this post was submitted on 07 Mar 2026
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No Stupid Questions

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I've randomly heard various iterations of the claim recycling is a scam but never received a fleshed-out explanation or anything

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[โ€“] scoobford@piefed.blahaj.zone 25 points 5 days ago (2 children)

It depends on your location and the material, but plastic recycling is kind of a scam. Basically, it requires a lot of labor and energy, the resulting plastic is kind of shit, and as a result plastic is rarely recycled once and basically never recycled twice or more.ย 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plastic_recycling

[โ€“] BCsven@lemmy.ca 3 points 4 days ago

There is labour and energy but it is less than drilling new oil and all that processing and energy to make new material.

[โ€“] zout@fedia.io 4 points 5 days ago

The numbers in that link are quite old, I see 2015 and 2010 mentioned. In the Netherlands where I live recycling is a lot higher than ten years ago. That said, a lot of recyclers went bankrupt the last two years because virgin materials are a lot cheaper.