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John,

Have you heard? That chasing arrows triangle symbol on many plastic containers might not mean what you think.

Plastic is one of the most difficult materials to recycle, and yet a new report shows that for decades, companies have been putting recycling symbols on items that will never end up anywhere but the landfill.[1]

This kind of misinformation only makes our mounting plastic pollution crisis worse, allowing companies to continue pumping out as many plastic items as possible without being held accountable for where those items will inevitably end up -- clogging our oceans and polluting our environment.

Tell the Federal Trade Commission (FTC): Companies shouldn't be allowed to deceive the public about which plastic products are being recycled.
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In 2021 alone, the U.S. discarded about 300 pounds of plastic per person, and only 5% of that plastic ended up getting recycled.[2]

To truly make a dent in the overwhelming amount of plastic pollution entering our environment every year, we need to reduce the amount of unnecessary plastic we produce in the first place.

But when companies print "recycling" icons on as many plastic items as possible, and call products that are destined to be buried or burned "recyclable," it perpetuates the myth that we can recycle our way out of the plastic pollution problem.

Send your message to the FTC: It's time to hold those companies accountable and inject more truth into recycling labels.
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Right now, the FTC is considering new guidelines for what can be marked as "recyclable" or "compostable," which could make it more difficult for companies to put misleading recycling information on their plastic products.[3]

We're urging the FTC to take this chance to crack down on misinformation and stop companies from putting those symbols on items we know will never be recycled -- so that the next time you look for one of those triangular recycling symbols on the bottom of a plastic container, you can trust what it says.

Don't let companies mislead us about recycling. Send your message today.
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Thank you,

Ellen Montgomery

1. Dharna Noor, "'They lied': plastics producers deceived public about recycling, report reveals," The Guardian, February 15, 2024.
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2. Nina Lakhani, "Only 5% of plastic waste generated by US last year was recycled, report says," The Guardian, Oct 24, 2022.
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3. Lisa Song, "When Is "Recyclable" Not Really Recyclable? When the Plastics Industry Gets to Define What the Word Means," ProPublica, August 15, 2024.
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