By Faridat Salifu
A new report from the Center for Climate Integrity is raising fresh concerns about the effectiveness of plastic recycling, calling attention to the growing gap between public perception and reality in global waste management systems.
While some plastics are indeed recyclable, the study finds that the vast majority are not—prompting calls for broader systemic reforms beyond recycling alone.
The report, The Plastic Recycling Myth, reveals that less than 9 percent of plastic waste is currently recycled. The remainder is either incinerated, landfilled, or ends up polluting natural environments, including oceans and soil.
This, researchers argue, reflects a failure not of the concept of recycling itself, but of a system ill-equipped to manage the scale and complexity of modern plastic production.
Plastic recycling is inherently challenging. There are thousands of plastic formulations, many of which are incompatible for combined recycling. Even when plastics are technically recyclable, logistical and economic barriers often prevent them from being processed.
According to experts, items like PET bottles can be effectively recycled, but mixed plastics, flexible packaging, and contaminated materials frequently end up as waste.
Critics of the plastic industry argue that for decades, manufacturers have overstated the potential of recycling as a catch-all solution, allowing production to continue unchecked.
The report includes internal industry documents suggesting that recycling was promoted primarily as a way to fend off regulation and consumer backlash.
Davis Allen, a policy analyst at the Center for Climate Integrity, said: “This isn’t about saying all recycling is a myth—some plastics can be and are recycled. But the data shows that most of it is not, and the promise of recycling has often been used to justify increasing plastic production.”
The American Chemistry Council pushed back on the report, calling its conclusions outdated and asserting that industry investment in recycling infrastructure is growing.
It also highlighted new technologies aimed at chemical recycling and closed-loop systems, which are still in early stages.
Still, global plastic production is expected to triple by 2050, according to environmental forecasts. Environmental advocates warn that without a shift toward reduction and reuse strategies, the recycling system—however improved—will not be able to keep up.
Jan Dell, founder of The Last Beach Cleanup, emphasized that while recycling remains a useful tool, it cannot solve the problem alone, saying, “We need to stop treating recycling as the only answer and start looking at how we can reduce the amount of plastic we use in the first place.”
The report recommends a multi-pronged approach: reduce the production of single-use and unrecyclable plastics, invest in reuse and refill systems, and implement stronger regulations on manufacturers.
It also calls for increased transparency around what types of plastic are truly recyclable and how much actually gets recycled.
Rather than abandoning recycling, experts say the goal should be to use it more effectively—targeting materials that can be processed efficiently, while rethinking the design and consumption of products that cannot.
As plastic continues to be a central material in modern life, researchers say the solution lies not in dismissing recycling, but in realigning expectations and policy to reflect what recycling can and cannot achieve.