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"content": "\u003cp>[dropcap]G[/dropcap]abrielle LeCompte has long been suspicious of her curbside recycling service.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I felt that I was throwing everything into the recycling bin,” she said. “And I didn’t feel like it was doing anything. I really felt like it’s not making a difference, like they’re going to throw it all in the landfill.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>LeCompte was particularly perplexed by the never-ending supply of plastic material that rapidly accumulated in her small Alameda home — the food wrappers, produce bags, Amazon packaging and other omnipresent detritus of modern life that most curbside services don’t accept.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“My biggest goal was to make the least amount of trash possible,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">About a year ago, LeCompte signed up for a new subscription-based pickup service called Ridwell that now collects most of her used plastic packaging, old clothing, and other common household items that can’t go in the blue bin. The Seattle-based, venture capital-backed startup acts as a middleman, partnering with a bevy of nonprofits and manufacturers who use recycled materials that would otherwise end up in landfills. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Before, I was making like one bag of trash every three or four weeks,” she said. “And now I’m making about one bag of trash every eight to nine weeks, maybe even less.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>LeCompte is among a small but growing army of eco-conscious, consumer-guilt-ridden Bay Area residents who, when it comes down to it, want to have their cake and recycle its packaging, too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12026746\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12026746\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250124_Ridwell_DB_00025_grid.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"2000\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250124_Ridwell_DB_00025_grid.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250124_Ridwell_DB_00025_grid-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250124_Ridwell_DB_00025_grid-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250124_Ridwell_DB_00025_grid-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250124_Ridwell_DB_00025_grid-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250124_Ridwell_DB_00025_grid-1920x1920.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Some of the items collected and sorted at the Ridwell processing plant in San Leandro. \u003ccite>(David M. Barreda/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Ridwell now operates in a swath of cities across the region — from Novato to San José — the company’s growth marked by a proliferation of its signature square-foot white metal collection containers outside customers’ front doors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A basic subscription, for $14 a month, includes pickups every two weeks of plastic film, batteries, lightbulbs, old clothing and shoes, along with a revolving “featured category,” like art supplies, bottle caps and bread bag cinches.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For an additional $4, you can add in multilayer plastic material — the crinkly chip bags, candy wrappers and other stuff you can’t stick your fingers through. Additional tiers include even harder-to-recycle materials, like plastic foam and fluorescent light bulbs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re consumer-driven, right? [Companies] really influence us to buy, buy, buy,” LeCompte said. “But there’s no way to get rid of the stuff that we have. “So, for me, Ridwell is the easiest thing to do.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Launched in 2018, Ridwell is the brainchild of Ryan Metzger. The Seattle resident became increasingly frustrated with the inconvenience of tracking down responsible disposal options for dead batteries and other common household items, like paint, that you’re not supposed to toss in the trash but can’t put in the blue bin. He started a small “recycling carpool,” taking his 6-year-old son along on rides to collect items from neighbors and deliver them to local disposal sites.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As more neighbors signed up, entrepreneurship took root.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ridwell is \u003ca href=\"https://www.rabbitrecycling.com/\">among a small cadre\u003c/a> of recently launched pickup companies around the country that have identified a burgeoning market among consumers who seek to generate less waste without necessarily changing their consumption habits — and who feel increasingly hindered by the limitations of their municipal recycling programs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The new services come amid growing public awareness about \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11901288/you-cant-recycle-your-way-out-californias-plastic-problem-and-what-to-do-about-it\">how relatively few things — especially plastic — actually get recycled\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=news_11901288]But it remains to be seen whether a company like Ridwell, which has yet to turn a profit, can ultimately become a viable business model in the competitive world of waste management while also continuing to fulfill its promise to divert an ever-expanding volume of crap out of landfills.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Junk matchmaker\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Ridwell now has more than 110,000 members in the eight metropolitan areas it operates in — including Seattle, Atlanta, Austin, Minneapolis, Los Angeles, Denver and Portland. The Bay Area has quickly become one of its fastest-growing markets. Since launching here in 2022 — starting first in the city of Alameda — nearly 15,000 households have signed up, and more than 1.5 million pounds of waste have so far been diverted from local landfills, the company said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This service “is for busy people who want to feel better about where their stuff goes,” said Gerrine Pan, Ridwell’s vice president of partnerships, who calls herself a “serial entrepreneur-turned-climate enthusiast.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12026740\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12026740\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250124_RIDWELL_DB_00815-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250124_RIDWELL_DB_00815-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250124_RIDWELL_DB_00815-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250124_RIDWELL_DB_00815-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250124_RIDWELL_DB_00815-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250124_RIDWELL_DB_00815-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250124_RIDWELL_DB_00815-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Joan Maravilla carries sorted plastics at the Ridwell processing plant in San Leandro. \u003ccite>(David M. Barreda/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Pan is a matchmaker of sorts. It’s her job to find homes for the multitude of disparate junk that arrives every day at Ridwell’s regional warehouse in San Leandro.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Everything is trucked here. We’re probably on the brink of needing to find another facility or looking for more space,” Pan said, gesturing toward barrels of old batteries, a giant crate of plastic foam blocks, and a 15-foot-tall hill of bags, each packed with plastic film.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The warehouse is surprisingly quiet: no conveyor belts or other major machinery you’d find in a recycling facility — just a small crew of workers sifting through materials by hand.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is a place where we are consolidating so that we can make efficient loads out the door,” Pan said, noting that Ridwell doesn’t actually do any of the recycling itself.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12026737\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12026737\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250124_RIDWELL_DB_00484-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250124_RIDWELL_DB_00484-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250124_RIDWELL_DB_00484-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250124_RIDWELL_DB_00484-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250124_RIDWELL_DB_00484-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250124_RIDWELL_DB_00484-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250124_RIDWELL_DB_00484-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Joseph Barboza (left) and Juan Alvarado, sort plastics at the Ridwell processing plant in San Leandro. \u003ccite>(David M. Barreda/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“We identify and vet recyclers or reuse partners who are able to use those materials to the best of their ability,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ridwell’s website \u003ca href=\"https://www.ridwell.com/transparency\">lists the manufacturers it works with, all based in North America\u003c/a>, including ones that make new decking material from the plastic film (polyethylene) or picture frames from the plastic foam.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ridwell also partners with several local recyclers who extract metal and chemicals from the dead batteries, strip Christmas lights for their wiring and recycle the glass and mercury from the lightbulbs. It even collected political yard signs in December, shipping some to a plastics company in Canada that melted them down into post-consumer resin for new products, Pan said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>A tsunami of plastic\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>But finding — and retaining — those partners can be a difficult proposition, given the tsunami of plastic waste. Despite the familiar chasing arrows symbol printed on most containers, not all plastic is created equal, and only a tiny percentage actually gets recycled.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A recent U.S. Department of Energy study found that Americans \u003ca href=\"https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2022/04/28/2431659/0/en/NREL-Calculates-Lost-Value-of-Landfilled-Plastic-in-U-S.html\">generated an estimated 44 million tons of plastic waste\u003c/a> in 2019 alone, of which just 5% was recycled — with most of the rest dumped in our ever-growing landfills.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even in California — which in 2014 became the first state to ban single-use plastic grocery bags and this year is beginning a\u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/environment/story/2022-06-30/california-new-law-phase-out-single-use-plastics-containers\"> broader phaseout of single-use plastics\u003c/a> — about 5.4 million tons of plastic waste was dumped in landfills in 2021, according to the most recent \u003ca href=\"https://www2.calrecycle.ca.gov/Publications/Details/1738\">statewide disposal data\u003c/a>. That means Californians toss about \u003ca href=\"https://calrecycle.ca.gov/packaging/packaging-epr/\">290 Olympic swimming pools\u003c/a> worth of plastic every day.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The ‘wishcycling’ is substantial,” said Pan, referring to the common habit of indiscriminately tossing various types of plastic into the blue bin, most of which gets filtered out and winds up in the garbage. And that’s because it’s generally \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2022/10/24/1131131088/recycling-plastic-is-practically-impossible-and-the-problem-is-getting-worse\">far more expensive for manufacturers to recycle\u003c/a> most kinds of plastic than it is for them to just make more of it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12027813\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12027813\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250124_Ridwell_DB_01232_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250124_Ridwell_DB_01232_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250124_Ridwell_DB_01232_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250124_Ridwell_DB_01232_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250124_Ridwell_DB_01232_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250124_Ridwell_DB_01232_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250124_Ridwell_DB_01232_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Joan Maravilla sorts plastics at Ridwell’s processing plant in San Leandro. \u003ccite>(David M. Barreda/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Ridwell actually pays most of its partners to take the plastic off its hands.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The supply-demand balance of this is just off. You couldn’t get paid for that,” she said. “We are fighting for our share of capacity with all these partners.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Equally challenging is the constant search for reuse partners, Pan added, pointing to a section of the warehouse packed with overflowing boxes of clothing and a random array of household items, including an entire crate of cosmetics and a pallet of three-month-old Halloween candy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If it looks overwhelming, that’s because it is,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ridwell partners with local nonprofits, including food pantries and thrift stores, that accept items when they can. But that exchange isn’t always steady or predictable, and stuff — like the stale Halloween candy — often ends up piling up here for months, taking up scarce, very costly space.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They have been sitting here since November,” Pan said, pointing to a crate of baking tins. “And they will continue to sit here until we have another collection of home kitchen items and we have more partners who might raise their hand.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>A trash disruptor\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>While Ridwell sees itself as filling a major waste management gap, it has also — in true startup fashion — run afoul of more traditional trash collection services. Soon after launching in Portland in 2021, for instance, \u003ca href=\"https://www.wweek.com/news/2021/12/01/whos-afraid-of-a-ridwell-box/\">some businesses complained to the city\u003c/a>, arguing Ridwell was skirting the many regulations and accountability measures that long-established haulers were required to follow to retain their city contracts. And several smaller neighboring cities even ordered the company to halt operations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For its part, Ridwell insisted it’s designed to complement the curbside service, not overlap with it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Our relationship with waste management companies can vary,” Pan said, noting that some recognize the service as a net benefit. “But in some areas, there is sometimes conflict and concern where people don’t quite understand what we’re trying to do. In reality, we are trying to take a lot of things out of the system that they do not want in the system.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some industry insiders also question the viability of Ridwell’s business model. The company is still very much dependent on its VC funding and has yet to turn a profit — although Pan insisted they are “right on the cusp.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12026745\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12026745\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250124_Ridwell_DB_00067_duo.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"660\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250124_Ridwell_DB_00067_duo.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250124_Ridwell_DB_00067_duo-800x264.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250124_Ridwell_DB_00067_duo-1020x337.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250124_Ridwell_DB_00067_duo-160x53.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250124_Ridwell_DB_00067_duo-1536x507.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250124_Ridwell_DB_00067_duo-1920x634.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Left: Latoya Grant, a driver-flex, sorts mixed and clear plastics at the Ridwell processing plant in San Leandro. Right: Mike Coggins sorts reusable bags at the Ridwell plant. \u003ccite>(David M. Barreda/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I don’t think there’s a competition issue,” said Martin Bourque, executive director of The Ecology Center, a Berkeley nonprofit that launched the nation’s first curbside recycling program more than 50 years ago and continues to collect for the city. “There is sort of this disruptive venture capitalist, tech component to it that feels a little like the new Uber or something.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Startups like Uber and Lyft, he noted, offered artificially low rates when they first launched because their goal was to get into the market and disrupt the highly regulated taxi industry. But eventually, ride rates shot up as the companies became subject to more regulations and pressure to make profits.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Ridwell is sort of at the very early phase of that,” Bourque said, arguing that its current subscription rates seem unrealistically low, given the shakiness of the recycling market.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“As they start to be required by cities to have a franchise agreement and pay for use of roads and access to customers, will that model pencil out?” he said. “I think it’s an interesting experiment, but let’s see how it unfolds. Because when push comes to shove, investors want a return on their investment, and that can lead to bad decisions for the environmental community.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12026744\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12026744\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250124_Ridwell_DB_00722.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250124_Ridwell_DB_00722.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250124_Ridwell_DB_00722-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250124_Ridwell_DB_00722-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250124_Ridwell_DB_00722-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250124_Ridwell_DB_00722-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250124_Ridwell_DB_00722-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Juan Alvarado sorts plastics at the Ridwell processing plant. \u003ccite>(David M. Barreda/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Bourque pointed to TerraCycle, a similar service, as a cautionary tale. The New Jersey-based company, which operates a nationwide custom mail-in recycling program, \u003ca href=\"https://resource-recycling.com/plastics/2021/11/17/terracycle-and-brands-settle-california-labeling-lawsuit/\">was sued in 2021\u003c/a> by a California environmental group, which accused it of making recyclability claims that were “deceptive to a reasonable consumer.” The company has since settled and agreed to provide additional documentation to support its claims.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Their markets were unstable, and they ended up stockpiling a whole bunch of stuff and telling people it was getting recycled when really they were just warehousing it,” Bourque said. “Where’s it going to go eventually? Either some low-grade market or the landfill, or maybe it’s getting exported someplace. So nobody really knows where it’s going.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Despite his skepticism, Bourque said it’s gratifying to see so many people interested in further reducing their waste footprint — even if they’re not necessarily willing to change their consumption habits.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It is encouraging that all of the work that we’ve done over the last 50 years to educate the public has created a community that is very committed to these values and willing to spend their hard-earned money to do the right thing,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘Zero-waste lifestyle’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Back in Alameda, Juan Lopez drove one of the company’s white vans through a residential neighborhood, pulling over every few blocks to pick up junk that customers had left in their boxes. A former Amazon driver, Lopez was hired at Ridwell right after it launched in the Bay Area and has since become the regional operations supervisor, helping to manage about 20 employees.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Right now, we’re averaging about 300 new members a week, which is almost like two routes a week getting added,” he said. “So, another two people we have to hire.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12026743\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12026743\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250131_Ridwell_DB_00246.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250131_Ridwell_DB_00246.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250131_Ridwell_DB_00246-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250131_Ridwell_DB_00246-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250131_Ridwell_DB_00246-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250131_Ridwell_DB_00246-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250131_Ridwell_DB_00246-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Juan Lopez, regional operations supervisor for Ridwell, makes a stop to collect recyclable materials from a home in Alameda on Jan. 31. \u003ccite>(David M. Barreda/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Lopez pulled up to a small bungalow on a quiet residential street and emptied the bin as a subscriber named Lianne Jones watched from the doorway.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I already was trying to live a zero-waste lifestyle, so this was just one extra tool for me to continue doing that,” said Jones, who signed up more than two years ago and now encourages her neighbors to drop off their stuff with her before her biweekly collection day. “It definitely has made me think more about, when I’m in the store, my decisions about what I’m purchasing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Asked if she’s achieved her zero-waste goal, Jones paused to consider.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I mean, you can’t live a zero-waste lifestyle. That’s kind of a misnomer,” she said. “But I’m doing everything that I can.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>Correction: The original version of this story mistakenly stated that the lawsuit against Terra\u003cbr>\nCycle was “last year.” In fact, it was in 2021.\u003c/i> \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "Ridwell, a pickup service aiming to recycle items that wouldn't be otherwise, has grown rapidly since coming to the Bay Area 3 years ago. Can such companies grow into viable businesses while fulfilling promises to divert junk from landfills?",
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"title": "This Earth Day, a Startup Promises to Recycle the Junk Your Curbside Service Won’t Take | KQED",
"description": "Ridwell, a pickup service aiming to recycle items that wouldn't be otherwise, has grown rapidly since coming to the Bay Area 3 years ago. Can such companies grow into viable businesses while fulfilling promises to divert junk from landfills?",
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"headline": "This Earth Day, a Startup Promises to Recycle the Junk Your Curbside Service Won’t Take",
"datePublished": "2025-04-22T10:17:18-07:00",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class=\"utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__dropcapShortcode__dropcap\">G\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>abrielle LeCompte has long been suspicious of her curbside recycling service.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I felt that I was throwing everything into the recycling bin,” she said. “And I didn’t feel like it was doing anything. I really felt like it’s not making a difference, like they’re going to throw it all in the landfill.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>LeCompte was particularly perplexed by the never-ending supply of plastic material that rapidly accumulated in her small Alameda home — the food wrappers, produce bags, Amazon packaging and other omnipresent detritus of modern life that most curbside services don’t accept.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“My biggest goal was to make the least amount of trash possible,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400;\">About a year ago, LeCompte signed up for a new subscription-based pickup service called Ridwell that now collects most of her used plastic packaging, old clothing, and other common household items that can’t go in the blue bin. The Seattle-based, venture capital-backed startup acts as a middleman, partnering with a bevy of nonprofits and manufacturers who use recycled materials that would otherwise end up in landfills. \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Before, I was making like one bag of trash every three or four weeks,” she said. “And now I’m making about one bag of trash every eight to nine weeks, maybe even less.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>LeCompte is among a small but growing army of eco-conscious, consumer-guilt-ridden Bay Area residents who, when it comes down to it, want to have their cake and recycle its packaging, too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12026746\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12026746\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250124_Ridwell_DB_00025_grid.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"2000\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250124_Ridwell_DB_00025_grid.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250124_Ridwell_DB_00025_grid-800x800.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250124_Ridwell_DB_00025_grid-1020x1020.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250124_Ridwell_DB_00025_grid-160x160.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250124_Ridwell_DB_00025_grid-1536x1536.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250124_Ridwell_DB_00025_grid-1920x1920.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Some of the items collected and sorted at the Ridwell processing plant in San Leandro. \u003ccite>(David M. Barreda/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Ridwell now operates in a swath of cities across the region — from Novato to San José — the company’s growth marked by a proliferation of its signature square-foot white metal collection containers outside customers’ front doors.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A basic subscription, for $14 a month, includes pickups every two weeks of plastic film, batteries, lightbulbs, old clothing and shoes, along with a revolving “featured category,” like art supplies, bottle caps and bread bag cinches.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For an additional $4, you can add in multilayer plastic material — the crinkly chip bags, candy wrappers and other stuff you can’t stick your fingers through. Additional tiers include even harder-to-recycle materials, like plastic foam and fluorescent light bulbs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re consumer-driven, right? [Companies] really influence us to buy, buy, buy,” LeCompte said. “But there’s no way to get rid of the stuff that we have. “So, for me, Ridwell is the easiest thing to do.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Launched in 2018, Ridwell is the brainchild of Ryan Metzger. The Seattle resident became increasingly frustrated with the inconvenience of tracking down responsible disposal options for dead batteries and other common household items, like paint, that you’re not supposed to toss in the trash but can’t put in the blue bin. He started a small “recycling carpool,” taking his 6-year-old son along on rides to collect items from neighbors and deliver them to local disposal sites.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As more neighbors signed up, entrepreneurship took root.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ridwell is \u003ca href=\"https://www.rabbitrecycling.com/\">among a small cadre\u003c/a> of recently launched pickup companies around the country that have identified a burgeoning market among consumers who seek to generate less waste without necessarily changing their consumption habits — and who feel increasingly hindered by the limitations of their municipal recycling programs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The new services come amid growing public awareness about \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11901288/you-cant-recycle-your-way-out-californias-plastic-problem-and-what-to-do-about-it\">how relatively few things — especially plastic — actually get recycled\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>But it remains to be seen whether a company like Ridwell, which has yet to turn a profit, can ultimately become a viable business model in the competitive world of waste management while also continuing to fulfill its promise to divert an ever-expanding volume of crap out of landfills.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Junk matchmaker\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Ridwell now has more than 110,000 members in the eight metropolitan areas it operates in — including Seattle, Atlanta, Austin, Minneapolis, Los Angeles, Denver and Portland. The Bay Area has quickly become one of its fastest-growing markets. Since launching here in 2022 — starting first in the city of Alameda — nearly 15,000 households have signed up, and more than 1.5 million pounds of waste have so far been diverted from local landfills, the company said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This service “is for busy people who want to feel better about where their stuff goes,” said Gerrine Pan, Ridwell’s vice president of partnerships, who calls herself a “serial entrepreneur-turned-climate enthusiast.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12026740\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12026740\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250124_RIDWELL_DB_00815-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250124_RIDWELL_DB_00815-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250124_RIDWELL_DB_00815-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250124_RIDWELL_DB_00815-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250124_RIDWELL_DB_00815-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250124_RIDWELL_DB_00815-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250124_RIDWELL_DB_00815-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Joan Maravilla carries sorted plastics at the Ridwell processing plant in San Leandro. \u003ccite>(David M. Barreda/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Pan is a matchmaker of sorts. It’s her job to find homes for the multitude of disparate junk that arrives every day at Ridwell’s regional warehouse in San Leandro.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Everything is trucked here. We’re probably on the brink of needing to find another facility or looking for more space,” Pan said, gesturing toward barrels of old batteries, a giant crate of plastic foam blocks, and a 15-foot-tall hill of bags, each packed with plastic film.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The warehouse is surprisingly quiet: no conveyor belts or other major machinery you’d find in a recycling facility — just a small crew of workers sifting through materials by hand.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is a place where we are consolidating so that we can make efficient loads out the door,” Pan said, noting that Ridwell doesn’t actually do any of the recycling itself.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12026737\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12026737\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250124_RIDWELL_DB_00484-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250124_RIDWELL_DB_00484-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250124_RIDWELL_DB_00484-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250124_RIDWELL_DB_00484-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250124_RIDWELL_DB_00484-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250124_RIDWELL_DB_00484-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250124_RIDWELL_DB_00484-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Joseph Barboza (left) and Juan Alvarado, sort plastics at the Ridwell processing plant in San Leandro. \u003ccite>(David M. Barreda/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“We identify and vet recyclers or reuse partners who are able to use those materials to the best of their ability,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ridwell’s website \u003ca href=\"https://www.ridwell.com/transparency\">lists the manufacturers it works with, all based in North America\u003c/a>, including ones that make new decking material from the plastic film (polyethylene) or picture frames from the plastic foam.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ridwell also partners with several local recyclers who extract metal and chemicals from the dead batteries, strip Christmas lights for their wiring and recycle the glass and mercury from the lightbulbs. It even collected political yard signs in December, shipping some to a plastics company in Canada that melted them down into post-consumer resin for new products, Pan said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>A tsunami of plastic\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>But finding — and retaining — those partners can be a difficult proposition, given the tsunami of plastic waste. Despite the familiar chasing arrows symbol printed on most containers, not all plastic is created equal, and only a tiny percentage actually gets recycled.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A recent U.S. Department of Energy study found that Americans \u003ca href=\"https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2022/04/28/2431659/0/en/NREL-Calculates-Lost-Value-of-Landfilled-Plastic-in-U-S.html\">generated an estimated 44 million tons of plastic waste\u003c/a> in 2019 alone, of which just 5% was recycled — with most of the rest dumped in our ever-growing landfills.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even in California — which in 2014 became the first state to ban single-use plastic grocery bags and this year is beginning a\u003ca href=\"https://www.latimes.com/environment/story/2022-06-30/california-new-law-phase-out-single-use-plastics-containers\"> broader phaseout of single-use plastics\u003c/a> — about 5.4 million tons of plastic waste was dumped in landfills in 2021, according to the most recent \u003ca href=\"https://www2.calrecycle.ca.gov/Publications/Details/1738\">statewide disposal data\u003c/a>. That means Californians toss about \u003ca href=\"https://calrecycle.ca.gov/packaging/packaging-epr/\">290 Olympic swimming pools\u003c/a> worth of plastic every day.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The ‘wishcycling’ is substantial,” said Pan, referring to the common habit of indiscriminately tossing various types of plastic into the blue bin, most of which gets filtered out and winds up in the garbage. And that’s because it’s generally \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2022/10/24/1131131088/recycling-plastic-is-practically-impossible-and-the-problem-is-getting-worse\">far more expensive for manufacturers to recycle\u003c/a> most kinds of plastic than it is for them to just make more of it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12027813\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12027813\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250124_Ridwell_DB_01232_qed.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250124_Ridwell_DB_01232_qed.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250124_Ridwell_DB_01232_qed-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250124_Ridwell_DB_01232_qed-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250124_Ridwell_DB_01232_qed-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250124_Ridwell_DB_01232_qed-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250124_Ridwell_DB_01232_qed-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Joan Maravilla sorts plastics at Ridwell’s processing plant in San Leandro. \u003ccite>(David M. Barreda/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Ridwell actually pays most of its partners to take the plastic off its hands.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The supply-demand balance of this is just off. You couldn’t get paid for that,” she said. “We are fighting for our share of capacity with all these partners.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Equally challenging is the constant search for reuse partners, Pan added, pointing to a section of the warehouse packed with overflowing boxes of clothing and a random array of household items, including an entire crate of cosmetics and a pallet of three-month-old Halloween candy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If it looks overwhelming, that’s because it is,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ridwell partners with local nonprofits, including food pantries and thrift stores, that accept items when they can. But that exchange isn’t always steady or predictable, and stuff — like the stale Halloween candy — often ends up piling up here for months, taking up scarce, very costly space.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They have been sitting here since November,” Pan said, pointing to a crate of baking tins. “And they will continue to sit here until we have another collection of home kitchen items and we have more partners who might raise their hand.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>A trash disruptor\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>While Ridwell sees itself as filling a major waste management gap, it has also — in true startup fashion — run afoul of more traditional trash collection services. Soon after launching in Portland in 2021, for instance, \u003ca href=\"https://www.wweek.com/news/2021/12/01/whos-afraid-of-a-ridwell-box/\">some businesses complained to the city\u003c/a>, arguing Ridwell was skirting the many regulations and accountability measures that long-established haulers were required to follow to retain their city contracts. And several smaller neighboring cities even ordered the company to halt operations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For its part, Ridwell insisted it’s designed to complement the curbside service, not overlap with it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Our relationship with waste management companies can vary,” Pan said, noting that some recognize the service as a net benefit. “But in some areas, there is sometimes conflict and concern where people don’t quite understand what we’re trying to do. In reality, we are trying to take a lot of things out of the system that they do not want in the system.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some industry insiders also question the viability of Ridwell’s business model. The company is still very much dependent on its VC funding and has yet to turn a profit — although Pan insisted they are “right on the cusp.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12026745\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12026745\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250124_Ridwell_DB_00067_duo.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"660\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250124_Ridwell_DB_00067_duo.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250124_Ridwell_DB_00067_duo-800x264.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250124_Ridwell_DB_00067_duo-1020x337.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250124_Ridwell_DB_00067_duo-160x53.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250124_Ridwell_DB_00067_duo-1536x507.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250124_Ridwell_DB_00067_duo-1920x634.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Left: Latoya Grant, a driver-flex, sorts mixed and clear plastics at the Ridwell processing plant in San Leandro. Right: Mike Coggins sorts reusable bags at the Ridwell plant. \u003ccite>(David M. Barreda/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I don’t think there’s a competition issue,” said Martin Bourque, executive director of The Ecology Center, a Berkeley nonprofit that launched the nation’s first curbside recycling program more than 50 years ago and continues to collect for the city. “There is sort of this disruptive venture capitalist, tech component to it that feels a little like the new Uber or something.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Startups like Uber and Lyft, he noted, offered artificially low rates when they first launched because their goal was to get into the market and disrupt the highly regulated taxi industry. But eventually, ride rates shot up as the companies became subject to more regulations and pressure to make profits.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Ridwell is sort of at the very early phase of that,” Bourque said, arguing that its current subscription rates seem unrealistically low, given the shakiness of the recycling market.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“As they start to be required by cities to have a franchise agreement and pay for use of roads and access to customers, will that model pencil out?” he said. “I think it’s an interesting experiment, but let’s see how it unfolds. Because when push comes to shove, investors want a return on their investment, and that can lead to bad decisions for the environmental community.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12026744\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12026744\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250124_Ridwell_DB_00722.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250124_Ridwell_DB_00722.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250124_Ridwell_DB_00722-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250124_Ridwell_DB_00722-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250124_Ridwell_DB_00722-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250124_Ridwell_DB_00722-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250124_Ridwell_DB_00722-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Juan Alvarado sorts plastics at the Ridwell processing plant. \u003ccite>(David M. Barreda/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Bourque pointed to TerraCycle, a similar service, as a cautionary tale. The New Jersey-based company, which operates a nationwide custom mail-in recycling program, \u003ca href=\"https://resource-recycling.com/plastics/2021/11/17/terracycle-and-brands-settle-california-labeling-lawsuit/\">was sued in 2021\u003c/a> by a California environmental group, which accused it of making recyclability claims that were “deceptive to a reasonable consumer.” The company has since settled and agreed to provide additional documentation to support its claims.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Their markets were unstable, and they ended up stockpiling a whole bunch of stuff and telling people it was getting recycled when really they were just warehousing it,” Bourque said. “Where’s it going to go eventually? Either some low-grade market or the landfill, or maybe it’s getting exported someplace. So nobody really knows where it’s going.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Despite his skepticism, Bourque said it’s gratifying to see so many people interested in further reducing their waste footprint — even if they’re not necessarily willing to change their consumption habits.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It is encouraging that all of the work that we’ve done over the last 50 years to educate the public has created a community that is very committed to these values and willing to spend their hard-earned money to do the right thing,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘Zero-waste lifestyle’\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Back in Alameda, Juan Lopez drove one of the company’s white vans through a residential neighborhood, pulling over every few blocks to pick up junk that customers had left in their boxes. A former Amazon driver, Lopez was hired at Ridwell right after it launched in the Bay Area and has since become the regional operations supervisor, helping to manage about 20 employees.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Right now, we’re averaging about 300 new members a week, which is almost like two routes a week getting added,” he said. “So, another two people we have to hire.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12026743\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12026743\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250131_Ridwell_DB_00246.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250131_Ridwell_DB_00246.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250131_Ridwell_DB_00246-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250131_Ridwell_DB_00246-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250131_Ridwell_DB_00246-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250131_Ridwell_DB_00246-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2025/02/20250131_Ridwell_DB_00246-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Juan Lopez, regional operations supervisor for Ridwell, makes a stop to collect recyclable materials from a home in Alameda on Jan. 31. \u003ccite>(David M. Barreda/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Lopez pulled up to a small bungalow on a quiet residential street and emptied the bin as a subscriber named Lianne Jones watched from the doorway.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I already was trying to live a zero-waste lifestyle, so this was just one extra tool for me to continue doing that,” said Jones, who signed up more than two years ago and now encourages her neighbors to drop off their stuff with her before her biweekly collection day. “It definitely has made me think more about, when I’m in the store, my decisions about what I’m purchasing.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Asked if she’s achieved her zero-waste goal, Jones paused to consider.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I mean, you can’t live a zero-waste lifestyle. That’s kind of a misnomer,” she said. “But I’m doing everything that I can.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>Correction: The original version of this story mistakenly stated that the lawsuit against Terra\u003cbr>\nCycle was “last year.” In fact, it was in 2021.\u003c/i> \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>It’s a disturbing thought: At this very moment, tiny crumbs of plastic are trickling through our bodies, a parade of unwelcome houseguests ready to take up residence in some tissue or organ.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A wave of new studies has come out recently, and each one seems to paint an ever more vivid picture of how microplastics — and their smaller counterparts, nanoplastics — have infiltrated the \u003ca href=\"https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11342020/\">deepest corners\u003c/a> of our anatomy. The \u003ca href=\"https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35364151/\">lungs\u003c/a>, liver and \u003ca href=\"https://pubs.acs.org/doi/epdf/10.1021/acs.est.2c07179\">heart\u003c/a>, guts and \u003ca href=\"https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11406405/\">brain\u003c/a>, even the \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2024/05/22/1252831827/microplastics-testicles-humans-health\">testicles\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://hsc.unm.edu/news/2024/02/hsc-newsroom-post-microplastics.html\">placenta\u003c/a> — nothing seems to be spared.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The outpouring of research has brought enormous visibility to how these fragments permeate our daily lives. Long studied in oceans, waterways and marine life, researchers have now shifted focus to human health.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A decade ago, \u003ca href=\"https://momentummicroplastics.nl/about-us/participants/heather-leslie/\">Heather Leslie\u003c/a> could scarcely find anyone to fund her work in this area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It seemed like nobody wanted to touch it,” says Leslie, a microplastics researcher in the Netherlands whose team was the \u003ca href=\"https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35367073/\">first to detect these particles\u003c/a> in the human bloodstream several years ago.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the work has gained momentum, so have questions about the damage microplastics could be doing inside of us. Researchers tend to be wary about making pronouncements because the field is still in a “pioneering phase,” as Leslie put it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And yet there are \u003ca href=\"https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adl2746\">undoubtedly concerns\u003c/a>. Some of the strongest evidence comes from lab studies using animals as well as what’s already known about the damaging effects of chemicals added to plastics. A review of the \u003ca href=\"https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.est.3c09524\">data published\u003c/a> Wednesday concludes that microplastics are “suspected” to harm human reproductive, digestive and respiratory health, with a possible link to colon and lung cancer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is a signal that we should be acting now,” says \u003ca href=\"https://profiles.ucsf.edu/tracey.woodruff\">Tracey Woodruff\u003c/a>, a senior author on the study who directs the Program on Reproductive Health & the Environment at the University of California, San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://agsci.oregonstate.edu/users/susanne-brander\">Susanne Brander\u003c/a>, an ecotoxicologist at Oregon State University, says it’s not helpful to “elicit a gigantic state of alarm,” but she agrees that we already know enough about the health risks to push for substantive changes, including \u003ca href=\"https://environment.ec.europa.eu/news/eu-regrets-inconclusive-global-plastics-treaty-2024-12-02_en#:~:text=EU%20regrets%20lack%20of%20conclusion,failed%20to%20reach%20an%20agreement.&text=The%20EU%20regrets%20that%20the,yesterday%20in%20Busan%2C%20South%20Korea.\">a global agreement\u003c/a> to curb the rising production of plastics.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As they push to solve the puzzle of microplastics, here are six questions scientists are trying to answer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12019242\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1600px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12019242\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/npr.brightspotcdn_4-copy.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1600\" height=\"1067\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/npr.brightspotcdn_4-copy.jpg 1600w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/npr.brightspotcdn_4-copy-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/npr.brightspotcdn_4-copy-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/npr.brightspotcdn_4-copy-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/npr.brightspotcdn_4-copy-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Scraps of plastic trash have inundated the oceans and waterways. \u003ccite>(Olivier Morin/AFP/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>1. Which microplastics are actually in our bodies?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Our soil, drinking water and food supply, the air we breathe, all carry microplastics, \u003ca href=\"https://www.epa.gov/water-research/microplastics-research\">defined as\u003c/a> any plastic particle as small as 1 nanometer and as large as 5 millimeters. Some have built up in the environment over many years, while others arrive daily, as they shed from tires, our clothing, food packaging, personal care products and more.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Plastics are probably one of the largest exposures we experience as humans and it’s been ongoing most of our lives and our parents’ lives,” says \u003ca href=\"https://sph.emory.edu/faculty/profile/index.php?FID=douglas-walker-12628\">Douglas Walker\u003c/a>, a professor of environmental health at Emory University, Rollins School of Public Health.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These particles are endlessly varied, making them challenging to study. Their size and shape, the type of polymer and the chemical makeup can all have consequences for how they accumulate in our bodies and the potential health effects.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even one microplastic represents an “analytical nightmare,” says Leslie. “So it’s really hard to make statements over such a broad range of contaminants.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Walker says scientists are still sorting out how to accurately measure microplastics in humans.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The particles that tend to be studied in lab experiments often don’t reflect the weathered debris that ends up inside us; labs use a variety of approaches, making it hard to tie together the findings from different studies; and despite advances in technology, detecting the tiniest pieces remains technically difficult.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I would imagine we’re underestimating nanoplastics across the board, including in human tissues,” says Brander.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://hsc.unm.edu/directory/campen-matthew-j.html\">Matthew Campen\u003c/a>, whose team has found plastic in a variety of organs, says these can resemble “shard-like, stabby things,” which, in some cases, \u003ca href=\"https://www.ciel.org/breathing-plastic-the-health-impacts-of-invisible-plastics-in-the-air/\">are smaller than a virus\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You realize, wait a minute, you could fit a lot of these inside even a single cell,” says Campen, who researches environmental health and toxicology at the University of New Mexico.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Scientists can isolate microplastics, pull them out of human tissue and take pictures, but seeing where they are inside the body remains a real “struggle,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Despite all the caveats, Campen says the new studies showing microplastics in tissue should be viewed as “linchpins” that will push the field forward. “We need an all-hands-on-deck approach,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>2. Once inside of us, do they ever leave?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Imagine being transported to a plastic-free paradise.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>How long do you suppose it would take for all those tiny shards to exit your system? Would they ever?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This thought experiment can’t be replicated in the real world, since plastic pollution is so ubiquitous.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In essence, Leslie says all of us are being “microdosed” with microplastics around the clock, so there’s no way to systematically track how much is coming and going. Even if our bodies are doing an admirable job at clearing out this debris, the constant exposure could make it look like a losing battle.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Research finds microplastics in our stool and urine. And \u003ca href=\"https://scholar.google.pt/citations?user=tSX0Bi8AAAAJ&hl=en\">Joana Prata\u003c/a> says her review of animal data suggests that, in principle, most of what we ingest or inhale will leave the body during a trip to the bathroom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Only a small portion gets absorbed,” says Prata, an auxiliary professor at the University Institute of Health Sciences — CESPU in Portugal. “There’s still a lot of uncertainty,” because the evidence doesn’t necessarily reflect the complexities of real-world microplastics.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Campen says you don’t see a correlation between age and the concentration of microplastics in human tissue. In other words, it doesn’t appear to endlessly accumulate inside us. It’s possible that our bodies may reach some sort of “equilibrium” based on how much is around us.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We don’t have enough data,” he says, “but [our work] suggests there’s a very rapid time to saturation — you do hit a limit and eventually you’re clearing it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A \u003ca href=\"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0048969723034630?via%3Dihub\">study of Zebrafish\u003c/a> (sometimes used in biomedical research) found the uptake of microplastics did plateau at a certain point and levels decreased when the animals weren’t being exposed. The problem is the saturation point went up proportionally to how much the animals were exposed to, says Campen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That’s basically where we are right now,” says Campen. “Our environmental exposure keeps going up because we’re doing nothing to stop it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12019245\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1600px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12019245\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/npr.brightspotcdn_3-copy.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1600\" height=\"1058\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/npr.brightspotcdn_3-copy.jpg 1600w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/npr.brightspotcdn_3-copy-800x529.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/npr.brightspotcdn_3-copy-1020x674.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/npr.brightspotcdn_3-copy-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/npr.brightspotcdn_3-copy-1536x1016.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Examples of plastic trash found on the shore of the Thames Estuary in 2018 in Rainham, Kent. Once in the environment, plastic gradually degrades into smaller and smaller microplastics, which can find their way into the food chain and the air we breathe. \u003ccite>(Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>3. What do microplastics do once they get inside our bodies?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Instead of passing through us, some particles move across the thin membrane lining our gut and eventually find their way into the bloodstream.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Size makes a big difference here, Prata says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The larger particle will be less likely to cross the biological barrier, but we cannot say that it will never cross,” she says. “You can just say it’s less probable. ”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Brander says there’s still debate about the exact size cutoff, in part because that can also depend on the shape of the particle. For example, a long skinny microfiber might be able to sneak through the barrier in our gut more easily than other pieces.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Airborne plastics — particularly common indoors — can also be inhaled. Larger particles are expected to be filtered out to some extent, perhaps snagged in our nose or coughed up. Only the most “ultrafine” pieces will reach the deepest parts of the lungs where they can enter the circulatory system, says Leslie.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Once absorbed into our bloodstream, microplastics and nanoplastics tend to be quickly coated in proteins and fats, creating a corona, or crown-like appearance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“And then it’s essentially going on a trip around your body,” Leslie says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Their exact itinerary remains unclear. But Brander says research on animals has long shown that microplastics can move all over. The same is probably true for humans.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These foreign travelers seem to find a home in many organs, as well as bodily fluids like \u003ca href=\"https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4360/14/13/2700\">breast milk\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38802004/\">semen\u003c/a>. They can \u003ca href=\"https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10141840/\">even cross\u003c/a> the blood-brain barrier.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s very unlikely that they’re actually metabolized into anything because these are solid particles,” says Walker. “So they would be difficult to break down.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Our immune system \u003ca href=\"https://vimeo.com/490794220\">can’t dispatch\u003c/a> these bits of plastic as it would other foreign invaders like bacteria. Immune cells, known as macrophages, will release enzymes that do their best to attack these particles, but the “plastic doesn’t mind at all,” says Leslie. “It remains intact and becomes like a stubborn opponent for your immune system.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Whether microplastics pile up in certain organs more than others remains a big unknown.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Campen and his team suspect the liver is on the “frontline,” doing its best to deal with this debris and push it back into the gut with digestive fluids. Their hypothesis is that smaller plastics like nanoplastics slip through the cracks and are repackaged with fats and circulated throughout the body.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This \u003cem>could\u003c/em> mean that microplastics build up in organs with greater energy needs, such as the brain, where Campen’s \u003ca href=\"https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38765967/\">lab has documented\u003c/a> higher concentrations than in other organs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12019246\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1600px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12019246\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/npr.brightspotcdn_2-copy.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1600\" height=\"1067\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/npr.brightspotcdn_2-copy.jpg 1600w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/npr.brightspotcdn_2-copy-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/npr.brightspotcdn_2-copy-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/npr.brightspotcdn_2-copy-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/npr.brightspotcdn_2-copy-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Plastic trash gradually degrades into tiny particles that spread around the environment and ultimately into human bodies. \u003ccite>(Alistair Berg/Digital Vision/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>4. Are they harming us?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Scientists don’t have definitive answers yet.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Humans encounter many pollutants over our lifetime. And given that researchers are still sorting out the best models for analyzing microplastics, many are cautious not to get ahead of the data.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, several recent studies have raised troubling warning signs. They’ve shown associations — not a direct causal link — between the accumulation of microplastics and health problems in humans.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One that gained attention \u003ca href=\"https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2309822\">earlier this year came\u003c/a> from Italian researchers who found that people with microplastics in the plaques in their arteries were more likely to have a heart attack, stroke or to die. Some small studies have found higher levels in people with \u003ca href=\"https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34935363/\">inflammatory bowel disease\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35835713/\">liver disease\u003c/a>. The review published this week from UCSF also included observational research linking microplastics to reproductive health and chronic sinusitis.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Most of the concern comes from lab studies involving animals or cell lines — scientists observed toxic effects of microplastics on the cellular and molecular levels. The “next puzzle piece” is now to figure out how this research translates to health outcomes for an individual or a whole population, says Leslie.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Brander points to evidence that microplastics \u003ca href=\"https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11117644/\">lead to oxidative stress,\u003c/a> which can damage proteins and genetic materials, and \u003ca href=\"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2405665024000702\">spark inflammation\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If that’s happening in fish and in rodents in experiments that are being peer-reviewed and published, it’s probably happening in us too,” says Brander. “We just haven’t demonstrated it yet.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This body of research suggests fertility problems, \u003ca href=\"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0304389424006332\">neurological diseases\u003c/a>, harms to metabolism and the immune system, and changes that signal increased risk of cancer, among other effects.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“These are potential effects because of the mechanisms we know about,” says Prata.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You can only extrapolate so much from these studies. For example, the doses given to animals in a lab may be much larger than what humans are ingesting and may not reflect the “wild” microplastics we encounter in our daily lives.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the absence of clear data, Leslie says it can be tempting to make microplastics the “culprit for every disease.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’d like to get to the truth of the matter,” she says. “I have the feeling that sometimes we might be blaming plastics for things that they shouldn’t be blamed for.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the UCSF analysis, the suggested link with cancer was mostly based on animal research, but Woodruff says this is “standard” for identifying cancer risks and can still be considered high-quality evidence. “In the field of environmental health, when we have concerning signals, we should be concerned.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12019247\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1600px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12019247\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/npr.brightspotcdn-1-copy.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1600\" height=\"1067\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/npr.brightspotcdn-1-copy.jpg 1600w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/npr.brightspotcdn-1-copy-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/npr.brightspotcdn-1-copy-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/npr.brightspotcdn-1-copy-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/npr.brightspotcdn-1-copy-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Plastics and micro plastics of different shapes and colors are laid on the fine sand of the Grand Crohot beach in Lege-Cap-Ferret in New Aquitaine in France on April 29, 2019. \u003ccite>(Vincent Feuray/Hans Lucas/Hans Lucas via AFP)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>5. What about the chemicals in plastics — are they hazardous?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Chemicals added to plastics represent another threat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some of these can mess with hormones, affect reproductive health, increase the \u003ca href=\"https://www.epa.gov/pfas/our-current-understanding-human-health-and-environmental-risks-pfas\">risk of some cancers\u003c/a> and cause \u003ca href=\"https://environment.ec.europa.eu/news/exposure-chemicals-plastic-and-other-sources-possible-causal-factor-obesity-2022-11-30_en\">metabolic problems\u003c/a> like obesity, among other things.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Phthalates and bisphenol A, or BPA, are two of the most well-studied examples.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>PFAS, also known as “forever chemicals,” are \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2024/04/10/1243775736/epa-pfas-forever-chemicals-drinking-water-limits\">also gaining attention\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But in reality, Brander says there are more than 16,000 \u003ca href=\"https://ikhapp.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/SCEPT_Policy_Brief_chemicals_polymers_of_concern_en.pdf\">chemicals used or found in plastics\u003c/a>, about a quarter of which are known to be “hazardous” and many of the others are not well studied.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s s\u003cem>ubstantial\u003c/em> evidence that many of these chemicals cause disease,” says Brander.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Scientists worry microplastics could potentially act as “as long-term sources of plastic-related chemicals in your body,” says Walker.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Despite the uncertainties, Brander believes there’s enough evidence to take collective action to limit our exposure to microplastics, both in our lives and on a policy level.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12019248\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1600px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12019248\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/npr.brightspotcdn-copy.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1600\" height=\"1067\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/npr.brightspotcdn-copy.jpg 1600w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Scientists say we can reduce our exposure to microplastics to some extent by avoiding single-use plastic and plastic food packaging, among other measures. \u003ccite>(Peter Dazeley/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>6. How can we reduce our exposure to microplastics?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Scientists are still investigating the biggest sources of microplastics in our daily lives.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ideally, the task of reducing your exposure shouldn’t fall entirely on the individual. But the fact is policy changes — such as a \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2024/12/03/nx-s1-5214556/more-than-150-countries-failed-to-agree-on-a-plan-to-cut-plastic-pollution\">global plastics treaty\u003c/a> — aren’t going to happen overnight.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So here’s how you can get started in reducing your own exposure: Eliminate single-use plastic as much as you can, and \u003ca href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-solutions/2024/12/01/single-use-plastics-reuse-risk/\">don’t reuse these items\u003c/a>. Cut back on foods that come in plastic packaging or cans that have plastic linings. \u003ca href=\"https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11356-023-25433-7\">Aim for shorter\u003c/a> dishwasher cycles, with fewer plastic items.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Never cook your food in plastic,” says Brander. “The heat will drive those particles and more of those chemicals into your food.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sadly, this applies to your to-go cup of coffee, which is often lined with polyethylene. When possible, buy cleaning products, both for your household and hygiene, that don’t come in plastic containers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Consider investing in a \u003ca href=\"https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10054062/\">filter for tap water\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Our clothing can also shed a lot of microplastics, which is why Leslie tries to wear fabrics like wool and linen. When you have a choice, avoid synthetic materials in your rugs and furniture, too. Dust can carry microplastics, which you may breathe in. \u003ca href=\"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S026974912201171X?via%3Dihub\">Research suggests\u003c/a> vacuuming can help limit what’s in your house.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The concentration of these particles \u003ca href=\"https://www.nature.com/articles/s41370-023-00634-x\">indoors is greater\u003c/a> than outdoors, so try to keep windows open and improve ventilation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Leslie’s philosophy? There’s only so much you can control, so “don’t feel guilty” about using plastics — just try to limit your use when possible.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You can just experiment with saying no to what you don’t want,” she says. “The resistance to plastic pollution is in our noncompliance. I’m going to keep on doing just that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "Plastic particles are found in our organs, blood and even semen. But do they stay in us forever? What damage are they doing? Here are the questions scientists are working to answer.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>It’s a disturbing thought: At this very moment, tiny crumbs of plastic are trickling through our bodies, a parade of unwelcome houseguests ready to take up residence in some tissue or organ.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A wave of new studies has come out recently, and each one seems to paint an ever more vivid picture of how microplastics — and their smaller counterparts, nanoplastics — have infiltrated the \u003ca href=\"https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11342020/\">deepest corners\u003c/a> of our anatomy. The \u003ca href=\"https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35364151/\">lungs\u003c/a>, liver and \u003ca href=\"https://pubs.acs.org/doi/epdf/10.1021/acs.est.2c07179\">heart\u003c/a>, guts and \u003ca href=\"https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11406405/\">brain\u003c/a>, even the \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2024/05/22/1252831827/microplastics-testicles-humans-health\">testicles\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://hsc.unm.edu/news/2024/02/hsc-newsroom-post-microplastics.html\">placenta\u003c/a> — nothing seems to be spared.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The outpouring of research has brought enormous visibility to how these fragments permeate our daily lives. Long studied in oceans, waterways and marine life, researchers have now shifted focus to human health.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A decade ago, \u003ca href=\"https://momentummicroplastics.nl/about-us/participants/heather-leslie/\">Heather Leslie\u003c/a> could scarcely find anyone to fund her work in this area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It seemed like nobody wanted to touch it,” says Leslie, a microplastics researcher in the Netherlands whose team was the \u003ca href=\"https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35367073/\">first to detect these particles\u003c/a> in the human bloodstream several years ago.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As the work has gained momentum, so have questions about the damage microplastics could be doing inside of us. Researchers tend to be wary about making pronouncements because the field is still in a “pioneering phase,” as Leslie put it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And yet there are \u003ca href=\"https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adl2746\">undoubtedly concerns\u003c/a>. Some of the strongest evidence comes from lab studies using animals as well as what’s already known about the damaging effects of chemicals added to plastics. A review of the \u003ca href=\"https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.est.3c09524\">data published\u003c/a> Wednesday concludes that microplastics are “suspected” to harm human reproductive, digestive and respiratory health, with a possible link to colon and lung cancer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is a signal that we should be acting now,” says \u003ca href=\"https://profiles.ucsf.edu/tracey.woodruff\">Tracey Woodruff\u003c/a>, a senior author on the study who directs the Program on Reproductive Health & the Environment at the University of California, San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://agsci.oregonstate.edu/users/susanne-brander\">Susanne Brander\u003c/a>, an ecotoxicologist at Oregon State University, says it’s not helpful to “elicit a gigantic state of alarm,” but she agrees that we already know enough about the health risks to push for substantive changes, including \u003ca href=\"https://environment.ec.europa.eu/news/eu-regrets-inconclusive-global-plastics-treaty-2024-12-02_en#:~:text=EU%20regrets%20lack%20of%20conclusion,failed%20to%20reach%20an%20agreement.&text=The%20EU%20regrets%20that%20the,yesterday%20in%20Busan%2C%20South%20Korea.\">a global agreement\u003c/a> to curb the rising production of plastics.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As they push to solve the puzzle of microplastics, here are six questions scientists are trying to answer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12019242\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1600px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12019242\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/npr.brightspotcdn_4-copy.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1600\" height=\"1067\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/npr.brightspotcdn_4-copy.jpg 1600w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/npr.brightspotcdn_4-copy-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/npr.brightspotcdn_4-copy-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/npr.brightspotcdn_4-copy-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/npr.brightspotcdn_4-copy-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Scraps of plastic trash have inundated the oceans and waterways. \u003ccite>(Olivier Morin/AFP/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>1. Which microplastics are actually in our bodies?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Our soil, drinking water and food supply, the air we breathe, all carry microplastics, \u003ca href=\"https://www.epa.gov/water-research/microplastics-research\">defined as\u003c/a> any plastic particle as small as 1 nanometer and as large as 5 millimeters. Some have built up in the environment over many years, while others arrive daily, as they shed from tires, our clothing, food packaging, personal care products and more.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Plastics are probably one of the largest exposures we experience as humans and it’s been ongoing most of our lives and our parents’ lives,” says \u003ca href=\"https://sph.emory.edu/faculty/profile/index.php?FID=douglas-walker-12628\">Douglas Walker\u003c/a>, a professor of environmental health at Emory University, Rollins School of Public Health.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These particles are endlessly varied, making them challenging to study. Their size and shape, the type of polymer and the chemical makeup can all have consequences for how they accumulate in our bodies and the potential health effects.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even one microplastic represents an “analytical nightmare,” says Leslie. “So it’s really hard to make statements over such a broad range of contaminants.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Walker says scientists are still sorting out how to accurately measure microplastics in humans.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The particles that tend to be studied in lab experiments often don’t reflect the weathered debris that ends up inside us; labs use a variety of approaches, making it hard to tie together the findings from different studies; and despite advances in technology, detecting the tiniest pieces remains technically difficult.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I would imagine we’re underestimating nanoplastics across the board, including in human tissues,” says Brander.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://hsc.unm.edu/directory/campen-matthew-j.html\">Matthew Campen\u003c/a>, whose team has found plastic in a variety of organs, says these can resemble “shard-like, stabby things,” which, in some cases, \u003ca href=\"https://www.ciel.org/breathing-plastic-the-health-impacts-of-invisible-plastics-in-the-air/\">are smaller than a virus\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You realize, wait a minute, you could fit a lot of these inside even a single cell,” says Campen, who researches environmental health and toxicology at the University of New Mexico.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Scientists can isolate microplastics, pull them out of human tissue and take pictures, but seeing where they are inside the body remains a real “struggle,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Despite all the caveats, Campen says the new studies showing microplastics in tissue should be viewed as “linchpins” that will push the field forward. “We need an all-hands-on-deck approach,” he says.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>2. Once inside of us, do they ever leave?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Imagine being transported to a plastic-free paradise.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>How long do you suppose it would take for all those tiny shards to exit your system? Would they ever?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This thought experiment can’t be replicated in the real world, since plastic pollution is so ubiquitous.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In essence, Leslie says all of us are being “microdosed” with microplastics around the clock, so there’s no way to systematically track how much is coming and going. Even if our bodies are doing an admirable job at clearing out this debris, the constant exposure could make it look like a losing battle.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Research finds microplastics in our stool and urine. And \u003ca href=\"https://scholar.google.pt/citations?user=tSX0Bi8AAAAJ&hl=en\">Joana Prata\u003c/a> says her review of animal data suggests that, in principle, most of what we ingest or inhale will leave the body during a trip to the bathroom.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Only a small portion gets absorbed,” says Prata, an auxiliary professor at the University Institute of Health Sciences — CESPU in Portugal. “There’s still a lot of uncertainty,” because the evidence doesn’t necessarily reflect the complexities of real-world microplastics.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Campen says you don’t see a correlation between age and the concentration of microplastics in human tissue. In other words, it doesn’t appear to endlessly accumulate inside us. It’s possible that our bodies may reach some sort of “equilibrium” based on how much is around us.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We don’t have enough data,” he says, “but [our work] suggests there’s a very rapid time to saturation — you do hit a limit and eventually you’re clearing it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A \u003ca href=\"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0048969723034630?via%3Dihub\">study of Zebrafish\u003c/a> (sometimes used in biomedical research) found the uptake of microplastics did plateau at a certain point and levels decreased when the animals weren’t being exposed. The problem is the saturation point went up proportionally to how much the animals were exposed to, says Campen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That’s basically where we are right now,” says Campen. “Our environmental exposure keeps going up because we’re doing nothing to stop it.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12019245\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1600px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12019245\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/npr.brightspotcdn_3-copy.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1600\" height=\"1058\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/npr.brightspotcdn_3-copy.jpg 1600w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/npr.brightspotcdn_3-copy-800x529.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/npr.brightspotcdn_3-copy-1020x674.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/npr.brightspotcdn_3-copy-160x106.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/npr.brightspotcdn_3-copy-1536x1016.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Examples of plastic trash found on the shore of the Thames Estuary in 2018 in Rainham, Kent. Once in the environment, plastic gradually degrades into smaller and smaller microplastics, which can find their way into the food chain and the air we breathe. \u003ccite>(Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>3. What do microplastics do once they get inside our bodies?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Instead of passing through us, some particles move across the thin membrane lining our gut and eventually find their way into the bloodstream.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Size makes a big difference here, Prata says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The larger particle will be less likely to cross the biological barrier, but we cannot say that it will never cross,” she says. “You can just say it’s less probable. ”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Brander says there’s still debate about the exact size cutoff, in part because that can also depend on the shape of the particle. For example, a long skinny microfiber might be able to sneak through the barrier in our gut more easily than other pieces.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Airborne plastics — particularly common indoors — can also be inhaled. Larger particles are expected to be filtered out to some extent, perhaps snagged in our nose or coughed up. Only the most “ultrafine” pieces will reach the deepest parts of the lungs where they can enter the circulatory system, says Leslie.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Once absorbed into our bloodstream, microplastics and nanoplastics tend to be quickly coated in proteins and fats, creating a corona, or crown-like appearance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“And then it’s essentially going on a trip around your body,” Leslie says.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Their exact itinerary remains unclear. But Brander says research on animals has long shown that microplastics can move all over. The same is probably true for humans.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>These foreign travelers seem to find a home in many organs, as well as bodily fluids like \u003ca href=\"https://www.mdpi.com/2073-4360/14/13/2700\">breast milk\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38802004/\">semen\u003c/a>. They can \u003ca href=\"https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10141840/\">even cross\u003c/a> the blood-brain barrier.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s very unlikely that they’re actually metabolized into anything because these are solid particles,” says Walker. “So they would be difficult to break down.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Our immune system \u003ca href=\"https://vimeo.com/490794220\">can’t dispatch\u003c/a> these bits of plastic as it would other foreign invaders like bacteria. Immune cells, known as macrophages, will release enzymes that do their best to attack these particles, but the “plastic doesn’t mind at all,” says Leslie. “It remains intact and becomes like a stubborn opponent for your immune system.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Whether microplastics pile up in certain organs more than others remains a big unknown.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Campen and his team suspect the liver is on the “frontline,” doing its best to deal with this debris and push it back into the gut with digestive fluids. Their hypothesis is that smaller plastics like nanoplastics slip through the cracks and are repackaged with fats and circulated throughout the body.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This \u003cem>could\u003c/em> mean that microplastics build up in organs with greater energy needs, such as the brain, where Campen’s \u003ca href=\"https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38765967/\">lab has documented\u003c/a> higher concentrations than in other organs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12019246\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1600px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12019246\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/npr.brightspotcdn_2-copy.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1600\" height=\"1067\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/npr.brightspotcdn_2-copy.jpg 1600w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/npr.brightspotcdn_2-copy-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/npr.brightspotcdn_2-copy-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/npr.brightspotcdn_2-copy-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/npr.brightspotcdn_2-copy-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Plastic trash gradually degrades into tiny particles that spread around the environment and ultimately into human bodies. \u003ccite>(Alistair Berg/Digital Vision/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>4. Are they harming us?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Scientists don’t have definitive answers yet.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Humans encounter many pollutants over our lifetime. And given that researchers are still sorting out the best models for analyzing microplastics, many are cautious not to get ahead of the data.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, several recent studies have raised troubling warning signs. They’ve shown associations — not a direct causal link — between the accumulation of microplastics and health problems in humans.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One that gained attention \u003ca href=\"https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa2309822\">earlier this year came\u003c/a> from Italian researchers who found that people with microplastics in the plaques in their arteries were more likely to have a heart attack, stroke or to die. Some small studies have found higher levels in people with \u003ca href=\"https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34935363/\">inflammatory bowel disease\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35835713/\">liver disease\u003c/a>. The review published this week from UCSF also included observational research linking microplastics to reproductive health and chronic sinusitis.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Most of the concern comes from lab studies involving animals or cell lines — scientists observed toxic effects of microplastics on the cellular and molecular levels. The “next puzzle piece” is now to figure out how this research translates to health outcomes for an individual or a whole population, says Leslie.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Brander points to evidence that microplastics \u003ca href=\"https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11117644/\">lead to oxidative stress,\u003c/a> which can damage proteins and genetic materials, and \u003ca href=\"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2405665024000702\">spark inflammation\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If that’s happening in fish and in rodents in experiments that are being peer-reviewed and published, it’s probably happening in us too,” says Brander. “We just haven’t demonstrated it yet.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This body of research suggests fertility problems, \u003ca href=\"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0304389424006332\">neurological diseases\u003c/a>, harms to metabolism and the immune system, and changes that signal increased risk of cancer, among other effects.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“These are potential effects because of the mechanisms we know about,” says Prata.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You can only extrapolate so much from these studies. For example, the doses given to animals in a lab may be much larger than what humans are ingesting and may not reflect the “wild” microplastics we encounter in our daily lives.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the absence of clear data, Leslie says it can be tempting to make microplastics the “culprit for every disease.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I’d like to get to the truth of the matter,” she says. “I have the feeling that sometimes we might be blaming plastics for things that they shouldn’t be blamed for.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the UCSF analysis, the suggested link with cancer was mostly based on animal research, but Woodruff says this is “standard” for identifying cancer risks and can still be considered high-quality evidence. “In the field of environmental health, when we have concerning signals, we should be concerned.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12019247\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1600px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12019247\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/npr.brightspotcdn-1-copy.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1600\" height=\"1067\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/npr.brightspotcdn-1-copy.jpg 1600w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/npr.brightspotcdn-1-copy-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/npr.brightspotcdn-1-copy-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/npr.brightspotcdn-1-copy-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/npr.brightspotcdn-1-copy-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Plastics and micro plastics of different shapes and colors are laid on the fine sand of the Grand Crohot beach in Lege-Cap-Ferret in New Aquitaine in France on April 29, 2019. \u003ccite>(Vincent Feuray/Hans Lucas/Hans Lucas via AFP)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>5. What about the chemicals in plastics — are they hazardous?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Chemicals added to plastics represent another threat.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some of these can mess with hormones, affect reproductive health, increase the \u003ca href=\"https://www.epa.gov/pfas/our-current-understanding-human-health-and-environmental-risks-pfas\">risk of some cancers\u003c/a> and cause \u003ca href=\"https://environment.ec.europa.eu/news/exposure-chemicals-plastic-and-other-sources-possible-causal-factor-obesity-2022-11-30_en\">metabolic problems\u003c/a> like obesity, among other things.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Phthalates and bisphenol A, or BPA, are two of the most well-studied examples.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>PFAS, also known as “forever chemicals,” are \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2024/04/10/1243775736/epa-pfas-forever-chemicals-drinking-water-limits\">also gaining attention\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But in reality, Brander says there are more than 16,000 \u003ca href=\"https://ikhapp.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/SCEPT_Policy_Brief_chemicals_polymers_of_concern_en.pdf\">chemicals used or found in plastics\u003c/a>, about a quarter of which are known to be “hazardous” and many of the others are not well studied.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s s\u003cem>ubstantial\u003c/em> evidence that many of these chemicals cause disease,” says Brander.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Scientists worry microplastics could potentially act as “as long-term sources of plastic-related chemicals in your body,” says Walker.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Despite the uncertainties, Brander believes there’s enough evidence to take collective action to limit our exposure to microplastics, both in our lives and on a policy level.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12019248\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1600px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12019248\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/npr.brightspotcdn-copy.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1600\" height=\"1067\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/npr.brightspotcdn-copy.jpg 1600w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/npr.brightspotcdn-copy-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Scientists say we can reduce our exposure to microplastics to some extent by avoiding single-use plastic and plastic food packaging, among other measures. \u003ccite>(Peter Dazeley/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>6. How can we reduce our exposure to microplastics?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Scientists are still investigating the biggest sources of microplastics in our daily lives.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ideally, the task of reducing your exposure shouldn’t fall entirely on the individual. But the fact is policy changes — such as a \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2024/12/03/nx-s1-5214556/more-than-150-countries-failed-to-agree-on-a-plan-to-cut-plastic-pollution\">global plastics treaty\u003c/a> — aren’t going to happen overnight.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So here’s how you can get started in reducing your own exposure: Eliminate single-use plastic as much as you can, and \u003ca href=\"https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-solutions/2024/12/01/single-use-plastics-reuse-risk/\">don’t reuse these items\u003c/a>. Cut back on foods that come in plastic packaging or cans that have plastic linings. \u003ca href=\"https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11356-023-25433-7\">Aim for shorter\u003c/a> dishwasher cycles, with fewer plastic items.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Never cook your food in plastic,” says Brander. “The heat will drive those particles and more of those chemicals into your food.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sadly, this applies to your to-go cup of coffee, which is often lined with polyethylene. When possible, buy cleaning products, both for your household and hygiene, that don’t come in plastic containers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Consider investing in a \u003ca href=\"https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10054062/\">filter for tap water\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Our clothing can also shed a lot of microplastics, which is why Leslie tries to wear fabrics like wool and linen. When you have a choice, avoid synthetic materials in your rugs and furniture, too. Dust can carry microplastics, which you may breathe in. \u003ca href=\"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S026974912201171X?via%3Dihub\">Research suggests\u003c/a> vacuuming can help limit what’s in your house.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The concentration of these particles \u003ca href=\"https://www.nature.com/articles/s41370-023-00634-x\">indoors is greater\u003c/a> than outdoors, so try to keep windows open and improve ventilation.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Leslie’s philosophy? There’s only so much you can control, so “don’t feel guilty” about using plastics — just try to limit your use when possible.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You can just experiment with saying no to what you don’t want,” she says. “The resistance to plastic pollution is in our noncompliance. I’m going to keep on doing just that.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>Soon after journalist Zoë Schlanger wrote the piece “\u003ca href=\"https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2024/10/black-plastic-spatula-flame-retardants/680452/\">Throw Out Your Black Plastic Spatula\u003c/a>” in The Atlantic at the end of October, dozens of other news outlets ran their own versions of her story, all with the same recommendation: \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101907913/how-freaked-out-should-we-be-about-black-plastic\">avoid using black plastic utensils in your kitchen\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Schlanger points to the years of research that show high levels of \u003ca href=\"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0160412018302125\">flame retardants\u003c/a> in these objects. When exposed to high temperatures during cooking, these chemicals leak from the utensils into whatever food you’re preparing. And once ingested, flame retardants can mess with how your body regulates itself: many are considered endocrine disruptors, which means they mess with your hormones — the tools your body uses to regulate your organs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But throwing out black kitchen utensils may not be enough. Schlanger’s reporting — and research coming out of Stanford’s \u003ca href=\"https://news.stanford.edu/stories/2022/05/four-questions-desiree-labeaud\">School of Medicine\u003c/a> — suggest that plastic, being an integral part of our lives, could have bigger health hazards than previously imagined. In November, KQED’s Forum spoke to Schlanger and Stanford’s Desiree LaBeaud, an infectious disease physician who leads the university’s plastic working group, to learn how we as individuals can respond to the risks brought upon by the plastic objects in our lives.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Keep reading for the takeaways from their conversation with KQED’s Lesley McClurg, including helpful strategies to reduce our dependence on plastic in our homes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Skip ahead to:\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003cb>\u003ca href=\"#1\">I’ve used plastic utensils my whole life. Why are they risky now?\u003c/a>\u003c/b>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003cb>\u003ca href=\"#2\">Are all plastic utensils — regardless of their color — bad for you?\u003c/a>\u003c/b>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003cb>\u003ca href=\"#3\">Beyond freaking out, how can I apply this information in my life?\u003c/a>\u003c/b>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003cb>\u003ca href=\"#4\">What are some alternatives to plastic kitchen utensils?\u003c/a>\u003c/b>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.\u003c/em>\u003cbr>\n\u003ca id=\"1\">\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003cb>Lesley McClurg:\u003c/b> Why are there flame retardants in my black plastic scraper?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Zoë Schlanger:\u003c/strong> They were never meant to be there. That’s not where flame retardants are supposed to be. But unfortunately, black plastic is one of these compounds that tend to be entering the product stream from recycled material. And the thing that does have flame retardants in it are electronics.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I’m looking at a computer monitor right now with a black plastic casing that probably has flame retardants in it. My black plastic keyboard also has flame retardants. And due to demands for black plastic in kitchen objects, sometimes those materials get recycled into kitchen objects or toys.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12016615\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-12016615\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/241204-Black-Plastic-Utensils-DMB-0030-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/241204-Black-Plastic-Utensils-DMB-0030-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/241204-Black-Plastic-Utensils-DMB-0030-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/241204-Black-Plastic-Utensils-DMB-0030-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/241204-Black-Plastic-Utensils-DMB-0030-1536x1023.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/241204-Black-Plastic-Utensils-DMB-0030-1920x1279.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/241204-Black-Plastic-Utensils-DMB-0030.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The photographer’s black plastic-tipped tongs, photographed in Oakland on Dec. 4, 2024. Black plastic utensils leach toxic chemicals, so it’s time to ditch all of your plastic utensils — including the black spatula. The black plastic utensils were discarded after the photo shoot. \u003ccite>(David M. Barreda/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>In my mind, it makes sense that a computer, television or keyboard might have flame retardants, but why would the e-waste from those items be recycled and then made into spatulas or kids’ toys?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Schlanger: \u003c/strong>This is due to a wrinkle in the global recycling industry, where our recycling plants use optical sensors. These sensors see the plastic that’s coming through the recycling plants, but they can’t see the color black. Typically, in countries where recycling is quite regulated, black plastic never gets recycled. That means there’s this dearth — this lack of a supply — of black plastic from recycled material in the consumer stream.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When someone wants to make a black plastic spatula, they might have to look farther afield. And global plastic recycling is just that: a global phenomenon. There’s not a lot of oversight, particularly overseas. That’s how you end up with recycled e-waste entering the product stream in ways it really shouldn’t.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>So, this is a supply and demand issue. We don’t have enough recycled black plastic to make these items?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Schlanger: \u003c/strong>For some reason, there’s been an aesthetic choice that says we want our spatulas, in particular, to be black. Another way this shows up a lot is in takeout containers. Those tend to be black for no discernible reason that I can tell. If it’s a black plastic, it is potentially full of flame retardants from the same e-waste stream.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When plastic comes in contact with heat, it starts to degrade. Or when it comes in contact with something fatty — let’s say, the cream in my coffee or the oil in your pan. Plastic components or components of plastic that are hazardous for our health are also lipophilic, meaning they are attracted to fat and they can transfer quite easily into fat. When you’re applying heat or oil fats to your plastic, it’s just encouraging those problematic compounds to enter your food or your mouth or the environment in different ways.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>I don’t want to be putting flame retardants in my body. But what does the actual health research say are the health concerns or risks that could happen if I do consume this stuff?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Schlanger: \u003c/strong>The research on flame retardants is pretty clear. Many of them are considered endocrine disruptors, meaning they mess with your hormone system, which can have all these knock-on effects. Thyroid disease is a problem with flame retardants.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And it’s not just flame retardants. It’s also a group of chemicals broadly called plasticizers, like phthalates, which people may have heard about. These are added to plastic to make them flexible or soft. And they readily migrate out of the plastic because they’re not completely bound to the polymer molecule. With heat, use or wear, they can migrate out of that polymer chain and into your food.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca id=\"2\">\u003c/a>\u003cstrong>We’re getting quite a few questions from listeners. One writes: ‘What about blue plastic? Yellow? Green? What about these other colors?’\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Schlanger: \u003c/strong>All plastic is not something you want to be cooking with. I think that any expert would say that to you. Those other colors are not likely to come from an electronic waste stream just because of how many electronics are black. Maybe flame retardants would be less of an issue in those plastics. But there’s other things in plastics that you want to be wary about.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>What do we know about silicone? Is it much better? Is it also dangerous?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Schlanger: \u003c/strong>What we know right now is that silicone is much better. It’s not plastic. It’s made of silica, an entirely different compound. And it does not form microparticles or nanoparticles in the way plastic does. There’s some concern for cheap silicone as it sometimes can contain chemical fillers. This is not something where there’s a lot of oversight. But if it’s mostly just a silicone object, you’re good.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>For folks who might not be familiar, what are microplastics and why are they bad? \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Desiree LaBeaud: \u003c/strong>All the plastic that we have in our lives slowly breaks down into smaller and smaller bits. And those teeny bits are called microplastics. And we ingest these plastics supposedly at the rate of a credit card of plastic a week. And we also inhale them because a lot of plastic is actually burned in the world to deal with the waste crisis or through wildfires and so forth, or even just the house dust in our homes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When that plastic gets into our bodies, it impacts our bodies in all sorts of ways. And there’s been a lot of research to show that microplastics and even the smaller, finer plastics, which are called nanoplastics, can lead to a lot of different health effects through impairing the way that our cells function: the biochemistry, the energy, the way that our organs develop. Even carcinogenesis, which is the development of cancer. All of that can come from these microplastics.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>A listener calls in to ask: “What about Legos?”\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>LaBeaud:\u003c/strong> Legos are made of very, very, very hard, durable plastic. Some types of plastic are going to break down more than others. And Legos are at ambient temperature. They’re not being heated up. I don’t think you need to go and throw away all your Legos at this time. It’s just like we keep saying: It’s about the dose. You choose your Legos, but you don’t heat up your plastic and cook it in hot oil, right?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca id=\"3\">\u003c/a>\u003cstrong>How freaked out should I be? How should I respond to this information?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Schlanger:\u003c/strong> For me, it goes back to this idea of lowering your dose. There’s only a few [environments] in our lives that we can control. And one of those is our kitchens. It actually brings me some measure of comfort to say, ‘All right, I can just have a stainless steel spatula. I can choose to use fewer plastic takeout containers. And all of these things are tiny little things I’m doing for my overall health.’ It doesn’t have to be overwhelming.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12016619\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-12016619\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/241204-Black-Plastic-Utensils-DMB-0147-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/241204-Black-Plastic-Utensils-DMB-0147-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/241204-Black-Plastic-Utensils-DMB-0147-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/241204-Black-Plastic-Utensils-DMB-0147-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/241204-Black-Plastic-Utensils-DMB-0147-1536x1023.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/241204-Black-Plastic-Utensils-DMB-0147-1920x1279.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/241204-Black-Plastic-Utensils-DMB-0147.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The photographer’s black plastic utensils at the bottom of the trash bin in Oakland on Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024. Black plastic utensils leach toxic chemicals, so it’s time to ditch all of your plastic utensils — including the black spatula. The black plastic utensils were discarded after the photo shoot. \u003ccite>(David M. Barreda/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Does the body rid itself or detox from plastics? If you take yourself off plastics, does the body do a good job of getting these things out of your body?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>LaBeaud:\u003c/strong> As humans, we have three different things we can do [to get rid of toxins in our bodies]: we pee, poo and sweat. And this is the way that we release all sorts of different toxins that we come in contact with through our food or environment. That’s the natural process … but we don’t rid ourselves of all of the plastic. Some of it ends up somehow in our body tissues, which is what more and more research is finding, and that is harder for us to get rid of.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca id=\"4\">\u003c/a>\u003cstrong>Where would you suggest people start if they want to start having less plastic in their lives?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>LaBeaud: \u003c/strong>Your kitchen is the first place to start … if you’re heating up your plastic, you don’t want to be. You’d rather be using something else like glass or ceramic. Your pots, pans and utensils are a good start. Try and replace the nonstick coating with something else that isn’t going to leach chemicals into your food. Replace those utensils. When we’re heating up our food in the microwave with Tupperware, that now should be replaced with glass. Instead of single-use plastic water bottles, we can filter our water and then just put it in a glass bottle or a metal bottle.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When we start to consume and choose products that are not in plastic, the industry will respond, and we’ll start to put more things back into recyclable containers, things that are actually truly recyclable.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"title": "Why It's Time to Ditch Your Black Plastic Cookware | KQED",
"description": "Soon after journalist Zoë Schlanger wrote the piece “Throw Out Your Black Plastic Spatula” in The Atlantic at the end of October, dozens of other news outlets ran their own versions of her story, all with the same recommendation: avoid using black plastic utensils in your kitchen. Schlanger points to the years of research that",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Soon after journalist Zoë Schlanger wrote the piece “\u003ca href=\"https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2024/10/black-plastic-spatula-flame-retardants/680452/\">Throw Out Your Black Plastic Spatula\u003c/a>” in The Atlantic at the end of October, dozens of other news outlets ran their own versions of her story, all with the same recommendation: \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101907913/how-freaked-out-should-we-be-about-black-plastic\">avoid using black plastic utensils in your kitchen\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Schlanger points to the years of research that show high levels of \u003ca href=\"https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0160412018302125\">flame retardants\u003c/a> in these objects. When exposed to high temperatures during cooking, these chemicals leak from the utensils into whatever food you’re preparing. And once ingested, flame retardants can mess with how your body regulates itself: many are considered endocrine disruptors, which means they mess with your hormones — the tools your body uses to regulate your organs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But throwing out black kitchen utensils may not be enough. Schlanger’s reporting — and research coming out of Stanford’s \u003ca href=\"https://news.stanford.edu/stories/2022/05/four-questions-desiree-labeaud\">School of Medicine\u003c/a> — suggest that plastic, being an integral part of our lives, could have bigger health hazards than previously imagined. In November, KQED’s Forum spoke to Schlanger and Stanford’s Desiree LaBeaud, an infectious disease physician who leads the university’s plastic working group, to learn how we as individuals can respond to the risks brought upon by the plastic objects in our lives.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Keep reading for the takeaways from their conversation with KQED’s Lesley McClurg, including helpful strategies to reduce our dependence on plastic in our homes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Skip ahead to:\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003cb>\u003ca href=\"#1\">I’ve used plastic utensils my whole life. Why are they risky now?\u003c/a>\u003c/b>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003cb>\u003ca href=\"#2\">Are all plastic utensils — regardless of their color — bad for you?\u003c/a>\u003c/b>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003cb>\u003ca href=\"#3\">Beyond freaking out, how can I apply this information in my life?\u003c/a>\u003c/b>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003cb>\u003ca href=\"#4\">What are some alternatives to plastic kitchen utensils?\u003c/a>\u003c/b>\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.\u003c/em>\u003cbr>\n\u003ca id=\"1\">\u003c/a>\u003cbr>\n\u003cb>Lesley McClurg:\u003c/b> Why are there flame retardants in my black plastic scraper?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Zoë Schlanger:\u003c/strong> They were never meant to be there. That’s not where flame retardants are supposed to be. But unfortunately, black plastic is one of these compounds that tend to be entering the product stream from recycled material. And the thing that does have flame retardants in it are electronics.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I’m looking at a computer monitor right now with a black plastic casing that probably has flame retardants in it. My black plastic keyboard also has flame retardants. And due to demands for black plastic in kitchen objects, sometimes those materials get recycled into kitchen objects or toys.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12016615\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-12016615\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/241204-Black-Plastic-Utensils-DMB-0030-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/241204-Black-Plastic-Utensils-DMB-0030-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/241204-Black-Plastic-Utensils-DMB-0030-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/241204-Black-Plastic-Utensils-DMB-0030-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/241204-Black-Plastic-Utensils-DMB-0030-1536x1023.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/241204-Black-Plastic-Utensils-DMB-0030-1920x1279.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/241204-Black-Plastic-Utensils-DMB-0030.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The photographer’s black plastic-tipped tongs, photographed in Oakland on Dec. 4, 2024. Black plastic utensils leach toxic chemicals, so it’s time to ditch all of your plastic utensils — including the black spatula. The black plastic utensils were discarded after the photo shoot. \u003ccite>(David M. Barreda/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>In my mind, it makes sense that a computer, television or keyboard might have flame retardants, but why would the e-waste from those items be recycled and then made into spatulas or kids’ toys?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Schlanger: \u003c/strong>This is due to a wrinkle in the global recycling industry, where our recycling plants use optical sensors. These sensors see the plastic that’s coming through the recycling plants, but they can’t see the color black. Typically, in countries where recycling is quite regulated, black plastic never gets recycled. That means there’s this dearth — this lack of a supply — of black plastic from recycled material in the consumer stream.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When someone wants to make a black plastic spatula, they might have to look farther afield. And global plastic recycling is just that: a global phenomenon. There’s not a lot of oversight, particularly overseas. That’s how you end up with recycled e-waste entering the product stream in ways it really shouldn’t.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>So, this is a supply and demand issue. We don’t have enough recycled black plastic to make these items?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Schlanger: \u003c/strong>For some reason, there’s been an aesthetic choice that says we want our spatulas, in particular, to be black. Another way this shows up a lot is in takeout containers. Those tend to be black for no discernible reason that I can tell. If it’s a black plastic, it is potentially full of flame retardants from the same e-waste stream.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When plastic comes in contact with heat, it starts to degrade. Or when it comes in contact with something fatty — let’s say, the cream in my coffee or the oil in your pan. Plastic components or components of plastic that are hazardous for our health are also lipophilic, meaning they are attracted to fat and they can transfer quite easily into fat. When you’re applying heat or oil fats to your plastic, it’s just encouraging those problematic compounds to enter your food or your mouth or the environment in different ways.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>I don’t want to be putting flame retardants in my body. But what does the actual health research say are the health concerns or risks that could happen if I do consume this stuff?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Schlanger: \u003c/strong>The research on flame retardants is pretty clear. Many of them are considered endocrine disruptors, meaning they mess with your hormone system, which can have all these knock-on effects. Thyroid disease is a problem with flame retardants.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And it’s not just flame retardants. It’s also a group of chemicals broadly called plasticizers, like phthalates, which people may have heard about. These are added to plastic to make them flexible or soft. And they readily migrate out of the plastic because they’re not completely bound to the polymer molecule. With heat, use or wear, they can migrate out of that polymer chain and into your food.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca id=\"2\">\u003c/a>\u003cstrong>We’re getting quite a few questions from listeners. One writes: ‘What about blue plastic? Yellow? Green? What about these other colors?’\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Schlanger: \u003c/strong>All plastic is not something you want to be cooking with. I think that any expert would say that to you. Those other colors are not likely to come from an electronic waste stream just because of how many electronics are black. Maybe flame retardants would be less of an issue in those plastics. But there’s other things in plastics that you want to be wary about.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>What do we know about silicone? Is it much better? Is it also dangerous?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Schlanger: \u003c/strong>What we know right now is that silicone is much better. It’s not plastic. It’s made of silica, an entirely different compound. And it does not form microparticles or nanoparticles in the way plastic does. There’s some concern for cheap silicone as it sometimes can contain chemical fillers. This is not something where there’s a lot of oversight. But if it’s mostly just a silicone object, you’re good.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>For folks who might not be familiar, what are microplastics and why are they bad? \u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Desiree LaBeaud: \u003c/strong>All the plastic that we have in our lives slowly breaks down into smaller and smaller bits. And those teeny bits are called microplastics. And we ingest these plastics supposedly at the rate of a credit card of plastic a week. And we also inhale them because a lot of plastic is actually burned in the world to deal with the waste crisis or through wildfires and so forth, or even just the house dust in our homes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When that plastic gets into our bodies, it impacts our bodies in all sorts of ways. And there’s been a lot of research to show that microplastics and even the smaller, finer plastics, which are called nanoplastics, can lead to a lot of different health effects through impairing the way that our cells function: the biochemistry, the energy, the way that our organs develop. Even carcinogenesis, which is the development of cancer. All of that can come from these microplastics.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>A listener calls in to ask: “What about Legos?”\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>LaBeaud:\u003c/strong> Legos are made of very, very, very hard, durable plastic. Some types of plastic are going to break down more than others. And Legos are at ambient temperature. They’re not being heated up. I don’t think you need to go and throw away all your Legos at this time. It’s just like we keep saying: It’s about the dose. You choose your Legos, but you don’t heat up your plastic and cook it in hot oil, right?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca id=\"3\">\u003c/a>\u003cstrong>How freaked out should I be? How should I respond to this information?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Schlanger:\u003c/strong> For me, it goes back to this idea of lowering your dose. There’s only a few [environments] in our lives that we can control. And one of those is our kitchens. It actually brings me some measure of comfort to say, ‘All right, I can just have a stainless steel spatula. I can choose to use fewer plastic takeout containers. And all of these things are tiny little things I’m doing for my overall health.’ It doesn’t have to be overwhelming.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12016619\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-12016619\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/241204-Black-Plastic-Utensils-DMB-0147-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/241204-Black-Plastic-Utensils-DMB-0147-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/241204-Black-Plastic-Utensils-DMB-0147-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/241204-Black-Plastic-Utensils-DMB-0147-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/241204-Black-Plastic-Utensils-DMB-0147-1536x1023.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/241204-Black-Plastic-Utensils-DMB-0147-1920x1279.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/12/241204-Black-Plastic-Utensils-DMB-0147.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The photographer’s black plastic utensils at the bottom of the trash bin in Oakland on Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024. Black plastic utensils leach toxic chemicals, so it’s time to ditch all of your plastic utensils — including the black spatula. The black plastic utensils were discarded after the photo shoot. \u003ccite>(David M. Barreda/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Does the body rid itself or detox from plastics? If you take yourself off plastics, does the body do a good job of getting these things out of your body?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>LaBeaud:\u003c/strong> As humans, we have three different things we can do [to get rid of toxins in our bodies]: we pee, poo and sweat. And this is the way that we release all sorts of different toxins that we come in contact with through our food or environment. That’s the natural process … but we don’t rid ourselves of all of the plastic. Some of it ends up somehow in our body tissues, which is what more and more research is finding, and that is harder for us to get rid of.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca id=\"4\">\u003c/a>\u003cstrong>Where would you suggest people start if they want to start having less plastic in their lives?\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>LaBeaud: \u003c/strong>Your kitchen is the first place to start … if you’re heating up your plastic, you don’t want to be. You’d rather be using something else like glass or ceramic. Your pots, pans and utensils are a good start. Try and replace the nonstick coating with something else that isn’t going to leach chemicals into your food. Replace those utensils. When we’re heating up our food in the microwave with Tupperware, that now should be replaced with glass. Instead of single-use plastic water bottles, we can filter our water and then just put it in a glass bottle or a metal bottle.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When we start to consume and choose products that are not in plastic, the industry will respond, and we’ll start to put more things back into recyclable containers, things that are actually truly recyclable.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "californias-first-plastic-bag-ban-made-things-worse-now-its-trying-again",
"title": "California's First Plastic Bag Ban Made Things Worse. Now It's Trying Again",
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"headTitle": "California’s First Plastic Bag Ban Made Things Worse. Now It’s Trying Again | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>Ten years after California approved a plastic bag ban that’s been blamed for making its plastic bag problem worse, the state is banning single-use plastic grocery bags entirely.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2014, California became the first state to pass a plastic bag ban. It’s one of at least 12 states that now have some form of ban on single-use plastic bags.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But because of a loophole in its initial ban that allowed grocers to charge for thicker plastic bags, California still dumped 231,072 tons of plastic grocery and merchandise bags in landfills in 2021, according to the state’s recycling agency, CalRecycle. That was a sharp increase from the year the ban took effect — and nearly 100,000 more tons than in 2018.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California officials are saying that there’s a perception that plastics — especially plastic bags — can be easily recycled. But they say that this is not the reality and that consumers have been deceived for decades.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“CalRecycle has not identified facilities that recycle plastic bags in the state of California,” the agency told NPR this week.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2024/09/23/nx-s1-5123619/california-sues-exxonmobil-for-misleading-public-on-plastic-recycling\">filed a suit \u003c/a>on Sunday alleging that ExxonMobil promoted recycling while knowing that it was technically and economically challenging and wouldn’t make much of a dent in the plastic waste problem.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here’s a rundown of California’s new ban and similar measures:\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Why did California’s initial bag ban backfire?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The state’s ban on thin single-use bags had a loophole that let grocers sell shoppers thicker plastic bags for a small fee: just 10 cents. In theory, the heavier bags were reusable. But in practice, they became a more substantial form of waste.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A plastic bag has an average lifespan of 12 minutes and then it is discarded, afflicting our environment with toxic microplastics that fester in our oceans and landfills for up to 1,000 years,” Sen. Catherine Blakespear, an author of the new ban, said in \u003ca href=\"https://sd38.senate.ca.gov/news/governor-signs-legislation-ban-plastic-bags-grocery-store-checkouts\">a news release\u003c/a> issued after Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the ban into law on Sunday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The initial ban was also undermined by the COVID-19 pandemic. When it was still unknown how the coronavirus spread, shoppers were barred from bringing reusable bags into grocery stores out of fear that their bags might be contaminated.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“California kind of took one for the team as the first to pass a statewide ban on plastic bags,” Melissa Valliant, communications director for the advocacy group Beyond Plastics, told NPR. “It ended up providing a lesson for other state and even local governments to learn from and to not allow loopholes like thicker plastic bags.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>What does the new California law do?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Starting on Jan. 1, 2026, customers at most grocery stores, convenience stores, and other retailers will have three main options: Pay at least 10 cents for a paper bag; use a reusable bag; or hand-carry their purchase.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Stores may offer paper bags at the point-of-sale, and they can also sell the canvas-style reusable bags in other areas of the store,” Nate Rose of the California Grocers Association, which supports the new ban, told NPR.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“These are the bags many shoppers are already accustomed to bringing with them to carry their groceries,” Rose added.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And starting in 2028, stores’ paper bags will be required to be composed of at least 50% postconsumer recycled materials.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>More than 70 organizations supported the legislation, \u003ca href=\"https://laist.com/news/politics/these-are-the-2024-california-bills-gavin-newsom-has-signed-into-law-and-the-ones-he-has-vetoed\">member station LAist reports\u003c/a>, saying it “would prevent plastic waste, which releases toxic chemicals into the air, water and soil.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12006491\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1600px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12006491\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/09/npr.brightspotcdn-1-copy-2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1600\" height=\"991\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/09/npr.brightspotcdn-1-copy-2.jpg 1600w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/09/npr.brightspotcdn-1-copy-2-800x496.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/09/npr.brightspotcdn-1-copy-2-1020x632.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/09/npr.brightspotcdn-1-copy-2-160x99.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/09/npr.brightspotcdn-1-copy-2-1536x951.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">California’s attorney general, Rob Bonta, has filed a lawsuit against ExxonMobil, alleging that the oil and gas corporation misled consumers by telling them that recycling was a viable solution for plastic waste. In 2021, some 231,072 tons of plastic grocery and merchandise bags went to landfills, according to the state’s recycling agency, CalRecycle. \u003ccite>(Muhammad Owais Khan/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>What’s so bad about plastic bags?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Despite industry claims about their recyclability, the thin bags are notoriously difficult and expensive to process and recycle. Instead, they often wind up in landfills, where they will persist for centuries, or in incinerators.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For a sense of the scale of the problem, consider Philadelphia. An evaluation commissioned by the city \u003ca href=\"https://www.phila.gov/media/20230428110156/PlasticBagBanReportApril2023.pdf\">said last year (PDF)\u003c/a> that in Philadelphia, “an estimated 1 billion single-use disposable plastic bags are used annually,” adding to waste, litter and emissions challenges.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Municipal systems, the evaluation stated, “are unable to recycle plastic bags and the soft material causes equipment jamming at recycling centers, leading to dangerous and costly repairs that account for 150 hours of lost staff time and $300,000 in city costs.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In contrast, restrictions like bag bans “can be expected to eliminate almost 300 single-use plastic bags per person per year, on average,” according to an analysis by Environment America and the U.S. PIRG Education Fund that was \u003ca href=\"https://publicinterestnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Plastic-Bag-Bans-Work-January-2024.pdf\">published in January (PDF)\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>What does the plastic industry say?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Bag manufacturers are against bans on their products and they insist that the thin plastic film bag, made of polyethylene, makes more sense than the alternatives.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A polyethylene bag is 100% recyclable and can be recycled into itself, is produced with low carbon emissions, and the PE is made domestically from natural gas,” a general manager of bag supplier Crown Poly \u003ca href=\"https://bagalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/FCR-NJ-Plastic-Retail-Bag-Demand-1.pdf\">said in a 2023 report (PDF)\u003c/a> prepared by Freedonia Custom Research on behalf of an industry group, the American Recyclable Plastic Bag Alliance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Conversely, PP [polypropylene] bags are produced overseas and imported, produce higher emissions than film bags, and are not recyclable. In fact, 99% of PP is virgin and does not contain post-consumer recycled material,” the report states.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Note: While single-use bags can technically be recycled, it’s not an easy or cost-effective process.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“To the extent they get recycled, a lot of polyethylene plastics get turned into low-grade materials. You can’t take a plastic bag and then make another plastic bag with the same properties out of it,” chemistry researcher John Hartwig of the University of California, Berkeley \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2024/09/25/nx-s1-5123535/as%20John%20Hartwig,%20UC%20Berkeley%E2%80%99s%20Henry%20Rapoport%20Chair%20in%20Organic%20Chemistry.\">said in 2022\u003c/a>, as he worked on ways to reuse the ubiquitous material.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The American Recyclable Plastic Bag Alliance and another industry group, the Plastics Industry Association, did not respond to NPR’s request for comment on the new California ban before this story was published.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12006492\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1600px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12006492\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/09/npr.brightspotcdn-2-copy-2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1600\" height=\"1067\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/09/npr.brightspotcdn-2-copy-2.jpg 1600w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/09/npr.brightspotcdn-2-copy-2-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/09/npr.brightspotcdn-2-copy-2-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/09/npr.brightspotcdn-2-copy-2-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/09/npr.brightspotcdn-2-copy-2-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A woman loads groceries in plastic bags into her car at a Safeway store on March 28, 2007 in San Francisco. The Board of Supervisors in San Francisco approved groundbreaking legislation to outlaw plastic checkout bags at large supermarkets in about 6 months and large chain pharmacies in about a year. The ordinance is the first such law in any city in the US and has been drawing global scrutiny this week. \u003ccite>(David Paul Morris/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Should people just use paper bags?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>When bans on single-use plastic bags haven’t also included a fee on paper bags, their use has soared. In Portland, Ore., for instance, paper bag use \u003ca href=\"https://www.oregonlive.com/opinion/2012/10/portland_needs_to_expand_the_p.html\">shot up by nearly 500%\u003c/a> after the city enacted a ban (and before the state imposed its own ban with a fee for paper alternatives).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside label=\"Related Stories\" postID=\"news_12005945,science_1994014,news_11936511\"]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A similar dynamic has played out in Philadelphia, where the proportion of supermarket shoppers using at least one paper bag tripled after a plastic-bag ban took effect without a fee for paper. A recent bid to \u003ca href=\"https://www.inquirer.com/news/philadelphia/philadelphia-plastic-bag-ban-paper-bag-fee-2024.html#:~:text=A%20month%20ago%2C%20Philadelphia%20City,imposed%20citywide%20plastic%20bag%20ban.\">tack on a 15-cent fee for paper bags\u003c/a> was axed by a pocket veto.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Paper bags are easier to recycle than plastic, and more degradable. But environmental advocates want retailers and shoppers to move away from single-use bags of any type. They argue that a few minutes of convenience isn’t enough to justify cumbersome networks of bag collection, processing and production needed to recycle single-use bags.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The whole goal is to get people to switch from disposable options — especially plastic, but disposable options altogether — to reusable and refillable options,” Valliant said. “Because ultimately that is going to be the most sustainable and the best for both environment and human health.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Which 12 states have banned plastic bags?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In 2024, Colorado and Rhode Island enacted statewide bans on single-use plastic bags, joining 10 states that already had restrictions in place: California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Vermont and Washington.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At their core, such bans are attempts to shift responsibility for plastic waste from consumers upstream — to retailers and, by extension, plastic producers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The same week California’s new ban became law, the state opened another front in its battle with plastic waste by \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2024/09/23/nx-s1-5123619/california-sues-exxonmobil-for-misleading-public-on-plastic-recycling\">filing a lawsuit against oil and gas giant ExxonMobil,\u003c/a> a leading producer of the polymers used to make single-use plastics.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“For decades, ExxonMobil has been deceiving the public to convince us that plastic recycling could solve the plastic waste and pollution crisis when they clearly knew this wasn’t possible,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2024/09/23/nx-s1-5123619/california-sues-exxonmobil-for-misleading-public-on-plastic-recycling\">said\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bonta accused ExxonMobil of profiting from “convincing consumers that they were responsible for the proliferation of plastic waste through their own personal habits, rather than through Mobil’s and Exxon’s efforts to produce an increasing number of plastic products designed for single-use.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "California became the first state to pass a plastic bag ban in 2014, but it's been blamed for making the problem worse. The state is now banning single-use plastic grocery bags entirely.\r\n\r\n",
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"title": "California's First Plastic Bag Ban Made Things Worse. Now It's Trying Again | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Ten years after California approved a plastic bag ban that’s been blamed for making its plastic bag problem worse, the state is banning single-use plastic grocery bags entirely.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2014, California became the first state to pass a plastic bag ban. It’s one of at least 12 states that now have some form of ban on single-use plastic bags.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But because of a loophole in its initial ban that allowed grocers to charge for thicker plastic bags, California still dumped 231,072 tons of plastic grocery and merchandise bags in landfills in 2021, according to the state’s recycling agency, CalRecycle. That was a sharp increase from the year the ban took effect — and nearly 100,000 more tons than in 2018.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California officials are saying that there’s a perception that plastics — especially plastic bags — can be easily recycled. But they say that this is not the reality and that consumers have been deceived for decades.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“CalRecycle has not identified facilities that recycle plastic bags in the state of California,” the agency told NPR this week.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2024/09/23/nx-s1-5123619/california-sues-exxonmobil-for-misleading-public-on-plastic-recycling\">filed a suit \u003c/a>on Sunday alleging that ExxonMobil promoted recycling while knowing that it was technically and economically challenging and wouldn’t make much of a dent in the plastic waste problem.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Here’s a rundown of California’s new ban and similar measures:\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Why did California’s initial bag ban backfire?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The state’s ban on thin single-use bags had a loophole that let grocers sell shoppers thicker plastic bags for a small fee: just 10 cents. In theory, the heavier bags were reusable. But in practice, they became a more substantial form of waste.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A plastic bag has an average lifespan of 12 minutes and then it is discarded, afflicting our environment with toxic microplastics that fester in our oceans and landfills for up to 1,000 years,” Sen. Catherine Blakespear, an author of the new ban, said in \u003ca href=\"https://sd38.senate.ca.gov/news/governor-signs-legislation-ban-plastic-bags-grocery-store-checkouts\">a news release\u003c/a> issued after Gov. Gavin Newsom signed the ban into law on Sunday.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The initial ban was also undermined by the COVID-19 pandemic. When it was still unknown how the coronavirus spread, shoppers were barred from bringing reusable bags into grocery stores out of fear that their bags might be contaminated.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“California kind of took one for the team as the first to pass a statewide ban on plastic bags,” Melissa Valliant, communications director for the advocacy group Beyond Plastics, told NPR. “It ended up providing a lesson for other state and even local governments to learn from and to not allow loopholes like thicker plastic bags.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>What does the new California law do?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Starting on Jan. 1, 2026, customers at most grocery stores, convenience stores, and other retailers will have three main options: Pay at least 10 cents for a paper bag; use a reusable bag; or hand-carry their purchase.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Stores may offer paper bags at the point-of-sale, and they can also sell the canvas-style reusable bags in other areas of the store,” Nate Rose of the California Grocers Association, which supports the new ban, told NPR.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“These are the bags many shoppers are already accustomed to bringing with them to carry their groceries,” Rose added.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And starting in 2028, stores’ paper bags will be required to be composed of at least 50% postconsumer recycled materials.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>More than 70 organizations supported the legislation, \u003ca href=\"https://laist.com/news/politics/these-are-the-2024-california-bills-gavin-newsom-has-signed-into-law-and-the-ones-he-has-vetoed\">member station LAist reports\u003c/a>, saying it “would prevent plastic waste, which releases toxic chemicals into the air, water and soil.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12006491\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1600px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12006491\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/09/npr.brightspotcdn-1-copy-2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1600\" height=\"991\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/09/npr.brightspotcdn-1-copy-2.jpg 1600w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/09/npr.brightspotcdn-1-copy-2-800x496.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/09/npr.brightspotcdn-1-copy-2-1020x632.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/09/npr.brightspotcdn-1-copy-2-160x99.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/09/npr.brightspotcdn-1-copy-2-1536x951.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">California’s attorney general, Rob Bonta, has filed a lawsuit against ExxonMobil, alleging that the oil and gas corporation misled consumers by telling them that recycling was a viable solution for plastic waste. In 2021, some 231,072 tons of plastic grocery and merchandise bags went to landfills, according to the state’s recycling agency, CalRecycle. \u003ccite>(Muhammad Owais Khan/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>What’s so bad about plastic bags?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Despite industry claims about their recyclability, the thin bags are notoriously difficult and expensive to process and recycle. Instead, they often wind up in landfills, where they will persist for centuries, or in incinerators.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For a sense of the scale of the problem, consider Philadelphia. An evaluation commissioned by the city \u003ca href=\"https://www.phila.gov/media/20230428110156/PlasticBagBanReportApril2023.pdf\">said last year (PDF)\u003c/a> that in Philadelphia, “an estimated 1 billion single-use disposable plastic bags are used annually,” adding to waste, litter and emissions challenges.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Municipal systems, the evaluation stated, “are unable to recycle plastic bags and the soft material causes equipment jamming at recycling centers, leading to dangerous and costly repairs that account for 150 hours of lost staff time and $300,000 in city costs.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In contrast, restrictions like bag bans “can be expected to eliminate almost 300 single-use plastic bags per person per year, on average,” according to an analysis by Environment America and the U.S. PIRG Education Fund that was \u003ca href=\"https://publicinterestnetwork.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Plastic-Bag-Bans-Work-January-2024.pdf\">published in January (PDF)\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>What does the plastic industry say?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Bag manufacturers are against bans on their products and they insist that the thin plastic film bag, made of polyethylene, makes more sense than the alternatives.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A polyethylene bag is 100% recyclable and can be recycled into itself, is produced with low carbon emissions, and the PE is made domestically from natural gas,” a general manager of bag supplier Crown Poly \u003ca href=\"https://bagalliance.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/FCR-NJ-Plastic-Retail-Bag-Demand-1.pdf\">said in a 2023 report (PDF)\u003c/a> prepared by Freedonia Custom Research on behalf of an industry group, the American Recyclable Plastic Bag Alliance.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Conversely, PP [polypropylene] bags are produced overseas and imported, produce higher emissions than film bags, and are not recyclable. In fact, 99% of PP is virgin and does not contain post-consumer recycled material,” the report states.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Note: While single-use bags can technically be recycled, it’s not an easy or cost-effective process.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“To the extent they get recycled, a lot of polyethylene plastics get turned into low-grade materials. You can’t take a plastic bag and then make another plastic bag with the same properties out of it,” chemistry researcher John Hartwig of the University of California, Berkeley \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2024/09/25/nx-s1-5123535/as%20John%20Hartwig,%20UC%20Berkeley%E2%80%99s%20Henry%20Rapoport%20Chair%20in%20Organic%20Chemistry.\">said in 2022\u003c/a>, as he worked on ways to reuse the ubiquitous material.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The American Recyclable Plastic Bag Alliance and another industry group, the Plastics Industry Association, did not respond to NPR’s request for comment on the new California ban before this story was published.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_12006492\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1600px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-12006492\" src=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/09/npr.brightspotcdn-2-copy-2.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1600\" height=\"1067\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/09/npr.brightspotcdn-2-copy-2.jpg 1600w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/09/npr.brightspotcdn-2-copy-2-800x534.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/09/npr.brightspotcdn-2-copy-2-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/09/npr.brightspotcdn-2-copy-2-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2024/09/npr.brightspotcdn-2-copy-2-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A woman loads groceries in plastic bags into her car at a Safeway store on March 28, 2007 in San Francisco. The Board of Supervisors in San Francisco approved groundbreaking legislation to outlaw plastic checkout bags at large supermarkets in about 6 months and large chain pharmacies in about a year. The ordinance is the first such law in any city in the US and has been drawing global scrutiny this week. \u003ccite>(David Paul Morris/Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch2>Should people just use paper bags?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>When bans on single-use plastic bags haven’t also included a fee on paper bags, their use has soared. In Portland, Ore., for instance, paper bag use \u003ca href=\"https://www.oregonlive.com/opinion/2012/10/portland_needs_to_expand_the_p.html\">shot up by nearly 500%\u003c/a> after the city enacted a ban (and before the state imposed its own ban with a fee for paper alternatives).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A similar dynamic has played out in Philadelphia, where the proportion of supermarket shoppers using at least one paper bag tripled after a plastic-bag ban took effect without a fee for paper. A recent bid to \u003ca href=\"https://www.inquirer.com/news/philadelphia/philadelphia-plastic-bag-ban-paper-bag-fee-2024.html#:~:text=A%20month%20ago%2C%20Philadelphia%20City,imposed%20citywide%20plastic%20bag%20ban.\">tack on a 15-cent fee for paper bags\u003c/a> was axed by a pocket veto.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Paper bags are easier to recycle than plastic, and more degradable. But environmental advocates want retailers and shoppers to move away from single-use bags of any type. They argue that a few minutes of convenience isn’t enough to justify cumbersome networks of bag collection, processing and production needed to recycle single-use bags.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The whole goal is to get people to switch from disposable options — especially plastic, but disposable options altogether — to reusable and refillable options,” Valliant said. “Because ultimately that is going to be the most sustainable and the best for both environment and human health.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Which 12 states have banned plastic bags?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In 2024, Colorado and Rhode Island enacted statewide bans on single-use plastic bags, joining 10 states that already had restrictions in place: California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, New Jersey, New York, Oregon, Vermont and Washington.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At their core, such bans are attempts to shift responsibility for plastic waste from consumers upstream — to retailers and, by extension, plastic producers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The same week California’s new ban became law, the state opened another front in its battle with plastic waste by \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2024/09/23/nx-s1-5123619/california-sues-exxonmobil-for-misleading-public-on-plastic-recycling\">filing a lawsuit against oil and gas giant ExxonMobil,\u003c/a> a leading producer of the polymers used to make single-use plastics.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“For decades, ExxonMobil has been deceiving the public to convince us that plastic recycling could solve the plastic waste and pollution crisis when they clearly knew this wasn’t possible,” California Attorney General Rob Bonta \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2024/09/23/nx-s1-5123619/california-sues-exxonmobil-for-misleading-public-on-plastic-recycling\">said\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bonta accused ExxonMobil of profiting from “convincing consumers that they were responsible for the proliferation of plastic waste through their own personal habits, rather than through Mobil’s and Exxon’s efforts to produce an increasing number of plastic products designed for single-use.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "ExxonMobil Touted Recycling as a Fix to Plastic Waste. That Was a Lie, California Says",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/california\">California\u003c/a> and a group of environmental nonprofits sued ExxonMobil on Monday, accusing the oil giant of intentionally misleading the public about how much \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1994014/uc-berkeley-chemists-can-now-vaporize-plastic-waste-into-molecular-building-blocks\">plastic waste\u003c/a> can actually be recycled, causing an inundation of plastic pollution and contamination in the state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>ExxonMobil is one of the biggest producers of polymers, which are used to manufacture plastic bags, bottles, snack wrappers, straws and cups. They ultimately disintegrate into microplastics, further contaminating the environment and human bodies, the first-of-its-kind lawsuit filed by Attorney General Rob Bonta’s office notes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://oag.ca.gov/system/files/attachments/press-docs/Complaint_People%20v.%20Exxon%20Mobil%20et%20al.pdf\">147-page complaint\u003c/a> calls plastic pollution a “devastating global environmental crisis” that is affecting California’s coastlines, bays and beaches.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“ExxonMobil has misled consumers and continues to do so by engaging in an aggressive campaign to deceive the public and perpetuate the myth that recycling will solve the crisis of plastic pollution,” Bonta said in a \u003ca href=\"https://oag.ca.gov/news/press-releases/attorney-general-bonta-sues-exxonmobil-deceiving-public-recyclability-plastic\">statement\u003c/a>. “For decades, ExxonMobil has dumped the cleanup and environmental costs of its deception and plastic production onto the public, and Californians are paying the price.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bonta’s office spent more than two years investigating its case, which included subpoenas to Exxon and other plastics groups seeking information on how the company allegedly deceived California residents about the recyclability of its products.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In his complaint, Bonta argues Exxon was aware of the environmental and health harms caused by plastic production, outlining the various ways in which the company lied about the recyclability of its products to increase production and, ultimately, profits.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Perceiving an urgent need to quell public outcry, Exxon and Mobil falsely claimed that plastic waste was being handled,” the complaint says. “Exxon and Mobil evidently calculated that it was safer to assert that landfilling and incineration were both capable of safely addressing plastic waste—even while knowing this was not the case—rather than risk being forced to slow their growing plastics businesses.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California’s lawsuit does not seek traditional damages but rather billions of dollars from Exxon in remedies to secure an abatement fund, disgorgement — the return of illegally or unethically obtained profits — and civil penalties.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=science_1994014 hero='https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/35/2020/01/RS36479_GettyImages-110129474_Justin-Sullivan-qut-1020x701.jpg']\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a \u003ca href=\"https://www.cpmlegal.com/media/news/15193_2024-09-23%20COMPLAINT.pdf\">separate civil lawsuit\u003c/a>, the Sierra Club, Surfrider Foundation, Heal the Bay and San Francisco Baykeeper argue that ExxonMobil engaged in a decades-long operation to “bury the truth” about plastic recycling. That lawsuit seeks compensation for cleanup costs incurred by the organizations, as well as injunctive relief.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“San Francisco Bay has some of the highest levels of microplastics in the world,” Sejal Choksi-Chugh, executive director of San Francisco Baykeeper, said in a statement. “People and wildlife around the Bay deserve to live free from exposure to toxic petrochemicals and microplastics.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Both lawsuits are filed in San Francisco County Superior Court, and in a joint press conference, plaintiffs said they would coordinate prosecution.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Our nonprofits, with the mission they’ve had for decades, could not sit by and say, ‘Well, someone else is taking the mantle, so we’ll sit back,’” said Niall P. McCarthy with Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy, LLP, which is representing the environmental groups. “I think the joint public-private partnership here is going to be a tremendous benefit to the overall prosecution of the case against Exxon.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a statement, Exxon turned the blame back onto California leaders.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“For decades, California officials have known their recycling system isn’t effective,” wrote an Exxon spokesperson. “They failed to act, and now they seek to blame others. Instead of suing us, they could have worked with us to fix the problem and keep plastic out of landfills.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bonta’s office \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11961542/it-is-time-they-pay-california-sues-big-oil-over-decades-of-damage-and-deception\">filed a similar lawsuit\u003c/a> last year, accusing big oil companies of deceiving the public about climate change. Exxon is a defendant in that ongoing suit, too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/author/carlysevern\">Carly Severn\u003c/a> contributed to this report.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/tag/california\">California\u003c/a> and a group of environmental nonprofits sued ExxonMobil on Monday, accusing the oil giant of intentionally misleading the public about how much \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/science/1994014/uc-berkeley-chemists-can-now-vaporize-plastic-waste-into-molecular-building-blocks\">plastic waste\u003c/a> can actually be recycled, causing an inundation of plastic pollution and contamination in the state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>ExxonMobil is one of the biggest producers of polymers, which are used to manufacture plastic bags, bottles, snack wrappers, straws and cups. They ultimately disintegrate into microplastics, further contaminating the environment and human bodies, the first-of-its-kind lawsuit filed by Attorney General Rob Bonta’s office notes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The \u003ca href=\"https://oag.ca.gov/system/files/attachments/press-docs/Complaint_People%20v.%20Exxon%20Mobil%20et%20al.pdf\">147-page complaint\u003c/a> calls plastic pollution a “devastating global environmental crisis” that is affecting California’s coastlines, bays and beaches.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“ExxonMobil has misled consumers and continues to do so by engaging in an aggressive campaign to deceive the public and perpetuate the myth that recycling will solve the crisis of plastic pollution,” Bonta said in a \u003ca href=\"https://oag.ca.gov/news/press-releases/attorney-general-bonta-sues-exxonmobil-deceiving-public-recyclability-plastic\">statement\u003c/a>. “For decades, ExxonMobil has dumped the cleanup and environmental costs of its deception and plastic production onto the public, and Californians are paying the price.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bonta’s office spent more than two years investigating its case, which included subpoenas to Exxon and other plastics groups seeking information on how the company allegedly deceived California residents about the recyclability of its products.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In his complaint, Bonta argues Exxon was aware of the environmental and health harms caused by plastic production, outlining the various ways in which the company lied about the recyclability of its products to increase production and, ultimately, profits.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Perceiving an urgent need to quell public outcry, Exxon and Mobil falsely claimed that plastic waste was being handled,” the complaint says. “Exxon and Mobil evidently calculated that it was safer to assert that landfilling and incineration were both capable of safely addressing plastic waste—even while knowing this was not the case—rather than risk being forced to slow their growing plastics businesses.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California’s lawsuit does not seek traditional damages but rather billions of dollars from Exxon in remedies to secure an abatement fund, disgorgement — the return of illegally or unethically obtained profits — and civil penalties.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a \u003ca href=\"https://www.cpmlegal.com/media/news/15193_2024-09-23%20COMPLAINT.pdf\">separate civil lawsuit\u003c/a>, the Sierra Club, Surfrider Foundation, Heal the Bay and San Francisco Baykeeper argue that ExxonMobil engaged in a decades-long operation to “bury the truth” about plastic recycling. That lawsuit seeks compensation for cleanup costs incurred by the organizations, as well as injunctive relief.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“San Francisco Bay has some of the highest levels of microplastics in the world,” Sejal Choksi-Chugh, executive director of San Francisco Baykeeper, said in a statement. “People and wildlife around the Bay deserve to live free from exposure to toxic petrochemicals and microplastics.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Both lawsuits are filed in San Francisco County Superior Court, and in a joint press conference, plaintiffs said they would coordinate prosecution.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Our nonprofits, with the mission they’ve had for decades, could not sit by and say, ‘Well, someone else is taking the mantle, so we’ll sit back,’” said Niall P. McCarthy with Cotchett, Pitre & McCarthy, LLP, which is representing the environmental groups. “I think the joint public-private partnership here is going to be a tremendous benefit to the overall prosecution of the case against Exxon.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a statement, Exxon turned the blame back onto California leaders.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“For decades, California officials have known their recycling system isn’t effective,” wrote an Exxon spokesperson. “They failed to act, and now they seek to blame others. Instead of suing us, they could have worked with us to fix the problem and keep plastic out of landfills.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bonta’s office \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11961542/it-is-time-they-pay-california-sues-big-oil-over-decades-of-damage-and-deception\">filed a similar lawsuit\u003c/a> last year, accusing big oil companies of deceiving the public about climate change. Exxon is a defendant in that ongoing suit, too.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/author/carlysevern\">Carly Severn\u003c/a> contributed to this report.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"slug": "california-investigates-whether-reusable-plastic-bags-are-actually-recyclable-as-required-by-law",
"title": "California Investigates Whether Reusable Plastic Bags Are Actually Recyclable as Required by Law",
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"content": "\u003cp>Since California adopted \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/5410eb17a1e042ca9d5f9360ea0c08bf\">the nation’s first ban on single-use plastic shopping bags\u003c/a> in 2014, most grocery stores have turned to thicker, reusable plastic bags that are supposed to be recyclable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Attorney General Rob Bonta is now investigating whether the bags are truly recyclable as required by law.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’ve all been to the store and forgotten to bring our reusable bags,” Bonta said recently. “At least the plastic bags we buy at the register for 10 cents have those ‘chasing arrows’ that say they are 100% recyclable, right? Perhaps wrong.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He asked six bag manufacturers to back up their claims that the bags can be recycled and threatened legal action that could include banning the bags temporarily or issuing multimillion-dollar fines.[pullquote align=\"right\" size=\"medium\" citation=\"Rob Bonta, California attorney general\"]‘At least the plastic bags we buy at the register for 10 cents have those ‘chasing arrows’ that say they are 100% recyclable, right? Perhaps wrong.’[/pullquote]His office declined to say last week how many of the companies responded, citing an ongoing investigation. The American Chemistry Council, a plastics industry group, said that manufacturers disagree with Bonta’s characterization.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Other states, including \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/hawaii-north-america-us-news-ap-top-news-environment-03a65c83343e44be87cb4d526fdd437e\">New York\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/legislature-new-jersey-legislation-state-legislature-bills-691ebe19836ad7143889a756a187856c\">New Jersey\u003c/a> and Oregon, have followed California in banning single-use plastic bags. Beyond California, only a handful of states require that stores take back plastic bags for recycling, with Maine first adopting such a law in 1991, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Policy experts and advocates estimate that \u003ca href=\"https://www.lastbeachcleanup.org/_files/ugd/dba7d7_5ae55cdb66d241239e8ae123c96ec9b8.pdf\">just 6% of plastics are recycled in the United States (PDF)\u003c/a>, with the remaining burned, trashed or littered. More plastic bags ended up in California landfills in 2021 compared with 2018, according to data from the state’s recycling department.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Californians Against Waste Executive Director Mark Murray in part blames \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/wa-state-wire-environment-id-state-wire-oregon-virus-outbreak-b58cd897fb1275d8a4bdcb29528b4cce\">pandemic policies\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Consumers are supposed to be able to return their plastic bags to grocery stores and other retailers. But many removed their bag recycling bins during the early days of the pandemic, fearing contamination.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For the system to work, retailers must collect the bags and sell them back to manufacturers for use in making new bags that must include 40% recycled content and be reusable at least 125 times. Murray suspects that most are reused once to hold other trash.[aside label=\"Related Stories\" postID=\"news_11930040,news_11901288\"]“That’s not meeting the standard and it may be time to phase these bags out,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The California Retailers Association declined comment because it said each retailer has its own policy, and the California Grocers Association did not respond to a request for comment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As of now, makers of the bags get to self-certify to the state that their bags can be recycled. But Bonta said that requires a comprehensive system to collect, process and sell the used bags, none of which exist. Putting the bags in most curbside recycling bins interferes with recycling other products by clogging equipment and increasing the risk of worker injury, he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Plastic bags and similar products are “a top form of contamination in curbside recycling bins,” California’s Statewide Commission on Recycling Markets and Curbside Recycling wrote in a 2021 report.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bonta asked six manufacturers — Novolex, Revolution, Inteplast, Advance Polybag, Metro Polybag and Papier-Mettler — to prove their bags can be recycled in California. His office hasn’t said if they all responded, citing an “active and ongoing investigation.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Revolution Chief Executive Sean Whiteley said the company has been recycling more than 300 million pounds of plastic material annually for decades and is “confident in our own sustainability and compliance record.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He noted lawmakers publicly introduced the \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201320140SB270\">single-use bag ban legislation\u003c/a> in 2014 at one of the company’s Southern California subsidiaries.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“At our core, we are an environmental recycling company that also makes sustainable plastic solutions,” he said in a statement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11936517\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11936517\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/12/GettyImages-1408785394-800x527.jpg\" alt=\"A shot from above of the inside of a recycling plant with a conveyor belt full of recycled goods and workers sifting through them.\" width=\"800\" height=\"527\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/12/GettyImages-1408785394-800x527.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/12/GettyImages-1408785394-1020x672.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/12/GettyImages-1408785394-160x105.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/12/GettyImages-1408785394.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Workers sort plastic from a conveyor transporting cardboard and other recyclables at the Recology central recycling warehouse on Pier 96 in San Francisco, Dec. 30, 2020. It’s estimated that just 6% of plastics are recycled in the United States, with the remaining burned, trashed or littered. \u003ccite>(Paul Chinn/The San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Novolex said it is “committed to complying with all state laws and regulations.” The company responded to Bonta’s request but declined to share its full response with The Associated Press, a spokesman said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Novolex’s bags have been certified as eligible for recycling by an independent laboratory and, therefore, must be marked that way, the company said in a statement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The other four companies did not respond to multiple emailed requests.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Manufacturers are “aggressively working so that all plastic packaging that is manufactured is remade into new plastics,” said Joshua Baca, vice president of plastics at the American Chemistry Council.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s not Bonta’s first plastics-related clash with industry. Earlier this year he \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/business-environment-california-subpoenas-fdff6e481ac7b8848c3c22b02d88d565\">subpoenaed ExxonMobil\u003c/a> as part of what he called a first-of-its-kind broader investigation into the petroleum industry and the proliferation of plastic waste.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "Attorney General Rob Bonta has asked bag manufacturers to back up their claims the bags can be recycled as required by law and has threatened legal action that could include banning their use or issuing fines.",
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"title": "California Investigates Whether Reusable Plastic Bags Are Actually Recyclable as Required by Law | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Since California adopted \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/5410eb17a1e042ca9d5f9360ea0c08bf\">the nation’s first ban on single-use plastic shopping bags\u003c/a> in 2014, most grocery stores have turned to thicker, reusable plastic bags that are supposed to be recyclable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Attorney General Rob Bonta is now investigating whether the bags are truly recyclable as required by law.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’ve all been to the store and forgotten to bring our reusable bags,” Bonta said recently. “At least the plastic bags we buy at the register for 10 cents have those ‘chasing arrows’ that say they are 100% recyclable, right? Perhaps wrong.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He asked six bag manufacturers to back up their claims that the bags can be recycled and threatened legal action that could include banning the bags temporarily or issuing multimillion-dollar fines.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "‘At least the plastic bags we buy at the register for 10 cents have those ‘chasing arrows’ that say they are 100% recyclable, right? Perhaps wrong.’",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>His office declined to say last week how many of the companies responded, citing an ongoing investigation. The American Chemistry Council, a plastics industry group, said that manufacturers disagree with Bonta’s characterization.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Other states, including \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/hawaii-north-america-us-news-ap-top-news-environment-03a65c83343e44be87cb4d526fdd437e\">New York\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/legislature-new-jersey-legislation-state-legislature-bills-691ebe19836ad7143889a756a187856c\">New Jersey\u003c/a> and Oregon, have followed California in banning single-use plastic bags. Beyond California, only a handful of states require that stores take back plastic bags for recycling, with Maine first adopting such a law in 1991, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Policy experts and advocates estimate that \u003ca href=\"https://www.lastbeachcleanup.org/_files/ugd/dba7d7_5ae55cdb66d241239e8ae123c96ec9b8.pdf\">just 6% of plastics are recycled in the United States (PDF)\u003c/a>, with the remaining burned, trashed or littered. More plastic bags ended up in California landfills in 2021 compared with 2018, according to data from the state’s recycling department.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Californians Against Waste Executive Director Mark Murray in part blames \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/wa-state-wire-environment-id-state-wire-oregon-virus-outbreak-b58cd897fb1275d8a4bdcb29528b4cce\">pandemic policies\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Consumers are supposed to be able to return their plastic bags to grocery stores and other retailers. But many removed their bag recycling bins during the early days of the pandemic, fearing contamination.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For the system to work, retailers must collect the bags and sell them back to manufacturers for use in making new bags that must include 40% recycled content and be reusable at least 125 times. Murray suspects that most are reused once to hold other trash.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“That’s not meeting the standard and it may be time to phase these bags out,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The California Retailers Association declined comment because it said each retailer has its own policy, and the California Grocers Association did not respond to a request for comment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As of now, makers of the bags get to self-certify to the state that their bags can be recycled. But Bonta said that requires a comprehensive system to collect, process and sell the used bags, none of which exist. Putting the bags in most curbside recycling bins interferes with recycling other products by clogging equipment and increasing the risk of worker injury, he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Plastic bags and similar products are “a top form of contamination in curbside recycling bins,” California’s Statewide Commission on Recycling Markets and Curbside Recycling wrote in a 2021 report.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bonta asked six manufacturers — Novolex, Revolution, Inteplast, Advance Polybag, Metro Polybag and Papier-Mettler — to prove their bags can be recycled in California. His office hasn’t said if they all responded, citing an “active and ongoing investigation.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Revolution Chief Executive Sean Whiteley said the company has been recycling more than 300 million pounds of plastic material annually for decades and is “confident in our own sustainability and compliance record.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He noted lawmakers publicly introduced the \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201320140SB270\">single-use bag ban legislation\u003c/a> in 2014 at one of the company’s Southern California subsidiaries.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“At our core, we are an environmental recycling company that also makes sustainable plastic solutions,” he said in a statement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11936517\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11936517\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/12/GettyImages-1408785394-800x527.jpg\" alt=\"A shot from above of the inside of a recycling plant with a conveyor belt full of recycled goods and workers sifting through them.\" width=\"800\" height=\"527\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/12/GettyImages-1408785394-800x527.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/12/GettyImages-1408785394-1020x672.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/12/GettyImages-1408785394-160x105.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/12/GettyImages-1408785394.jpg 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Workers sort plastic from a conveyor transporting cardboard and other recyclables at the Recology central recycling warehouse on Pier 96 in San Francisco, Dec. 30, 2020. It’s estimated that just 6% of plastics are recycled in the United States, with the remaining burned, trashed or littered. \u003ccite>(Paul Chinn/The San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Novolex said it is “committed to complying with all state laws and regulations.” The company responded to Bonta’s request but declined to share its full response with The Associated Press, a spokesman said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Novolex’s bags have been certified as eligible for recycling by an independent laboratory and, therefore, must be marked that way, the company said in a statement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The other four companies did not respond to multiple emailed requests.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Manufacturers are “aggressively working so that all plastic packaging that is manufactured is remade into new plastics,” said Joshua Baca, vice president of plastics at the American Chemistry Council.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s not Bonta’s first plastics-related clash with industry. Earlier this year he \u003ca href=\"https://apnews.com/article/business-environment-california-subpoenas-fdff6e481ac7b8848c3c22b02d88d565\">subpoenaed ExxonMobil\u003c/a> as part of what he called a first-of-its-kind broader investigation into the petroleum industry and the proliferation of plastic waste.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"slug": "you-cant-recycle-your-way-out-californias-plastic-problem-and-what-to-do-about-it",
"title": "'You Can't Recycle Your Way Out': California's Plastic Problem and What We Can Do About It",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cem>Updated Nov. 2, 2022: This story was originally published Jan. 24, 2022. Since then, \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220SB54\">a version of Senate Bill 54\u003c/a>, covered in this article, was signed into law in June. The new law requires most single-use plastic packaging and foodware be reusable, compostable, refillable or recyclable by 2032 — with definitions for what is “recyclable” to be set by state agency CalRecycle. Plastic producers will also be required to pay into a plastic pollution mitigation fund. Because of the passage of SB 54, proponents of a voter initiative addressing very similar goals removed their measure from the November 2022 ballot.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Original Article:\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California dumps more than 12,000 tons of plastic into landfills every day — enough to fill 219 Olympic-size swimming pools, according to \u003ca href=\"https://www2.calrecycle.ca.gov/Publications/Details/1666\">CalRecycle\u003c/a>, the state’s recycling and waste management agency. The state boasts one of the highest recycling rates in the country, especially of cans and bottles, but despite decades of investment in infrastructure and machinery, the system remains overwhelmed by plastic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A trip to a recycling processing center helps explain why.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Inside one of Republic Services’ massive facilities in Milpitas, an impressive array of high-tech machines sort through tons of material from residents’ recycling bins, separating metal from plastic from paper. Some of the machines use magnets, eddy currents or puffs of air blown through hundreds of nozzles to sort the materials; others identify different kinds of plastic with optical scanners. Whizzing conveyor belts ferry it all from one machine to the next, until the recyclables are sorted, baled, and eventually shipped and sold.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Not all plastic is created equal\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>One of plastic recycling’s success stories is HDPE, or high-density polyethylene, the translucent plastic commonly used in milk jugs, shampoo bottles and cutting boards.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In today’s marketplace, this is the most valuable commodity that we produce at this location,” said Pete Keller, the company’s vice president of sustainability. “These materials are non-pigmented, so any downstream consumer of this material could turn it into any color they want to.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>HDPE is currently fetching a price of $1 per pound, or over $2,000 per ton, according to Keller. “I wish we had more of it,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That price is partially driven by demand resulting from so-called sustainability commitments major manufacturers have made to use recycled plastic. Naked Juice, for instance, \u003ca href=\"https://www.nakedjuice.com/goodness-outside/\">makes its juice bottles\u003c/a> from 100% post-consumer recycled plastic, while Danone has \u003ca href=\"https://www.danone.com/impact/planet/packaging-positive-circular-economy.html\">pledged\u003c/a> to make all of its evian water bottles from 100% recycled plastic by 2025.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>https://youtu.be/-bTCCB6wbks\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a push to boost demand for plastic that is recycled, like HDPE, California lawmakers in 2020 passed a “minimum recycled content” bill. \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201920200AB793\">Assembly Bill 793\u003c/a>, which went into effect on Jan. 1, mandates that most plastic beverage bottles contain a minimum amount of recycled content. Specifically, all plastic bottles that can be redeemed for $0.05 or $0.10 must contain no less than:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>15% recycled plastic starting Jan. 1, 2022\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>25% recycled plastic starting Jan. 1, 2025\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>50% recycled plastic starting Jan. 1, 2030\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>The law, one of the first of its kind in the nation, is targeted at bottle manufacturers, most of whom still use new plastic — or “virgin resin” — which is typically cheaper than recycled plastic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11901454\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11901454 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/01/RS52999_IMG_5331_v2-qut-800x450.jpeg\" alt=\"Workers in green safety jackets and helmets sort trash along a conveyor belt. \" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/01/RS52999_IMG_5331_v2-qut-800x450.jpeg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/01/RS52999_IMG_5331_v2-qut-1020x574.jpeg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/01/RS52999_IMG_5331_v2-qut-160x90.jpeg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/01/RS52999_IMG_5331_v2-qut-1536x864.jpeg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/01/RS52999_IMG_5331_v2-qut.jpeg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Workers at Recology’s San Francisco recycling facility pick out plastic that can’t be recycled, including plastic bags, on July 16, 2021. \u003ccite>(Monica Lam/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In addition to HDPE, PET plastic, or polyethylene terephthalate, can be recycled into clamshells — the clear boxes that strawberries are often packed in — or spun into polyester for clothing. Some denser plastics can also be recycled into pipes, plastic lumber, carpets or buckets.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But current recycling markets only accept a fraction of the plastic that’s marked with the three-arrow recycling symbol. Until a few years ago, this problem was largely concealed because the U.S. shipped most of its plastic waste to China, where it was ostensibly being recycled. But in 2018, citing its own environmental concerns, \u003ca href=\"https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-20741-9#:~:text=In%202017%2C%20China%20announced%20an,are%20enormous%20but%20yet%20unexamined\">China began banning imports of most solid materials\u003c/a>, including most plastics.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s forcing domestic recyclers to confront the real challenges of recycling plastic. For one, plastic comes in a myriad of chemical formulations, densities, transparencies and colors. Many products are made of mixed materials: a bottle of hand soap, for example, might contain four different kinds of plastic, plus a metal spring nestled inside the pump.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even if there were markets for all these different kinds of plastic, sorting and separating them would be a gargantuan task.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s just so many types of plastic. We can’t recycle them all. We can’t manage them all,” said Robert Reed, public relations manager for Recology, which handles San Francisco’s waste and recycling. “You can’t recycle your way out of the larger plastic problem.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So most plastic — in fact, almost all of it — ends up in landfills: plastic forks and knives, coffee cups and takeout boxes, used cosmetics, styrofoam trays, and most kinds of plastic bags, from shopping bags to those used for frozen peas.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11901455\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11901455 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/01/RS53000_IMG_5387_edit_v3-qut-800x532.jpeg\" alt=\"Three men talk underneath an open-air canopy in a parking lot. \" width=\"800\" height=\"532\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/01/RS53000_IMG_5387_edit_v3-qut-800x532.jpeg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/01/RS53000_IMG_5387_edit_v3-qut-1020x678.jpeg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/01/RS53000_IMG_5387_edit_v3-qut-160x106.jpeg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/01/RS53000_IMG_5387_edit_v3-qut-1536x1021.jpeg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/01/RS53000_IMG_5387_edit_v3-qut.jpeg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">State Assemblymember Phil Ting visits a prototype for a mobile recycling program that aims to bring recycling collection trucks to various San Francisco neighborhoods, on July 16, 2021. \u003ccite>(Monica Lam/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch3>Legislative efforts bogged down\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>San Francisco Democratic Assemblymember Phil Ting, who introduced AB 793, has tried to expand the law’s reach by proposing a similar bill requiring the recycling of \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB478\">thermoform plastic\u003c/a>, a group of plastics formed using heat. That legislation, however, got bogged down last year over concerns that infrastructure wasn’t yet in place to accommodate an additional plastic recycling mandate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In fact, many of the more ambitious plastic recycling-related bills floated last year didn’t survive, including \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billVotesClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB1371\">AB 1371\u003c/a>, introduced by state Assemblymember Laura Friedman, D-Burbank, which would have banned the use of plastic packaging for online purchases. The bill failed to receive the 41 votes necessary to make it out of the Assembly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Globally, the e-commerce industry uses nearly 2.1 billion, with a ‘B,’ pounds of plastic packaging. … With almost a third of the world’s population now buying online, the amount of plastic packaging generated is estimated to double by 2025,” Friedman told the Assembly Natural Resources Committee last April. “This is low-hanging fruit, members, and something that is really, really a scourge.”[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Jennifer Fearing, president, Fearless Advocacy\"]‘I can’t tell you and point to a particular member of the Legislature who’s been ‘bought,’ but I can tell you, we are deeply outgunned on the environmental front.’[/pullquote]“Even with our super-duper Democratic majority and consistently two-thirds of Californians saying this is a huge problem that needs to get addressed, we have really struggled to get enough votes,” said Jennifer Fearing, an environmental lobbyist who helped promote AB 1371.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, state Sen. Ben Allen, D-Santa Monica, last year shelved \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220SB54\">SB 54\u003c/a>, his bill to ban all single-use plastic products that aren’t recyclable or compostable — opting to buy more time to work out details with various stakeholders, in the face of formidable industry opposition.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>‘Deeply outgunned’\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>The list of trade groups that weighed in against the bill underscores the depth of plastic’s reach within multiple industries. During an early hearing on SB 54, associations representing farming and agriculture, pet food, personal care, household products and restaurants voiced their opposition — in addition to the Plastics Industry Association, the American Institute for Packaging and the Environment, and the Flexible Packaging Association.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I can’t tell you and point to a particular member of the Legislature who’s been ‘bought,’” said Fearing. “But I can tell you, we are deeply outgunned on the environmental front.”[aside postID=news_11898724,news_11883400,lowdown_29456 label=\"Related Stories\"]More incremental efforts to reduce plastic waste, however, have proved fruitful, including a \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220SB343\">“Truth in Labeling” bill\u003c/a>, approved by lawmakers last year, which prohibits manufacturers from calling their products recyclable or using recycling symbols or other suggestions of recyclability unless they meet CalRecycle’s criteria. The agency has until Jan. 1, 2024, to formalize a list of products it deems recyclable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tim Shestek, the American Chemistry Council’s senior director of state affairs, said his organization opposed SB 54 and several other bills last year because they failed to recognize why so many businesses use plastic over other materials in the first place: its durability and value.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Does it go too far? Does it provide opportunities for the business community to comply in a reasonable fashion?” Shestek said. “In our view, it didn’t take into account some of the other trade-offs that we like to discuss: lightweighting, fuel efficiency, greenhouse gas emissions associated with potential alternatives.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, Shestek acknowledged that more can be done to cut down on plastic waste. His group, for example, has \u003ca href=\"https://www.americanchemistry.com/chemistry-in-america/chemistry-sustainability/circularity\">set goals\u003c/a> for its members to produce 100% recyclable plastic packaging containing at least 30% recycled plastic by 2030.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Our focus is trying to get that circular loop completely closed and to be part of the solution,” he said. “I think we recognize that we have a role to play.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11901452\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11901452 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/01/RS52997_DSC_1513_edit-qut-800x450.jpeg\" alt=\"Two women standing near the bay pour water samples.\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/01/RS52997_DSC_1513_edit-qut-800x450.jpeg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/01/RS52997_DSC_1513_edit-qut-1020x574.jpeg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/01/RS52997_DSC_1513_edit-qut-160x90.jpeg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/01/RS52997_DSC_1513_edit-qut-1536x864.jpeg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/01/RS52997_DSC_1513_edit-qut.jpeg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Rebecca Sutton, left, and Alicia Gilbreath of the San Francisco Estuary Institute strain water collected from the San Francisco Bay through two sieves to sample for microplastics. \u003ccite>(Monica Lam/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch3>Microplastics and human health\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Since plastic was first invented in the mid-1800s, worldwide production has grown to an estimated 400 million tons annually. In the U.S., \u003ca href=\"https://www.epa.gov/facts-and-figures-about-materials-waste-and-recycling/plastics-material-specific-data\">less than 9%\u003c/a> of plastic gets recycled, according to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates. Meanwhile, the production of plastic, which is made from petroleum and natural gas, is projected to increase as the fossil-fuel industry faces competition from alternative energy sources. Dozens of plastic plants are currently being built or planned, most of them on the Gulf Coast and in the Ohio River Valley.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While a fair bit of attention has been paid to the impact of plastic pollution on marine animals, who often ingest it, research on human health has only recently started to ramp up. In 2018, California legislators directed the State Water Resources Control Board to \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201720180SB1422\">start studying levels of microplastics\u003c/a> — plastic particles smaller than 5 millimeters — detected in municipal drinking water supplies. Some microplastics, like those used in adhesives or paints, are manufactured at a small size, while some are generated when larger pieces of plastic degrade over time. [pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Scott Coffin, senior scientist, California State Water Resources Control Board\"]‘I think a better question would be, where have microplastics not been found? We’ve found them from Mount Everest to the Mariana Trench. … I’m not sure that there exists a place that is not impacted by plastic pollution.’[/pullquote]“One of the reasons that plastic in drinking water has received recent attention, especially by California’s legislators, is that we know that the amount is increasing,” said Scott Coffin, a senior scientist with the state water board. “Additionally, plastic never goes away. So these two factors, they necessitate some concern.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Coffin’s team is tasked with eventually establishing safety thresholds for the level of microplastics in the state’s water supply. He estimates that there are more than \u003ca href=\"https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.est.1c00976\">2,400 chemicals\u003c/a> commonly added to plastic that are potentially dangerous for human health, including known toxins like bisphenol A (commonly known as BPA), phthalates, and a class of flame retardants called \u003ca href=\"https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/pbde.html\">PBDEs\u003c/a>, or polybrominated diphenyl ethers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You can think of plastic as a carrier for other chemicals, and in many ways, it’s like a sponge,” Coffin said. “Once it’s in the environment, it can pick up all of the other pollutants that are already there.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some microplastics are even small enough to enter into our cells, he noted. \u003ca href=\"https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4923/13/7/921\">One German study\u003c/a> found microplastics in the placentas of pregnant women — on both the maternal and fetal side.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The smaller the particle, the deeper it’s going to make it into our bodies, and the more likely it is to interact with our cells, causing toxicity,” Coffin said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One major \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfei.org/projects/microplastics\">study \u003c/a>published in 2019 by the San Francisco Estuary Institute found microplastics throughout the San Francisco Bay — in the water, the mud, and both stormwater runoff and treated wastewater. The study’s authors concluded that the bay likely has higher levels of microplastic pollution than most major water bodies in the United States because it’s surrounded by dense, urban areas and has a relatively restricted water flow. The two most common particles found were fibers from clothing and bits from tires.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We found microplastics in just about every sample we collected,” said Rebecca Sutton, who led the three-year study. “This is pretty consistent with what you see all around the world. Pretty much everywhere you look for it, you are going to find microplastics.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Coffin echoed that sentiment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think a better question would be, where have microplastics not been found?” he said. “We’ve found them from Mount Everest to the Mariana Trench. Every organism that we’ve ever looked at, we’ve found some levels, and at this point, I’m not sure that there exists a place that is not impacted by plastic pollution.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>The climate change impact\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>With that grim assessment in mind, the students in Jacqueline Omania’s fifth grade class at Oxford Elementary in Berkeley have set themselves an ambitious goal: to make so little trash over the course of the school year that the entire class’s garbage fits into a tiny little container about the size of a jam jar.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The larger issue is that these youth are growing up in a climate crisis,” said Omania.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The main type of trash that ends up in the class’s container is plastic, so for starters, every student brings a reusable cutlery kit to school to use while eating lunch. Inside the classroom, they use unpainted pencils so that the shavings can be composted. Birthday parties feature home-baked treats instead of anything that comes in a plastic wrapper.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Omania’s students were part of a successful campaign to pass a citywide ordinance in 2019 \u003ca href=\"https://www.berkeleyside.org/2019/01/23/berkeley-says-good-riddance-mostly-to-disposable-plastic-foodware\">limiting single-use plastics in Berkeley restaurants\u003c/a>. Her students even showed city councilmembers the tiny container they were using as a garbage can.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11901451\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11901451 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/01/RS52996_Copy-of-beach-cleanup-2_edit-qut-800x450.jpeg\" alt=\"Three young people stand on a rock pile. One hands an orange bucket to another.\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/01/RS52996_Copy-of-beach-cleanup-2_edit-qut-800x450.jpeg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/01/RS52996_Copy-of-beach-cleanup-2_edit-qut-1020x574.jpeg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/01/RS52996_Copy-of-beach-cleanup-2_edit-qut-160x90.jpeg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/01/RS52996_Copy-of-beach-cleanup-2_edit-qut-1536x864.jpeg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/01/RS52996_Copy-of-beach-cleanup-2_edit-qut.jpeg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Students Sam (left), Alina and Sasha pick up trash off the beach at the Berkeley Marina, Oct. 7, 2021. \u003ccite>(Rick Santangelo/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I believe the adults need to step up so we don’t make the environmental waste in the first place,” Oxford student Jae Marie Howard told a crowded council meeting on the night the ordinance was approved.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>More recently, Omania’s students helped successfully push the Berkeley Unified School District to include \u003ca href=\"https://www.dailycal.org/2021/11/04/berkeley-school-board-passes-65k-climate-literacy-resolution/\">climate literacy in the K-12 curriculum\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Jacqueline Omania, teacher, Oxford Elementary\"]‘The larger issue is that these youth are growing up in a climate crisis.’[/pullquote]An increasing number of studies draw a connection between the production of plastic and climate change. One \u003ca href=\"https://www.beyondplastics.org/plastics-and-climate\">report\u003c/a> from a Vermont-based environmental group found that “as of 2020, the U.S. plastics industry is responsible for at least 232 million tons of CO2e [carbon dioxide equivalent] gas emissions per year. This amount is equivalent to the average emissions from 116 average-sized [500-megawatt] coal-fired power plants.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>New opportunities\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Entrepreneurs have been tapping into growing public awareness about plastic waste. Dispatch Goods, a San Francisco-based start-up, is partnering with local restaurants, like Zuni Cafe and Mixt, to provide reusable takeout containers made of stainless steel. Customers must pay extra for the service, which includes picking up the used containers from their homes, but many do it willingly because it alleviates “eco-guilt,” said company CEO Lindsey Hoell.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s like an “avocado upcharge,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have data showing that we’re driving business to restaurants that are making that shift,” she added. “It’s not just a sustainability decision, but it’s a good business decision.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]At Fillgood’s small storefront in Berkeley, customers can refill their own containers with common household products like dish detergent and shampoo, while LimeLoop, another Bay Area-based start-up, makes reusable packaging for shipping — among the growing number of novel business ventures offering alternatives to plastic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This fall, Californians will get to weigh in directly on just how much the state should regulate and limit plastic production and consumption. The \u003ca href=\"https://ballotpedia.org/California_Plastic_Waste_Reduction_Regulations_Initiative_(2022)\">California Plastic Waste Reduction Regulations Initiative\u003c/a>, which has qualified for the statewide ballot in November, would not only push through some of the efforts legislators failed to pass last year, but also levy a $0.01 fee — which critics call a tax — on all plastic packaging and disposable food service items.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The ACC’s Shestek said the ballot measure is “flawed” and hopes instead to work directly with lawmakers “to hash something out that gets to the same objective, but in a fashion that isn’t so punitive.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Allen, the state lawmaker, sees the initiative as a good opportunity to advance his SB 54 legislation, banning single-use plastic products that aren’t recyclable or compostable. He’s confident, he said, the business community will work with him to avoid the costly political hurdle of winning a statewide vote. He’s already moved the bill out of the inactive file and back to the Senate floor to be considered during the 2022 legislative session.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The ballot measure polls very well. It’s very popular,” Allen said. “And while it’s true [that] industry could raise a lot of money and try to defeat it, I think there’s also going to be some serious money raised on the environmental side. It could really be a knock-down-drag-out fight at the end of the day.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED’s Crystal Consaul and Kat Shok contributed to this story. Want more? Check out our half-hour documentary on this topic, \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bTCCB6wbks\">California’s Plastic Problem\u003c/a>. Are you a teacher? Here’s more about Jacqueline Omania’s \u003ca href=\"https://sites.google.com/bennington.edu/plastic-free-planet/home?authuser=0\">curriculum\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "Like much of the rest of the world, California uses and discards far more plastic than it has the capacity to recycle, with about 4.5 million tons ending up in landfills every year. But some state lawmakers and new business ventures are aiming to significantly reduce that amount of waste.",
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"title": "'You Can't Recycle Your Way Out': California's Plastic Problem and What We Can Do About It | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cem>Updated Nov. 2, 2022: This story was originally published Jan. 24, 2022. Since then, \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220SB54\">a version of Senate Bill 54\u003c/a>, covered in this article, was signed into law in June. The new law requires most single-use plastic packaging and foodware be reusable, compostable, refillable or recyclable by 2032 — with definitions for what is “recyclable” to be set by state agency CalRecycle. Plastic producers will also be required to pay into a plastic pollution mitigation fund. Because of the passage of SB 54, proponents of a voter initiative addressing very similar goals removed their measure from the November 2022 ballot.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cstrong>Original Article:\u003c/strong>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California dumps more than 12,000 tons of plastic into landfills every day — enough to fill 219 Olympic-size swimming pools, according to \u003ca href=\"https://www2.calrecycle.ca.gov/Publications/Details/1666\">CalRecycle\u003c/a>, the state’s recycling and waste management agency. The state boasts one of the highest recycling rates in the country, especially of cans and bottles, but despite decades of investment in infrastructure and machinery, the system remains overwhelmed by plastic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A trip to a recycling processing center helps explain why.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Inside one of Republic Services’ massive facilities in Milpitas, an impressive array of high-tech machines sort through tons of material from residents’ recycling bins, separating metal from plastic from paper. Some of the machines use magnets, eddy currents or puffs of air blown through hundreds of nozzles to sort the materials; others identify different kinds of plastic with optical scanners. Whizzing conveyor belts ferry it all from one machine to the next, until the recyclables are sorted, baled, and eventually shipped and sold.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>Not all plastic is created equal\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>One of plastic recycling’s success stories is HDPE, or high-density polyethylene, the translucent plastic commonly used in milk jugs, shampoo bottles and cutting boards.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“In today’s marketplace, this is the most valuable commodity that we produce at this location,” said Pete Keller, the company’s vice president of sustainability. “These materials are non-pigmented, so any downstream consumer of this material could turn it into any color they want to.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>HDPE is currently fetching a price of $1 per pound, or over $2,000 per ton, according to Keller. “I wish we had more of it,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That price is partially driven by demand resulting from so-called sustainability commitments major manufacturers have made to use recycled plastic. Naked Juice, for instance, \u003ca href=\"https://www.nakedjuice.com/goodness-outside/\">makes its juice bottles\u003c/a> from 100% post-consumer recycled plastic, while Danone has \u003ca href=\"https://www.danone.com/impact/planet/packaging-positive-circular-economy.html\">pledged\u003c/a> to make all of its evian water bottles from 100% recycled plastic by 2025.\u003c/p>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutube'>\n \u003cspan class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__embedYoutubeInside'>\n \u003ciframe\n loading='lazy'\n class='utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__youtubeShortcode__youtubePlayer'\n type='text/html'\n src='//www.youtube.com/embed/-bTCCB6wbks'\n title='//www.youtube.com/embed/-bTCCB6wbks'\n allowfullscreen='true'\n style='border:0;'>\u003c/iframe>\n \u003c/span>\n \u003c/span>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003cp>In a push to boost demand for plastic that is recycled, like HDPE, California lawmakers in 2020 passed a “minimum recycled content” bill. \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201920200AB793\">Assembly Bill 793\u003c/a>, which went into effect on Jan. 1, mandates that most plastic beverage bottles contain a minimum amount of recycled content. Specifically, all plastic bottles that can be redeemed for $0.05 or $0.10 must contain no less than:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>15% recycled plastic starting Jan. 1, 2022\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>25% recycled plastic starting Jan. 1, 2025\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>50% recycled plastic starting Jan. 1, 2030\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>The law, one of the first of its kind in the nation, is targeted at bottle manufacturers, most of whom still use new plastic — or “virgin resin” — which is typically cheaper than recycled plastic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11901454\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11901454 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/01/RS52999_IMG_5331_v2-qut-800x450.jpeg\" alt=\"Workers in green safety jackets and helmets sort trash along a conveyor belt. \" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/01/RS52999_IMG_5331_v2-qut-800x450.jpeg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/01/RS52999_IMG_5331_v2-qut-1020x574.jpeg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/01/RS52999_IMG_5331_v2-qut-160x90.jpeg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/01/RS52999_IMG_5331_v2-qut-1536x864.jpeg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/01/RS52999_IMG_5331_v2-qut.jpeg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Workers at Recology’s San Francisco recycling facility pick out plastic that can’t be recycled, including plastic bags, on July 16, 2021. \u003ccite>(Monica Lam/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In addition to HDPE, PET plastic, or polyethylene terephthalate, can be recycled into clamshells — the clear boxes that strawberries are often packed in — or spun into polyester for clothing. Some denser plastics can also be recycled into pipes, plastic lumber, carpets or buckets.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But current recycling markets only accept a fraction of the plastic that’s marked with the three-arrow recycling symbol. Until a few years ago, this problem was largely concealed because the U.S. shipped most of its plastic waste to China, where it was ostensibly being recycled. But in 2018, citing its own environmental concerns, \u003ca href=\"https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-20741-9#:~:text=In%202017%2C%20China%20announced%20an,are%20enormous%20but%20yet%20unexamined\">China began banning imports of most solid materials\u003c/a>, including most plastics.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s forcing domestic recyclers to confront the real challenges of recycling plastic. For one, plastic comes in a myriad of chemical formulations, densities, transparencies and colors. Many products are made of mixed materials: a bottle of hand soap, for example, might contain four different kinds of plastic, plus a metal spring nestled inside the pump.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even if there were markets for all these different kinds of plastic, sorting and separating them would be a gargantuan task.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s just so many types of plastic. We can’t recycle them all. We can’t manage them all,” said Robert Reed, public relations manager for Recology, which handles San Francisco’s waste and recycling. “You can’t recycle your way out of the larger plastic problem.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So most plastic — in fact, almost all of it — ends up in landfills: plastic forks and knives, coffee cups and takeout boxes, used cosmetics, styrofoam trays, and most kinds of plastic bags, from shopping bags to those used for frozen peas.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11901455\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11901455 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/01/RS53000_IMG_5387_edit_v3-qut-800x532.jpeg\" alt=\"Three men talk underneath an open-air canopy in a parking lot. \" width=\"800\" height=\"532\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/01/RS53000_IMG_5387_edit_v3-qut-800x532.jpeg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/01/RS53000_IMG_5387_edit_v3-qut-1020x678.jpeg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/01/RS53000_IMG_5387_edit_v3-qut-160x106.jpeg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/01/RS53000_IMG_5387_edit_v3-qut-1536x1021.jpeg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/01/RS53000_IMG_5387_edit_v3-qut.jpeg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">State Assemblymember Phil Ting visits a prototype for a mobile recycling program that aims to bring recycling collection trucks to various San Francisco neighborhoods, on July 16, 2021. \u003ccite>(Monica Lam/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch3>Legislative efforts bogged down\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>San Francisco Democratic Assemblymember Phil Ting, who introduced AB 793, has tried to expand the law’s reach by proposing a similar bill requiring the recycling of \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB478\">thermoform plastic\u003c/a>, a group of plastics formed using heat. That legislation, however, got bogged down last year over concerns that infrastructure wasn’t yet in place to accommodate an additional plastic recycling mandate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In fact, many of the more ambitious plastic recycling-related bills floated last year didn’t survive, including \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billVotesClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB1371\">AB 1371\u003c/a>, introduced by state Assemblymember Laura Friedman, D-Burbank, which would have banned the use of plastic packaging for online purchases. The bill failed to receive the 41 votes necessary to make it out of the Assembly.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Globally, the e-commerce industry uses nearly 2.1 billion, with a ‘B,’ pounds of plastic packaging. … With almost a third of the world’s population now buying online, the amount of plastic packaging generated is estimated to double by 2025,” Friedman told the Assembly Natural Resources Committee last April. “This is low-hanging fruit, members, and something that is really, really a scourge.”\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "‘I can’t tell you and point to a particular member of the Legislature who’s been ‘bought,’ but I can tell you, we are deeply outgunned on the environmental front.’",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“Even with our super-duper Democratic majority and consistently two-thirds of Californians saying this is a huge problem that needs to get addressed, we have really struggled to get enough votes,” said Jennifer Fearing, an environmental lobbyist who helped promote AB 1371.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, state Sen. Ben Allen, D-Santa Monica, last year shelved \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220SB54\">SB 54\u003c/a>, his bill to ban all single-use plastic products that aren’t recyclable or compostable — opting to buy more time to work out details with various stakeholders, in the face of formidable industry opposition.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>‘Deeply outgunned’\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>The list of trade groups that weighed in against the bill underscores the depth of plastic’s reach within multiple industries. During an early hearing on SB 54, associations representing farming and agriculture, pet food, personal care, household products and restaurants voiced their opposition — in addition to the Plastics Industry Association, the American Institute for Packaging and the Environment, and the Flexible Packaging Association.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I can’t tell you and point to a particular member of the Legislature who’s been ‘bought,’” said Fearing. “But I can tell you, we are deeply outgunned on the environmental front.”\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>More incremental efforts to reduce plastic waste, however, have proved fruitful, including a \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220SB343\">“Truth in Labeling” bill\u003c/a>, approved by lawmakers last year, which prohibits manufacturers from calling their products recyclable or using recycling symbols or other suggestions of recyclability unless they meet CalRecycle’s criteria. The agency has until Jan. 1, 2024, to formalize a list of products it deems recyclable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tim Shestek, the American Chemistry Council’s senior director of state affairs, said his organization opposed SB 54 and several other bills last year because they failed to recognize why so many businesses use plastic over other materials in the first place: its durability and value.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Does it go too far? Does it provide opportunities for the business community to comply in a reasonable fashion?” Shestek said. “In our view, it didn’t take into account some of the other trade-offs that we like to discuss: lightweighting, fuel efficiency, greenhouse gas emissions associated with potential alternatives.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, Shestek acknowledged that more can be done to cut down on plastic waste. His group, for example, has \u003ca href=\"https://www.americanchemistry.com/chemistry-in-america/chemistry-sustainability/circularity\">set goals\u003c/a> for its members to produce 100% recyclable plastic packaging containing at least 30% recycled plastic by 2030.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Our focus is trying to get that circular loop completely closed and to be part of the solution,” he said. “I think we recognize that we have a role to play.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11901452\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11901452 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/01/RS52997_DSC_1513_edit-qut-800x450.jpeg\" alt=\"Two women standing near the bay pour water samples.\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/01/RS52997_DSC_1513_edit-qut-800x450.jpeg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/01/RS52997_DSC_1513_edit-qut-1020x574.jpeg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/01/RS52997_DSC_1513_edit-qut-160x90.jpeg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/01/RS52997_DSC_1513_edit-qut-1536x864.jpeg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/01/RS52997_DSC_1513_edit-qut.jpeg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Rebecca Sutton, left, and Alicia Gilbreath of the San Francisco Estuary Institute strain water collected from the San Francisco Bay through two sieves to sample for microplastics. \u003ccite>(Monica Lam/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003ch3>Microplastics and human health\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Since plastic was first invented in the mid-1800s, worldwide production has grown to an estimated 400 million tons annually. In the U.S., \u003ca href=\"https://www.epa.gov/facts-and-figures-about-materials-waste-and-recycling/plastics-material-specific-data\">less than 9%\u003c/a> of plastic gets recycled, according to U.S. Environmental Protection Agency estimates. Meanwhile, the production of plastic, which is made from petroleum and natural gas, is projected to increase as the fossil-fuel industry faces competition from alternative energy sources. Dozens of plastic plants are currently being built or planned, most of them on the Gulf Coast and in the Ohio River Valley.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While a fair bit of attention has been paid to the impact of plastic pollution on marine animals, who often ingest it, research on human health has only recently started to ramp up. In 2018, California legislators directed the State Water Resources Control Board to \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=201720180SB1422\">start studying levels of microplastics\u003c/a> — plastic particles smaller than 5 millimeters — detected in municipal drinking water supplies. Some microplastics, like those used in adhesives or paints, are manufactured at a small size, while some are generated when larger pieces of plastic degrade over time. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "‘I think a better question would be, where have microplastics not been found? We’ve found them from Mount Everest to the Mariana Trench. … I’m not sure that there exists a place that is not impacted by plastic pollution.’",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“One of the reasons that plastic in drinking water has received recent attention, especially by California’s legislators, is that we know that the amount is increasing,” said Scott Coffin, a senior scientist with the state water board. “Additionally, plastic never goes away. So these two factors, they necessitate some concern.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Coffin’s team is tasked with eventually establishing safety thresholds for the level of microplastics in the state’s water supply. He estimates that there are more than \u003ca href=\"https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.est.1c00976\">2,400 chemicals\u003c/a> commonly added to plastic that are potentially dangerous for human health, including known toxins like bisphenol A (commonly known as BPA), phthalates, and a class of flame retardants called \u003ca href=\"https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/pbde.html\">PBDEs\u003c/a>, or polybrominated diphenyl ethers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You can think of plastic as a carrier for other chemicals, and in many ways, it’s like a sponge,” Coffin said. “Once it’s in the environment, it can pick up all of the other pollutants that are already there.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some microplastics are even small enough to enter into our cells, he noted. \u003ca href=\"https://www.mdpi.com/1999-4923/13/7/921\">One German study\u003c/a> found microplastics in the placentas of pregnant women — on both the maternal and fetal side.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The smaller the particle, the deeper it’s going to make it into our bodies, and the more likely it is to interact with our cells, causing toxicity,” Coffin said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One major \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfei.org/projects/microplastics\">study \u003c/a>published in 2019 by the San Francisco Estuary Institute found microplastics throughout the San Francisco Bay — in the water, the mud, and both stormwater runoff and treated wastewater. The study’s authors concluded that the bay likely has higher levels of microplastic pollution than most major water bodies in the United States because it’s surrounded by dense, urban areas and has a relatively restricted water flow. The two most common particles found were fibers from clothing and bits from tires.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We found microplastics in just about every sample we collected,” said Rebecca Sutton, who led the three-year study. “This is pretty consistent with what you see all around the world. Pretty much everywhere you look for it, you are going to find microplastics.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Coffin echoed that sentiment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think a better question would be, where have microplastics not been found?” he said. “We’ve found them from Mount Everest to the Mariana Trench. Every organism that we’ve ever looked at, we’ve found some levels, and at this point, I’m not sure that there exists a place that is not impacted by plastic pollution.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>The climate change impact\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>With that grim assessment in mind, the students in Jacqueline Omania’s fifth grade class at Oxford Elementary in Berkeley have set themselves an ambitious goal: to make so little trash over the course of the school year that the entire class’s garbage fits into a tiny little container about the size of a jam jar.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The larger issue is that these youth are growing up in a climate crisis,” said Omania.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The main type of trash that ends up in the class’s container is plastic, so for starters, every student brings a reusable cutlery kit to school to use while eating lunch. Inside the classroom, they use unpainted pencils so that the shavings can be composted. Birthday parties feature home-baked treats instead of anything that comes in a plastic wrapper.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Omania’s students were part of a successful campaign to pass a citywide ordinance in 2019 \u003ca href=\"https://www.berkeleyside.org/2019/01/23/berkeley-says-good-riddance-mostly-to-disposable-plastic-foodware\">limiting single-use plastics in Berkeley restaurants\u003c/a>. Her students even showed city councilmembers the tiny container they were using as a garbage can.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11901451\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11901451 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/01/RS52996_Copy-of-beach-cleanup-2_edit-qut-800x450.jpeg\" alt=\"Three young people stand on a rock pile. One hands an orange bucket to another.\" width=\"800\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/01/RS52996_Copy-of-beach-cleanup-2_edit-qut-800x450.jpeg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/01/RS52996_Copy-of-beach-cleanup-2_edit-qut-1020x574.jpeg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/01/RS52996_Copy-of-beach-cleanup-2_edit-qut-160x90.jpeg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/01/RS52996_Copy-of-beach-cleanup-2_edit-qut-1536x864.jpeg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2022/01/RS52996_Copy-of-beach-cleanup-2_edit-qut.jpeg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Students Sam (left), Alina and Sasha pick up trash off the beach at the Berkeley Marina, Oct. 7, 2021. \u003ccite>(Rick Santangelo/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“I believe the adults need to step up so we don’t make the environmental waste in the first place,” Oxford student Jae Marie Howard told a crowded council meeting on the night the ordinance was approved.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>More recently, Omania’s students helped successfully push the Berkeley Unified School District to include \u003ca href=\"https://www.dailycal.org/2021/11/04/berkeley-school-board-passes-65k-climate-literacy-resolution/\">climate literacy in the K-12 curriculum\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>An increasing number of studies draw a connection between the production of plastic and climate change. One \u003ca href=\"https://www.beyondplastics.org/plastics-and-climate\">report\u003c/a> from a Vermont-based environmental group found that “as of 2020, the U.S. plastics industry is responsible for at least 232 million tons of CO2e [carbon dioxide equivalent] gas emissions per year. This amount is equivalent to the average emissions from 116 average-sized [500-megawatt] coal-fired power plants.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch3>New opportunities\u003c/h3>\n\u003cp>Entrepreneurs have been tapping into growing public awareness about plastic waste. Dispatch Goods, a San Francisco-based start-up, is partnering with local restaurants, like Zuni Cafe and Mixt, to provide reusable takeout containers made of stainless steel. Customers must pay extra for the service, which includes picking up the used containers from their homes, but many do it willingly because it alleviates “eco-guilt,” said company CEO Lindsey Hoell.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s like an “avocado upcharge,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have data showing that we’re driving business to restaurants that are making that shift,” she added. “It’s not just a sustainability decision, but it’s a good business decision.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>At Fillgood’s small storefront in Berkeley, customers can refill their own containers with common household products like dish detergent and shampoo, while LimeLoop, another Bay Area-based start-up, makes reusable packaging for shipping — among the growing number of novel business ventures offering alternatives to plastic.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This fall, Californians will get to weigh in directly on just how much the state should regulate and limit plastic production and consumption. The \u003ca href=\"https://ballotpedia.org/California_Plastic_Waste_Reduction_Regulations_Initiative_(2022)\">California Plastic Waste Reduction Regulations Initiative\u003c/a>, which has qualified for the statewide ballot in November, would not only push through some of the efforts legislators failed to pass last year, but also levy a $0.01 fee — which critics call a tax — on all plastic packaging and disposable food service items.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The ACC’s Shestek said the ballot measure is “flawed” and hopes instead to work directly with lawmakers “to hash something out that gets to the same objective, but in a fashion that isn’t so punitive.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But Allen, the state lawmaker, sees the initiative as a good opportunity to advance his SB 54 legislation, banning single-use plastic products that aren’t recyclable or compostable. He’s confident, he said, the business community will work with him to avoid the costly political hurdle of winning a statewide vote. He’s already moved the bill out of the inactive file and back to the Senate floor to be considered during the 2022 legislative session.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The ballot measure polls very well. It’s very popular,” Allen said. “And while it’s true [that] industry could raise a lot of money and try to defeat it, I think there’s also going to be some serious money raised on the environmental side. It could really be a knock-down-drag-out fight at the end of the day.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED’s Crystal Consaul and Kat Shok contributed to this story. Want more? Check out our half-hour documentary on this topic, \u003ca href=\"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-bTCCB6wbks\">California’s Plastic Problem\u003c/a>. Are you a teacher? Here’s more about Jacqueline Omania’s \u003ca href=\"https://sites.google.com/bennington.edu/plastic-free-planet/home?authuser=0\">curriculum\u003c/a>.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>The vast majority of plastic that people put into recycling bins is headed to landfills, or worse, according to a \u003ca href=\"https://www.greenpeace.org/usa/reports/circular-claims-fall-flat-again/\">report\u003c/a> from Greenpeace on the state of plastic recycling in the U.S.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The report cites separate \u003ca href=\"https://www.lastbeachcleanup.org/_files/ugd/dba7d7_9450ed6b848d4db098de1090df1f9e99.pdf\">data \u003c/a>published this May which revealed that the amount of plastic actually turned into new things has fallen to new lows of around 5%. That number is expected to drop further as more plastic is produced.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Greenpeace found that no plastic — not even soda bottles, one of the most prolific items thrown into recycling bins — meets the threshold to be called “recyclable” according to \u003ca href=\"https://ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/topics/plastics/overview\">standards\u003c/a> set by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation New Plastic Economy Initiative. Plastic must have a recycling rate of 30% to reach that standard; no plastic has ever been recycled and reused close to that rate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“More plastic is being produced, and an even smaller percentage of it is being recycled,” says Lisa Ramsden, senior plastic campaigner for Greenpeace USA. “The crisis just gets worse and worse, and without drastic change will continue to worsen, as the industry plans to triple plastic production by 2050.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Waste management experts say the problem with plastic is that it is expensive to collect and sort. There are now thousands of different types of plastic, and none of them can be melted down together. Plastic also degrades after one or two uses. Greenpeace found the more plastic is reused the more toxic it becomes.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>New plastic, on the other hand, is cheap and easy to produce. The result is that plastic trash has few markets — a reality the public has not wanted to hear.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Trent Carpenter, the general manager of Southern Oregon Sanitation, says when they told customers a couple years ago that they could no longer take any plastic trash other than soda bottles and jugs — like milk containers and detergent bottles — people were upset. They wanted to put their strawberry containers, bags, yogurt cups and all manner of plastic trash in their recycling bin.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We had to re-educate individuals that a great deal of that material is ending up in a landfill,” Carpenter said. “It’s not going to a recycling facility and being recycled. It’s going to a recycling facility and being landfilled someplace else because [you] can’t do anything with that material.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That message has been difficult for the public to absorb with so many different bins in public spaces, and their own communities telling them to put their plastic in recycling containers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Carpenter says they wanted to be transparent with their customers and tell them the truth, unlike companies that continue to tell customers that plastic, such as bags and containers, is being turned into new things.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Politically it’s easier to just say ‘Gosh, we’re going to take everything and we think we can get it recycled,’ and then look the other way,” Carpenter said of the other companies. “That’s greenwashing at its best.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote align=\"right\" size=\"medium\" citation=\"Lisa Ramsden, senior plastic campaigner, Greenpeace USA\"]‘The crisis just gets worse and worse, and without drastic change will continue to worsen, as the industry plans to triple plastic production by 2050.’[/pullquote]Greenpeace found a couple facilities are trying to reprocess cups and containers — sometimes called “number 5s” because of the markings on the containers. But the numbers are low. While 52 percent of recycling facilities in the U.S. accept that kind of plastic, the report found less than 5% of it is actually repurposed — and the rest is put into a landfill.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The low reprocessing rates are at odds with plans from the oil and gas industry. Industry lobbyists say they plan to recycle every piece of plastic they make into something new by 2040. In interviews with NPR, industry officials were unable to explain how they planned to reach a 100% recycling rate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>An NPR investigative \u003ca href=\"https://www.npr.org/2020/09/11/897692090/how-big-oil-misled-the-public-into-believing-plastic-would-be-recycled\">report\u003c/a> found in 2020 that industry officials misled the public about the recyclability of plastic even though their own reports showed they knew as early as the 1970s and 1980s that plastic could not be economically recycled.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The American Chemistry Council, an industry lobby group, did not respond to NPR’s request for comment on the Greenpeace report.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Environmentalists and lawmakers in some states are now pushing for legislation that bans single use plastics, and for “bottle bills” which pay customers to bring back their plastic bottles. The bills have led to successful recycling rates for plastic bottles in places like Oregon and Michigan, but have faced steep resistance from plastic and oil industry lobbyists.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The real solution is to switch to systems of reuse and refill,” Ramsden said. “We are at a decision point on plastic pollution. It is time for corporations to turn off the plastic tap.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After years of embracing plastic recycling, many environmental groups say they hope the public will finally see plastic for what they say it is — trash — and that people will ask themselves if there is something else they could be using instead.\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"fullattribution\">Copyright 2022 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"https://www.google-analytics.com/__utm.gif?utmac=UA-5828686-4&utmdt=Recycling+plastic+is+practically+impossible+%E2%80%93+and+the+problem+is+getting+worse&utme=8(APIKey)9(MDAxOTAwOTE4MDEyMTkxMDAzNjczZDljZA004)\">\u003c/div>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cp>California officials have filed a statewide lawsuit against Walmart Inc. alleging that the company illegally disposed of hazardous waste at landfills across the state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In the \u003ca href=\"https://oag.ca.gov/system/files/attachments/press-docs/Walmart%20Complaint.pdf\">42-page document filed Monday by state prosecutors\u003c/a>, the lawsuit alleges the retail giant illegally dumped nearly 160,000 pounds of hazardous waste, or more than 1 million items, each year in California over the last six years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California Attorney General Rob Bonta and 12 California district attorneys said Walmart violated California’s environmental laws and regulations by dumping hazardous waste products at landfills that aren’t equipped to handle the materials, including alkaline and lithium batteries, insect killer sprays, aerosol cans, toxic cleaning supplies and LED lightbulbs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote align=\"right\" size=\"medium\" citation=\"Rob Bonta, California Attorney General\"]‘Walmart’s own audits found that the company is dumping hazardous waste at local landfills at a rate of more than one million items each year.’[/pullquote]The lawsuit also claims Walmart dumped “confidential customer information” at these landfills.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Walmart’s own audits found that the company is dumping hazardous waste at local landfills at a rate of more than one million items each year. From there, these products may seep into the state’s drinking water as toxic pollutants or into the air as dangerous gases,” Bonta said \u003ca href=\"https://oag.ca.gov/news/press-releases/attorney-general-bonta-announces-statewide-lawsuit-against-walmart-illegal\">in a statement\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bonta said the lawsuit filed against the retail giant should serve as a warning to the state’s “worst offenders.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In an emailed statement to NPR, Walmart said the company will defend itself and said the lawsuit is “unjustified.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have met with the state numerous times and walked them through our industry-leading hazardous waste compliance programs in an effort to avoid litigation. Instead, they filed this unjustified lawsuit,” Walmart spokesperson Randy Hargrove said. “The state is demanding a level of compliance regarding waste disposal from our stores of common household products and other items that goes beyond what is required by law.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The latest lawsuit filed against Walmart isn’t the company’s first with the state of California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside label ='Related Coverage' tag='environment']In 2010, the California Attorney General’s Office reached a $25 million settlement against the retail giant for illegally disposing of hazardous waste. But according to the attorney general’s office, a 2015 inspection found that Walmart continued to dump waste illegally.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Walmart is a responsible corporate citizen in California and everywhere we operate. We take our obligation to protect the environment seriously and have industry-leading processes in place to comply with local, state and federal environmental laws,” Hargrove said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since 2015, California investigators said 58 inspections of trash compactors taken from Walmart stores found dozens of items classified as either hazardous waste, medical waste or customer records with personal information.\u003cbr>\n[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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