Letters to the editor

Letter to the Editor: Recycling matters

The U.S. generates about 300 million tons of Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) every year, three times the amount generated in 1960. Half of that goes into landfills and about a quarter of it is recycled or composted. The average person generates nearly five pounds of solid waste every single day. In 2018, our landfills contained 24% food waste, 18.5% plastic, 11.8% paper, 11.1% rubber, leather and textiles, 9.5% metal, 7.2% yard trimmings and 5.2% glass (usepa.gov/facts. Figure 8)

Recycling is important. The good news? Recycling is increasing significantly in the USA, but it's still not enough. In 2018, 68% of paper was recycled, 34% of metal, 18.2% of rubber and leather, and only 8.7% of plastics were recycled. (usepa.gov/facts. Table 1)

Here are individual products with the highest recycling rates (as a percent of generation) in 2018 were lead-acid batteries (99%), corrugated boxes (96.5%), steel cans (70.9%), newspapers/mechanical papers (64.8%), major appliances (59.8%), aluminum cans (50.4%), mixed paper (43.1%), tires (40%) selected consumer electronics (38.5%) and glass bottles (31.3%). (usepa.gov/facts. Page 10, Figure 9)

Every year, an estimated 8 million to 12 million metric tons of plastic waste enter our oceans, causing over 100,000 marine mammals and 1 million seabirds to die; and 52% of global sea turtles and at least 1,565 wildlife species have been found to have ingested plastics. (stopoceanplastic.org)

Plastic waste is the biggest problem in the trash and recycling world today because we use so much of it, because it does not degrade quickly or easily and because it kills people and animals, especially marine life. The UN Environmental Program reports that plastics may take up to a thousand years to decompose in nature. Also, marine litter, including plastics and microplastics, has grown drastically and is projected to more than double by 2030. (From Pollution to Solution Key Findings: A Global Assessment of Marine Litter and Plastic Pollution - Synthesis)

As consumers of plastics, it is our responsibility to protect our environment by recycling and reusing our waste. That's why many states, including the State of West Virginia, require municipalities to provide waste collection and recycling services. No matter how reluctant our city leaders may be, even the City of Parkersburg is required by state law to do it. Because it's important to us, our environment and the safety of humans and especially our marine life. We need to take recycling seriously, even if our city leaders don't.

Russ Bowers

Parkersburg