I’ve randomly heard various iterations of the claim recycling is a scam but never received a fleshed-out explanation or anything
I’ve randomly heard various iterations of the claim recycling is a scam but never received a fleshed-out explanation or anything
It depends on your location and the material, but plastic recycling is kind of a scam. Basically, it requires a lot of labor and energy, the resulting plastic is kind of shit, and as a result plastic is rarely recycled once and basically never recycled twice or more.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plastic_recycling
The numbers in that link are quite old, I see 2015 and 2010 mentioned. In the Netherlands where I live recycling is a lot higher than ten years ago. That said, a lot of recyclers went bankrupt the last two years because virgin materials are a lot cheaper.
There is labour and energy but it is less than drilling new oil and all that processing and energy to make new material.