NauticalNoodle , 4 hours ago (edited 4 hours ago)

Basic economics dictates that recycling plastic isn’t profitable otherwise industry would be doing it, itself. –That doesn’t make it a scam. It’s more like bad marketing.

Some of it will be truly recycled like with hdpe. Some will be used more conscientiously by being sent for plasma gasification. Lots of it will still get sent to the landfill, but that’s better then sending all of it. Something rarely mentioned is that most plastics become less stable each time they’re melted down, making them increasingly difficult to recycle.

It’s believed that ~75% of all Aluminium that has ever been produced is still in use because it’s economically more viable to recycle old aluminum than refine new. Alumium refinement is a highly energy intensive process.