The Plastic Industry Is Growing During COVID. Recycling? Not So Much.

Unlike most industries during COVID-19, plastic manufacturers are seeing production increase in the midst of a global economic downturn.

“Domestically for us, plastic has remained pretty strong. Demand has probably increased,” said Joshua Baca, vice president of the American Chemistry Council’s Plastics Division.

But that growth also means more plastic in landfills — a problem, according to environmental advocates, who say that corporate efforts to curb waste, including a stated goal of recycling all plastic packaging by 2040, are insufficient.

“Pour money into it; build it; it’ll all get recycled — that’s the myth they’re promoting,” Ivy Schlegel, a plastics researcher with the environmental advocacy group Greenpeace, told FRONTLINE. (...)