(chemnet) --
Plastic film and bag recycling in the US is on the increase, jumping 14% in 2010
to 971.8 million pounds, according to a new report.
The annual increase is the first of more than 3% since 2006. "We are excited
about the dramatic jump,” said Keith Christman, managing director of plastics
markets for the American Chemistry Council (ACC).
"The communication is getting out that plastic bags can be recycled. A lot
more bags have messages on them that say ‘bring it back,’” he said. However,
Mark Murray, executive director of Californians Against Waste, said the
percentage increase was misleading.
"By every measure, plastic bags
remain a recycling failure,” Murray said. "The reported growth in plastic bag
recycling volume of 27 million pounds from 2009 to 2010 was completely swamped
by the Environmental Protection Agency’s reported 220 million pound growth in
plastic bag generation during the same period,” he said. |