Most gets recycled, the rest used as fuel in energyplants. The real problem is the 10 countries in the world that are responsible for 90% of dumping stuff in the rivers (all in south asia and africa).
Of course theoretically perfectly clean and pure singly type plastic can be recycled, but that is something very different from post-consumer waste
but yes, what can't be recycled is epoxy (also a plastic).
For the case of PET bottles, recycling is possible if:
- products are made from a single sort of plastic with the intent of recycling - can be collected as a dedicated waste stream - are not contaminated in a way that is not easily cleaned - there are rules and regulations to offset the added costs
As all these conditions have to be met, one might as well use reusable bottles instead of recycling altogether, like we do with glass beer bottles. But then why were plastics used in the first place, as there is then hardly any advantage?
> Most gets recycled, the rest used as fuel in energyplants.
Do want to share how much work your "almost" is doing here?
> the 10 countries in the world that are responsible for 90% of dumping stuff in the rivers (all in south asia and africa).
How much of it is their own waste? How much was produced for Western consumers and then off-loaded onto them?
From following ocean cleanup project, for plastic ending up in the ocean it's usually own waste. The issue is countries that don't have working waste collection systems, any rainpour will often wash out the trash into river/oceans.
(littering is also an issue in countries with waste management though, but to a smaller degree, I kinda hate when people don't realize that stuff they throw in the street will often end up in rain collectors and directly flow into rivers)
Do you have a link? I think OP meant actual recycling, not waste collection.
I don't think 100% plastic recycling is close to achievable at the moment (even if recycled, it's often downcycled).