside their recycling bin actually gets recycled. That’s not the case.
The 5-6% refers to all plastics sent to recycling centers and tossed in landfills combined. Including plastics that were never meant to be recycled.
For example, carpet isn’t supposed to be sent to your recycling center. It’s extremely difficult to recycle, so it usually winds up in a landfill. If we’re talking about recyclable plastics sent to a recycling center, the percentage is much more encouraging.
The Verify This article says, “The OECD says 60% of plastic collected for recycling worldwide in 2019 was actually recycled.”
So yay! That’s better. But when it comes to Omaha, where does it go, what does it become, and how can we know the whole process is actually legit?
