Tracking Devices Reveal Where Recycling Really Goes

I can tell you what happened. The waste was illegaly burned. Anyone who is living in the Yumurtalık region of Adana, Turkey can tell you about the smell of burnt plastic that starts around midnight, every day! The waste is burned, without any filtration. The air is poisoned, the water is poisoned and the ground is poisoned. The saddest part of this is Adana has the most fertile soil all around Turkey. I don’t have any expectation from the Turkish government officials to solve this issue just because they are as corrupt as the waste burned. I hope some degree of awareness can be created in the UK and EU.

Once, when I was parked in Westminster, London, UK. I observed a huge garbage truck turn-up and begin reversing. There were 3 separate heavy steel containments, each clearly designated for a different kind of waste product - paper, plastic, and another. The guys got out and guided the truck to pick each container up in turn and unload the contents into the same receptacle. I was drinking a coffee and said to one of the guys, "People have carefully sorted that stuff, how come you're dumping it into the same place in the truck..." He just roared with laughter. "It's all just a con, mate," he replied, and boarded the truck and drove off...

As a Merchant Mariner our vessel was going from California to Hawaii to Japan then Australia and finally hopscotching around Indonesia. Normally we unload trash every port if possible but on this ship we held onto the trash until Indonesia. The reason was not only bc the Captain/company could save money but bc the Indonesians didn’t inspect it, ask questions, make you separate it or make you pay fees. I befriended the Indonesian trash collector/owner operator of the trash truck and watched as he dumped it in his back yard right next to the beach onto a stream. I asked “why do you dump it onto the stream?” He replied “bc the rain will come, and the stream will turn into a river and wash it out to sea.” His shoeless children rummaged through it first. There was all sorts of discarded chemicals used for engineering and paints otherwise known as hazmat materials…. If that’s not enough, the whole town seems to burn their trash on the side of the road around sundown, helps keep the bugs away….they have no system for their trash, burn it or throw it in the ocean or river.

In a retirement town in Florida, the people insisted on recycling, as they were accustomed to in the north. So the town abliged and gave recycling bins to the community. From there, it goes right to the same landfill as the trash.

I've never understood why people think their plastic is whisked away to be turned into rainbows and butterflies. Here in Australia I am certain it all goes to the same place.

This is high quality journalism showcasing the logistics of waste products.

I grew up in the USA with absolutely no plastics! We had glass bottles that we recycled for cash and paper that comes from renewable sources. The manufacturers and politicians they paid off should be jailed for crimes against humanity this must stop now!

At least twenty years ago the New Scientist magazine did a feature on the con of 'recycling' and encouraged a change in terminology to 'alternative disposal'. Unfortunately, the public likes the concept of recycling as it feels like something everyone can participate in and feel they have 'done their bit' for the environment. Let's face it, it's a far easier sell than persuading people to reduce consumption, which is what is really needed to reduce environmental damage.

Like every other big corporation, Tesco will promote recycling only so long as it wins favor with their customers and increases sales - and profits. It's not that they can't recycle/incinerate all plastics, it's just that they choose not to because it's not profitable. And companies that make and use cheaper "bad plastics" do so because they're allowed to.

In Poland we have a problem with illegal burning trash on recycling companies terrain, every week we have some "self-ignition" of trash that's not worth to recycle but it was worth to be insured... few years ago there was a enormous fire on old tire storage, officially tires got self-ignition... on winter... with -20 Celcius degree outside... and company got a cash from insurance company...

To say nothing of the fuel used to ship it all around Europe

Thank you Bloomberg, for delivering something useful and educational, instead of false political narratives and propaganda! Bravo!

Really interesting, keep this kind of reporting and content coming

The craziest thing about plastic is that nearly all research on the impact of plastic products compared to products made of other materials doesn't account for all the plastic that ends up in the environment, which makes plastic seem like a better option then it truly is. The impact of plastic is far worse than we have all been led to believe.

This is precisely what I assumed was happening to plastic waste.

Friend of mine worked at a "garbage dump" here in Melbourne. He told me that all waste went to the exact same place. Recycling or not. Both dumped in a pile then shipped off to Indonesia/phillippines go be dumped there. A decade or so ago china actually used to buy it, but not any more. No demand for it so it just gets shipped to further pollute megadumps in the phillippines.

I've always wanted to put a tracker on my recyclables! Thanks for doing this, please do a bunch more!

There is a company in Australia that has found a way to put ALL types of plastic together into the same machine and using water and pressure it turns all of it into petrol & basically road asphalt. IT IS SCALABLE.

I go to the trouble of sorting recyclables and they are collected by my county. I always wonder if most of it just ends up in land fill or what really happens to it. The grocery chains are the only place that collects the plastic bags but I often wonder if they are actually recycled or thrown away. It’s always been a guessing game.

Most recycling reaches a dead end. There is lack of demand for the end products made from it. Incinerating for heat/energy makes sense provided it is done safely.