1. When it comes to the number of items that are made out of plastic the list goes on and on. Some items include water bottles, cleaning containers, plastic bags, lids and caps.
2. In 2018, plastics generation was 35.7 million tons in the United States, which was 12.2 percent of MSW generation. To put this number into perspective we can look at China who in 2010 produced 59.08 million tons of plastic. The truth of the matter is that plastic production is continuing to increase so finding a way to recycle this material is quite important if the goal of nations is to live sustainably. Another country to help compare America to is Canada, their plastic waste production hangs around 2.5 million tons. This is a sizable decrease from the amount of plastic waste America produces. The United States recycling of plastics hangs right around 4 million tons which is a small percentage of what we produce. Ultimately when compared to other countries Americas current amount of recycling of produced plastics does not paint a flattering picture of a sustainable country.
3. All things considered investing money into recycling would be a smart move for America as it would save large sums of energy which also translates to less money needed to to be spent on creating new materials. But with the United states current infrastructure our ability to recycle the 35.7 million tons of plastics we produce is hindered. So serious allocation of money  towards the development of this infrastructure is needed if the United States hopes to be considered a sustainable country.
4. Besides the infrastructure problem the the United States faces an uphill battle to change the countries cultural behaviors when it comes to single use plastics. But there is hope, if more companies can find ways to encourage the use of conventional reusable items such as bringing your own coffee mug to Starbucks or using reusable grocery bags instead of the single use plastic ones less plastic is needed to be created. If less plastic is created that also means that there is less plastic to recycle. Another technology or infrastructure that needs to be created is a better system for collection of plastic especially single use plastic bottles which are bulky and therefore harder to gather. If a more efficient system is created this would significantly increase the likelihood that people would recycle their bottle instead of throwing them in the trash and ending up in a land fill.

https://ourworldindata.org/plastic-pollution#total-plastic-waste-by-country

https://www.epa.gov/facts-and-figures-about-materials-waste-and-recycling/plastics-material-specific-data