Friend,

The raised edge of a recycling symbol on a piece of plastic should inspire confidence that we can repurpose some of the plastics we aren't able to avoid.

But there are very few rules about what can and cannot be labeled as recyclable. A new "widely recyclable" label created by the plastics industry will make it look as though many plastics can be recycled, when the reality is that the material can't be accepted in most community recycling programs.1

Tell the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to regulate the misleading "widely recyclable" label.

Polypropylene is a widely used plastic for containers and packaging -- including yogurt cups or ketchup bottles -- that's labeled with the number 5.

Even though it's widely used, it's not widely recyclable. For many of us, our community's recycling programs don't accept the #5 plastics at all. And even where it is accepted, facilities often send this plastic to the landfill instead.

According to the EPA's most recently available data, only 2.7% of polypropylene plastic packaging is ever recycled.2

When plastic recycling rates are so abysmal, most of the plastic we hope to recycle never finds that second life as something new. Instead, plastic is piling up all around us, and threatening wildlife of all sizes. From a featherweight bird coasting on a breeze to the blue whale, wildlife are choking on plastic.

It shouldn't be so hard to recycle. The EPA should make it much clearer for people like you and me, so that we can do our part to keep plastic out of our environment.

Take action: "Widely recyclable" labels shouldn't apply to plastic that never gets recycled.

We shouldn't be producing so much plastic in the first place. In 2018, the U.S. produced 8 million tons of polypropylene -- and that's just one type of plastic.3

Our environment can't take anymore. Too often, we hear another story of a sea turtle with plastic in its belly. Our marine life swallow bits of plastic and microplastics are found in even our cleanest streams. Something needs to change.

Environment Colorado successfully led the charge to ban some of the worst single-use plastics here in Colorado. But we still have more work to do. There's so much plastic being created and passing through our hands that we should be able to recycle it.

The plastics industry shouldn't be deciding the fate of our recycling system. The How2Recycle program behind this "widely recyclable" label was founded by plastics producers such as ExxonMobil.4

Our federal government should intervene and take the lead on recycling labels rather than letting the plastics industry call the shots.

Urge the EPA to clearly define what is "widely recyclable."

Thank you,

Ellen Montgomery

1. Saabira Chaudhuri, "Your 'Widely Recyclable' Plastic Yogurt Container is Rarely Recycled," Wall Street Journal, August 17, 2022.
2. Saabira Chaudhuri, "Your 'Widely Recyclable' Plastic Yogurt Container is Rarely Recycled," Wall Street Journal, August 17, 2022.
3. Joseph Winters, "Inside the industry push to label your yogurt cup 'recyclable'," Grist, October 13, 2022.
4. Saabira Chaudhuri, "Your 'Widely Recyclable' Plastic Yogurt Container is Rarely Recycled," Wall Street Journal, August 17, 2022.