Plastic recycling could be more dangerous than you think
Poisonous additives in plastic mean efforts to end plastic pollution with recycling are toxic — and futile, a new study says. Photo by Ron Lach / Pexels
By Marc Fawcett-Atkinson
Efforts to end plastic pollution with recycling could leave people and the environment laden with poisonous chemicals, a new study has found. The report, which was not peer-reviewed, assessed four recycling and plastic waste management techniques that are poised to become more common as countries, including Canada, try to reduce plastic pollution. It found the main solutions promoted by the plastic industry — recycling, incineration, and transforming plastic into fuel — will increase people's risk of exposure to a cocktail of toxic chemicals.
Most plastic products contain toxic chemicals added to give plastic desirable traits, like flexibility or non-stick properties. When they are broken down during recycling or incineration, these toxins — everything from endocrine disrupters to cancer-causing chemicals — can escape recycling facilities and landfills to contaminate people and the environment
“It doesn't matter which of those methods you choose. The toxic additives in plastic are creating exposure to the point where it's a detriment to human health,” said Lee Bell, report co-author and policy adviser on persistent organic pollutants to the International Pollutant Elimination Network (IPEN), an international coalition of environmental organizations that produced the study.
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