plastic recycling is one of the most successful corporate frauds in history and everyone fell for it
in the 1980s the plastic industry faced regulation that would've killed their business
their solution was to spend $50 million convincing you that recycling would fix everything, while their own internal documents proved they knew only <10% of plastic was recyclable
they lied deliberately. with documentation.
the results of their fraud:
- 9% of plastic ever produced has been recycled. total. in 70 years
- 450 million tons produced annually
- 130 million tons entering the environment every year
- microplastics in your blood, your brain, your testicles, your children
but here's where it becomes genuinely evil
wealthy countries "recycle" by shipping 50-60% of their waste to developing nations. UK exports to poor countries rose 84% last year
what happens when it arrives?
nothing
no infrastructure. 70% ends up in open dumps, burned in fields, or carried by rivers into the ocean
you sorted your bottles. you felt virtuous. and a container ship carried your garbage to a village in indonesia where children play next to mountains of western plastic waste that will poison their water supply for generations
that's what your recycling bin does. it launders your guilt while exporting ecological destruction to people too poor to refuse
the plastic industry didn't solve pollution. they didn't even try. they spent $50 million making it your fault and your problem, then shipped the consequences to the third world
and it worked. for 40 years. while they made trillions
every executive who signed off on this belongs in prison. every document they buried should be evidence at trial. this wasn't negligence. it was calculated, documented, deliberate poisoning of the planet for profit
but instead they'll retire rich and you'll keep sorting bottles that end up in the ocean anyway
if Angel Cabrera wins the Regions Tradition, we'll have two major winners on the same day who have spent time in jail within the past year.
don't quote me, but that has to be a first