Americans generate more waste than any other nation in the world, producing an estimated 4.9 pounds of municipal waste per person every day, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. U.S. recycling also lags far behind other countries'. Forbes reports that only 35% of Americans actually recycle, with those that don't citing inconvenience and confusion as the reasons why.
For those who do recycle, their recyclables often end up in the landfill anyway. Contamination by other products or a lack of infrastructure can make recycling some products difficult, which can be frustrating for people who have taken the time to sort their recycling and, in some cases, take it to the appropriate place to be recycled.
This can happen with large corporations, too. A Walmart employee shared their frustration with the recycling process at their place of work. In a Reddit post, the OP shared that none of the recycling collected in their break room is actually recycled.
The employee shared a picture of the recycling bins and wrote, "Despite the separate trash bins for recycling, my Walmart break room just dumps it all into one bin anyway."
This is concerning because Walmart has made a number of admirable pledges to reduce its environmental impact and make cleaner choices more mainstream, including its Clean Beauty program. The practice may be one that is more specific to a particular location or manager's decision rather than corporate, but it still points to a wider concern that such efforts to separate recycling could go to waste.
While plastic recycling is often rightly criticized as misleading since so much plastic is not recycled even if it makes it to a facility, all other types of recycling and even plastic recycling are still important because they keep trash out of landfills and reduce the waste that gets washed into our rivers, lakes, and oceans.
Landfills are significant sources of pollution, producing toxic gasses and leachate that pollute the land, water, and air around us. This pollution is harmful to public health, and research has shown that people who live near or work at a landfill site are at increased risk of suffering from a range of health issues.
Educating yourself by learning what recycling programs your municipality has can help you figure out what you can recycle and how to do it.
People did not seem shocked by this employee's discovery.
"Not just Walmart," one commenter wrote.
Another shared the OP's frustration, writing, "I feel like even if people separated it would all end up at the same place … the landfill."
Join our free newsletter for good news and useful tips, and don't miss this cool list of easy ways to help yourself while helping the planet.
Cool Picks
