We cannot recycle our way out of plastic pollution.
We need to find viable solutions to reducing, reusing and repurposing plastic! This is one of the main aims of the Relearn Plastics Project!
While the world struggles to handle the flood of waste, industry plans to increase plastic production by 40% in the next decade. China was the main country who recycled plastic exported from many countries, up until they introduced a ban on most plastic scrap imports. Thailand, Malaysia, India, Vietnam and Cambodia imposed their own plastic import bans. This resulted in a sharp uptick in illegal recycling operations and waste shipments to Southeast Asia.
Image from: Plastic Atlas https://www.boell.de/en/plasticatlas