I hadn’t realized the situation was this bad. I’m not going to completely stop using single-use plastic — it’s pretty hard to avoid — but it definitely shifts my tradeoff. Going forward I’ll assume all plastic ends up as landfill.

The Department of Energy also released a research paper this week, which analyzed data from 2019, and came to the same number: only 5% of plastics are being recycled. The researchers on that report wrote that landfilled plastic waste in the United States has been on the rise for many reasons, including “low recycling rates, population growth, consumer preference for single-use plastics, and low disposal fees in certain parts of the country”, according to a press release.

Per NPR, the idea of plastic recycling was never realistic; it was primarily an ad campaign from the oil industry to make people feel better about plastic.

US is recycling just 5% of its plastic waste, studies show | The Guardian

How Big Oil Misled The Public Into Believing Plastic Would Be Recycled | NPR