"Recyclable, compostable, plant-based" — are these plastics really any better?
A researcher at Greenpeace USA breaks it down for us.
A researcher at Greenpeace USA breaks it down for us.
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00:00So much plastic!
00:04My name is Ivy Schlegel.
00:05I'm a research specialist at Greenpeace.
00:08And today I'm going to take you on a tour of all the groceries and all of the plastic
00:14packaging that I found at my local grocery store.
00:17And we're going to look at all the labels and find out the real truth behind labels
00:22like recyclability, biodegradable, and compostable.
00:25Some of these are flat out deceptive.
00:28Some of these are confusing to consumers, but technically they're allowable by law because
00:33they have all the right words in there.
00:34And that's really just greenwashing.
00:37One of the first things I got was coffee pods.
00:44It has a recycling symbol, but there's a bunch of writing on it.
00:48Not recycled in all communities.
00:51That is true.
00:52We found out through our research last year that around less than 1% of Americans have
00:56access to recycling for polypropylene coffee pods.
01:01The problem is that just because something is recyclable does not mean that it is actually
01:06recycled.
01:07Of all the plastic that's ever been produced in the world since the 1950s, only 9% of that
01:14has ever been recycled.
01:16That is such a small amount.
01:19One of the things that's really confusing about the recycling arrows is it suggests
01:23a continuous constant loop.
01:25In fact, the majority of the plastic that is recycled gets down-cycled into something
01:31of lesser value.
01:32So things like textiles or plastic lumber.
01:35And that's not really addressing the problem, which is runaway production of plastic packaging.
01:44These, yeah, so these are compostable cups.
01:47So the label says they're non-toxic, they're compostable, they'll break down in months,
01:52not millennia.
01:53A cup like this will probably not degrade in a home composting system.
01:57What compostable plastic means is it's a type of plastic that can, is designed to be broken
02:02down in an industrial composter.
02:05So that's a composting system that has extremely high heat and high humidity.
02:09If it's not anywhere near where I am when I have this party cup in my hand, I am probably
02:15just going to put this in the trash.
02:17When I read this label, too, it says it's made from plants.
02:24And I looked in the back and it says they're made from corn.
02:26And that's promoted as something good.
02:28So the way corn and other industrial crops is farmed is incredibly harmful to the environment
02:35and carries huge greenhouse gas emissions.
02:38So this type of farming is not environmentally sustainable.
02:43It's really not even an ecological solution for food, much less for throwaway packaging
02:48like this.
03:06All of the world's biggest food and beverage companies and personal care companies, they
03:10have heard from their customers directly that they are not happy about the amount of
03:17plastic in the environment, yet they continue to make an increasing amount of their products
03:22wrapped in plastic packaging.
03:24So there's a lot of motivation for them to put these kinds of labels on products.
03:40So, all of the plastic, from the way it's produced, from that oil and gas drilling and
04:01the carbon it releases when it's littered into the environment, these are all things
04:05we can't ignore.
04:10There are so many small business owners, restaurant owners that have come up with creative ways
04:26to use less plastic or no packaging.
04:30Companies are making different kinds of reusable cup systems and carry-your-own straws and
04:35different kinds of services that really try to imagine a world that doesn't have so much
04:40plastic in it.
04:41I find that really exciting.
04:43If small businesses can do it, all of these companies with a lot of money and resources
04:47should be able to do it too.