Millions of Americans dutifully fill their recycling bins each week, motivated by the knowledge that they're doing something good for the environment. But the sad fact is that much of what is tossed in the recycling bin is eventually heaped into landfills. As Kinnaman discovered in a 2014 study – a complete life cycle analysis of the recycling process – it doesn't make much economic or environmental sense to recycle plastic and glass in much of the developed world. Despite claims that plastics are recyclable, really only PET and HDPE (types 1 and 2 in North America) can be readily reused. In total, only 9% of plastic is melted and reformed. The rest goes into landfills or the wider environment. City Journal science journalist John Tierney pointed out in Stossel's segment that the economics of recycling have only worsened over time. Both plastic and glass are fairly easy on the environment to produce, but are often very tricky, costly, and intense to recycle. When you factor in all of the water used to decontaminate plastic and glass, the immense distances traversed transporting them (usually by truck, train, or ship), and the mechanical and chemical processes utilized to transform them into new goods, it becomes clear that they are better off in a landfill.
