Study Claims US Plastic Recycling Rate is Plunging

The Plastic Pollution Coalition, Berkeley, California, has published a report contending the recycling rate for plastic in the United States is plummeting. Author Jan Dell, who the coalition describes as a chemical engineer, used United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and other industry data to estimate the U.S. plastic recycling rate will sink from 9.1 percent in 2015 to 4.4 percent in 2018, says the organization. Dell estimates the recycling rate could drop to as low as 2.9 percent in 2019 if plastic scrap import bans are adopted by more countries in Asia.