Current Plastic Economy¶
"Today’s plastics economy is highly fragmented. The lack of standards and coordination across the value chain has allowed a proliferation of materials, formats, labelling, collection schemes and sorting and reprocessing systems, which collectively hamper the development of effective markets. "
- Ellen MacArthur Foundation
- McKinsey & Company
The development and introduction of plastic materials and formats across global supply and distribution chains is happening far faster than and is largely disconnected from the development and deployment of corresponding after-use systems and infrastructure.
- World Economic Forum
Our current “linear” economic model, in which we, ‘take-make-consume-and throw away’ is putting both the planet and people at risk. It is clear that we must urgently move towards new economic models in order to achieve our collective vision for a more sustainable planet.
Post-consumer waste plastic is a valuable resource, but it is currently underutilized.
- A. Lumber and fencing had the highest level of PCR content among the reported products – at close to 100% on average.
US plastic economy:¶
- Overall, the pounds acquired for recycling have increased steadily year after year.
- A common misconception among consumers is that most recyclable plastic is shipped overseas for processing
- In 2015, more than 70% of the material acquired for recycling was sold to domestic markets.
- Plastic bottles are largely domestically processed, particularly HDPE; however,
- 34% of the non-bottle rigid plastics was purchased by export buyers in 2015
- 52% of the film scrap material was purchased by export buyers in 2015.