The Truth about recycling: For a long time, people have told us that recycling is one of the easiest ways to help the environment. Put your plastic, paper, and cans in the blue bin, and there you go—you’re helping the planet.

But here’s the uncomfortable truth: recycling isn’t working the way we think it is.

We can’t fix something if we don’t know what’s wrong with it.

So let’s ask the tough question: Are we doing recycling correctly?

Let’s look at the facts, get rid of the myths, and see what really needs to change.

Are we doing recycling right? The truth about it.

People often say that recycling is one of the best ways to cut down on waste, save resources, and protect the environment. But the truth is more complicated, with both big benefits and ongoing problems.

How well do the recycling programs that are in place now work?

You can tell if a recycling program is working by looking at things like the diversion rate (how much waste is kept out of landfills), the participation rate, the contamination rate, and the material recovery rate. Recycling systems that work well have high rates of diversion and participation and low rates of contamination. These programs help save energy, cut down on pollution, and make landfills last longer.

But the effectiveness of a program can vary a lot depending on where it is, how it was designed, how well the public is educated, and what the government does. Urban areas with curbside collection and good public education tend to do better, while rural areas and places with poor infrastructure have a harder time.

Big Problems with Recycling

• Contamination: Mixing non-recyclable items with recyclables is one of the biggest problems. It can make whole batches unusable and raise processing costs. This is often because people don’t know what can be recycled and the rules are different in different areas.
• Economic Viability: Recycling can be costly because of the costs of collecting, sorting, and processing. Recycling can be hard on the wallet because the value of recycled materials is sometimes lower than the value of making new materials, especially when commodity prices go down.
• Infrastructure and Education: People don’t recycle as much because there aren’t enough convenient places to do it and not enough public education about it.
• Material Complexity: It’s hard to recycle some materials, especially plastics, because of how they are made or because they have mixed resins in them. Only about 9% of the world’s plastic waste is recycled. Most of the recycling is done on certain types of thermoplastics.
• Environmental Impact: Recycling usually cuts down on pollution and saves resources, but the process itself can be bad for the environment in some ways, like releasing microplastics, using chemicals, and using energy.

Are We Doing It Right?

Most people recycle because they want to, but they make mistakes a lot. Putting things that can’t be recycled, like food waste, plastic bags, or dirty containers, in recycling bins is a common mistake that can make the stream dirty and make recycling less effective. To recycle properly, you need to: • Know what materials can be recycled • Rinse containers to get rid of food residue • Keep non-recyclables out of recycling bins • Flatten boxes to save space • Follow local recycling rules, which can be different in different places

The Big Picture and Limitations

Experts say that while recycling is important, its benefits can be exaggerated. Recycling alone won’t fix the waste problem. Cutting back on what you buy and reusing materials are often better ways to protect the environment. Recycling also doesn’t do anything about the plastics and other materials that are already polluting the environment, and it doesn’t completely stop the release of microplastics and other pollutants during processing5.

How to recycle better

• Learn about the recycling rules in your area
• Don’t “wishcycle” (putting things in the bin hoping they can be recycled)
• Reduce and reuse before recycling
• Support policies and businesses that put sustainable packaging and product design first

The Recycling Reality Check

Only about 9% of all the plastic that has ever been made has been recycled. What about the rest?

• Burned (which makes the air dirty)
• Thrown away in landfills
• Or worse, left to pollute our oceans and communities.

A lot of what we put in the recycling bin ends up being contaminated, mis-sorted, or sent overseas to be burned or dumped, even in countries with good recycling systems like the U.S.

Why?

Because the system is hard to understand, not well-funded, and often not understood.

Contamination: The Secret Saboteur

One of the hardest things about recycling is contamination, which happens when things that can’t be recycled get into the recycling stream.

Common mistakes that lead to contamination are: greasy pizza boxes and containers with food on them.

• Plastic bags (which get stuck in machines)
• Coffee cups with plastic, not paper, inside

If you put one wrong thing in a batch of recyclables, it will all have to go to the landfill.

When in doubt, check before you throw something away. Recycling with hope does more harm than good.

Not all plastics are the same

Have you ever seen the little numbers on plastic things (♻️ 1 to 7)? This is what they mean:

• #1 (PET) – water bottles that are often recycled
• #2 (HDPE) – detergent bottles that are often recycled
• #3–7: harder to recycle and usually not picked up at the curb

Most city programs only recycle plastics #1 and #2. Even if they have a recycling symbol, most of the rest are thrown away.

A recycling symbol does not mean that something can be recycled.

That’s not a promise; it’s a marketing trick.

Recycling Isn’t the Answer; It’s Part of It

Recycling can help, but it’s not the answer to all our problems. It was never meant to replace the culture of mass production, single use, or plastic manufacturing that uses fossil fuels.

The real order of waste is:

• Say no to things you don’t need
• Cut down on what you eat and drink
• Use things again when you can
• Only recycle as a last resort

We need to rethink how we use things, not just how we throw them away.

How to Recycle Better Today

Here’s how to make sure your recycling really counts:

• Every city has its own rules, so make sure you know them. Rinse containers so that there is no food left over. Stay away from “tanglers,” which are cords, hoses, and plastic bags.
• Don’t mix materials; take the plastic film off of boxes. Don’t use black plastic; scanners often can’t see it.

And most importantly: 💡 Buy less, buy better—support companies that use packaging that can be recycled, composted, or refilled.

The Future: Better Design and a Circular Economy

We need to change how we make and use things in order to make real progress. That means:

• Packaging that is easy to recycle or compost
• Systems for returning bottles and containers for a deposit
• Local, closed-loop recycling systems
• Rules that make manufacturers responsible for waste

What is the goal? A circular economy where trash becomes a resource and the earth isn’t covered in plastic.

Recycling is a useful way to help the environment, but it isn’t the only thing that can be done. To really make a difference, you need to do more than just recycle. You need to reduce, reuse, and push for changes in the way products are made, used, and thrown away.

Recycling is still going on, but it's not enough.

The truth is that we've been doing it wrong because we've been told a story that makes sense.

But now that we know better, we can do better.

Yes, keep recycling, but more importantly, say no, cut down, and use again.

The most sustainable thing is the one that was never thrown away in the first place.