Plastic Problems: Waste and Health

Plastic’s reputation fell further in the 1970s and 1980s as anxiety about waste increased.  Plastic  be-came a special target because, while so many plas-tic products are disposable, plastic lasts forever in the environment. It was the plastics industry that offered recycling as a solution. In the 1980s the plas-tics industry led an influential drive encouraging mun-icipalities to collect and process recyclable materials as part of their waste-management systems. However, recycling is far from perfect, and most plastics still end up in landfills or in the environment. Grocery-store plastic bags have become a target for activists looking to ban one-use, disposable plastics, an...

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