- What are some of the products that contribute to this class of materials?
Milk jugs, containers, plastic bags and wraps, bottles and bottle caps, plastic foam packaging, etc.
2. How much waste do we generate of, and to what extent do we recycle, this material in the U.S.? How does this compare to other countries? You may decide for yourself (and explain to the reader) which countries offer the most appropriate comparison.
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A relative small amount of plastic is actually recycled in the U.S at only about 25% which is almost half of how much the U.K recycles plastic at a rate of 46% which they have said to plan to increase to 50% by 2030 according to Utahrecycles.org. However, the number has been increasing; for example, in 2018 according to EPA 3,090 tons of plastic was recycled which is significantly higher than in used to be in the year 2000 at only 1,480 tons.
3. What are the advantages of recycling this material? You must put this in context using at least one of the following metrics:
Recycling plastic requires less energy and helps conserve natural resources. making plastic products from scratch requires a significantly higher amount of energy compared to producing them from recycled products. it also saves natural resources such as raw materials, natural gas, petroleum, etc that would otherwise be used.
4. If the recycling rate of this material is relatively high (>65% or so) in the U.S., why is that? If it is low (i.e, <<65%), why is that? In the former case, comment on the lessons we might learn that could be applied to other materials. In the latter case, what strategies do you suggest for increasing the recycling rate of this material?
The recycling rates of plastic in the U.S. are fairly low, I believe this is because not enough people are taking action. You see the recycling bins everywhere but people still throw their plastic into the trash instead out of pure laziness or ignorance. Perhaps if more of society understood the benefits of recycling they would take a bigger role in making it happen and the recycling rates for plastic would increase.