PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — Is recycling working? We all assume it is when we put our recycling bins out on the curb every week. But the truth is much of it, especially plastic, is ending up in our landfills and polluting our lakes and oceans.
It’s called it wish-cycling. We put stuff out on the curb and we hope it’s being recycled, but you might be disappointed to learn how much of it actually goes to landfill.
Every morning throughout the Pittsburgh region, recycling trucks pick up the plastic, glass and cardboard that’s put on the curbside and haul it to recycling centers for sorting, resale and hopefully reuse. But a lot of the items don’t make it.
“Just this week alone, we’ve seen garden shears, cast-iron skillets, circular saws come through the recycling bins. That’s stuff that doesn’t belong in your single stream bin,” said Ericka Young with Waste Management.
Three decades after the state mandated recycling, most people don’t know what is and what is not recyclable. But it’s not our fault. The rules are complicated and every municipality has its own. The sad truth is the vast majority of plastics made in the U.S. are not recyclable.