John Stossel, the Libertarian investigative journalist, has produced a new story about the myths of recycling, especially when it comes to plastic.
He points out that there are many cities in America that think they’re doing the morally right thing by banning plastic bags, which ends up backfiring in a number of ways.
He also notes that most of the green ‘religion’ that has become so common in America, is a product of the liberal media and that this has been going on for decades.
Partial transcript via Real Clear Politics:
JOHN STOSSEL: Do you recycle? For decades, we’ve been told: “Recycle!” Because recycling will save the planet, and that’s what people believe.
“If we’re not using recycled paper, we’re cutting down more trees!” says Lynn Hoffman, co-president of Eureka Recycling.
Recycling paper or cardboard does save trees. Recycling aluminum does save energy. But most of the other stuff is impractical.
Huge amounts of what people send to her recycling plant will never be recycled. The worst is plastic, which for years has been marked with the recycling symbol. Even worse, plastic bags clog recycling machines. But people think most of our plastic is recycled.
The reality is that the amount of plastic actually recycled is around 5%.
All my life I’ve heard how important it is to recycle.
Science writer John Tierney debunked recycling claims years ago in a New York Times Magazine story, “Recycling Is Garbage.” It set a Times record for hate mail.
But what he wrote was true.
“It’s even more true today, the economics has gotten even worse,” says Tierney.
My city would save over $300 million a year if it stopped recycling. It would be smarter to just dump our garbage in landfills.
“Recycling is an industry that uses increasingly expensive labor to produce materials that are worth less and less,” says Tierney.
Because it’s not worth recycling here, much is shipped overseas to countries like Malaysia, here it’s just piled up — some of it from America. That pollutes even more. And what they don’t burn, they just dump in the ocean.
Watch the whole video below:
Plastic recycling is a “dead-end street.”
That quote…unbelievably…is from @Greenpeace.
In my new video, we debunk the recycling religion. pic.twitter.com/loe7F7gS2L
— John Stossel (@JohnStossel) December 12, 2024
American media would be so much better if we had more journalists like John Stossel. People who were willing to question narratives rather than creating and pushing them.
