Is recycling a complete scam? (PART 2)

Summary

---

NO SUCH THING – “Is Recycling a Complete Scam? (PART 2)”

Podcast by iHeartPodcasts and Kaleidoscope
Release Date: April 22, 2026
Hosts: Manny, Noah, and Devan
Key Guest: Kara Napolitano, Education Director for Circular Services

---

Episode Overview

This episode resumes the trio's investigation into whether recycling—especially of plastics—is a complete scam, following a critical interview in Part 1 that questioned the actual impact of recycling in the U.S. The hosts dive deeper, this time seeking out the “pro-recycling” side, visiting a state-of-the-art recycling center in Brooklyn, and getting answers from an industry expert. The episode aims to clarify persistent myths, the reality of recycling logistics, and ultimately, whether recycling matters at all.

---

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Revisiting the Cynicism: Why Question Recycling?

• Recap of Part 1:
  • Interview with Davis Allen (Center for Climate Integrity) explained plastic recycling's poor return in terms of actual environmental impact and recycling rates.
  • The idea: “Recycling is a distraction rather than a true solution to our environmental issues.” (00:26)
• The hosts (Manny, Noah, and Devan) decide to test this view by exploring the operational, “boots-on-the-ground” side of recycling.

---

2. Brooklyn Field Trip: Inside a Modern Recycling Facility

• Guest Expert: Kara Napolitano, Education Director, Circular Services at Sunset Park MRF (Materials Recovery Facility)
  • Handles metal, glass, plastic, and carton recycling for much of New York City (03:22)

Facility Tour Highlights

• Sorting Tech: Combination of mechanical (grinders, magnets), optical (near-infrared lasers), and pneumatic (air jets) sorting technology identifies and separates recyclables (04:15–06:03).
• Automation:
  • “A lot of this is automated. Human interaction is fairly light at our facility. It’s just at the end of the process.” – Kara Napolitano (06:07)

• Final Baling: Sorted materials are compressed into bales and sold (06:30).
• Soft Plastics:
  • Key Insight: Most soft plastics (plastic bags/wraps) cannot be processed because they jam equipment and are not readily recyclable by conventional methods (07:22–08:22).
    • “Soft plastics, like plastic bags—no. Grocery bags or shrink wrap? Don’t put that in your [bin].” – Noah & Kara (07:34)
  • Local Variation: Some stores do offer specialized collection in NYC.
• High-Tech Awe:
  • “I was shocked by how high-tech it was: lasers, magnets, air jets, on this huge scale—it looked like some shit out of Futurama.” – Devan (08:49-09:03)
• Importance of Not “Wishcycling”:
  • If non-recyclables go in the bin, it costs more to extract and send them to landfill (09:26).

---

3. What Should (and Should Not) Go in the Bin?

• Facility Rules (NYC):
  • Blue Bin: Metal (except batteries/electronics), glass bottles/jars, cartons, all rigid (hard) plastics (13:35)
    • “If it’s glass, it must be called a bottle or jar. Otherwise, it’s not recycled.”
    • Bizarre but true: Greasy pizza boxes go in the green bin for paper/cardboard (13:35)
  • Green Bin: Paper & cardboard (if you can rip it, you can recycle it).
• Paper is collected separately and not processed at this MRF.
• Tip from Kara: “Any hard plastic of all shapes and sizes. No soft plastic bags, pouches, or wrappers.” (13:35)

---

4. The 9% Myth: Decoding Recycling Statistics

The Origin of the "9% Gets Recycled" Number

• Widespread belief: Only 9% of plastics actually get recycled—so why bother?

• Kara’s Clarification:

  • That stat refers to all plastic produced annually in the U.S., not just what’s placed in recycling bins.
  • Of the material actually received by MRFs, 87–95% of “good” recyclables are successfully processed. (17:33–18:50)
  • “Once it gets in the bin and comes to a sorting facility, sorting facilities are going to recover 87 to 95% of the good stuff.” – Kara (18:47)

• Blame is Misplaced:

  • Low overall rate reveals few Americans actively recycle, not failures at the plant.
  • “So the statistic that we originally thought was an indictment of the recycling industry is, she’s arguing, is actually an indictment of human beings. Consumers.” – Manny (19:18)
  • Cans: Only ~30% of soda cans are put into recycling bins, despite being highly recyclable; 50–60% for milk/water jugs (22:02–23:09).

---

5. Common Recycling Myths—Busted

• You do NOT need to thoroughly rinse containers. Food residue is fine as long as you don't leave whole scraps; rinsing is more for your own cleanliness. (24:03–24:11)
  • “It’s gonna save me about 10 minutes of work when I’m recycling.” – Manny (24:04)
• It’s good to separate recyclables by type (e.g., paper from plastics) when possible. (11:19–12:09)
• But: Consistency varies by locality—always check local guidance.

---

6. The Real Solution: Reduce, Reuse, Then Recycle

• Kara’s Key Message:
  • “Recycling saves materials, which is great and essential. But if you want to save the planet, we need to reduce and reuse first… But still, recycling has its place.” (25:06)
• Individual vs. Systemic Responsibility:
  • Many hosts push the question of why individual guilt is so foregrounded, and shouldn't corporations take more responsibility?
  • “The responsibility is everyone’s… someone’s buying it as well. So I really look at the responsibility as everyone’s. Look in the mirror.” – Kara (26:37)
• Policy Moves:
  • Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) would require manufacturers to help pay for recycling/disposal, incentivizing better design for recyclability—a practice in Europe/Canada for years (27:49)

---

Memorable Quotes

• “The recycling thing is a distraction. It’s not anything to do with the actual problem.” – Davis Allen (Recap, 00:53)
• “If you put all the plastic from your house in the recycling bin, 87–95% of that would be recycled.” – Kara Napolitano (19:52)
• “We need to reduce and reuse first. That's obvious. But recycling still has its place.” – Kara Napolitano (25:41)
• “The responsibility is everyone’s... look in the mirror.” – Kara Napolitano (26:37)
• “I was shocked by how high-tech it was. Lasers, magnets, air blowing at specific items. It looked like some shit out of Futurama.” – Devan (08:53)
• “It feels like the bar is much lower to just do the right thing.” – Devan (33:28)
• “Honestly made me think about, like, Coke bottles. Maybe I can just fill that up with water and keep using it.” – Manny (34:41)

---

Timestamps for Key Segments

| Segment | Description | Timestamp | |---------|-------------|-----------| | Recap of Part 1 | The problem with recycling rates and “distraction” framing | 00:26-00:53 | | Facility tour intro | Sunset Park MRF, NYC recycling process overview | 03:22-07:09 | | Soft plastics problem | Why bags & wraps aren’t accepted | 07:22-08:22 | | Recycling tech awe | Hosts react to sorting machinery | 08:49-09:03 | | Bins explained (NYC) | What goes in which bin? | 13:35–14:19 | | 9% recycling stat debunked | Kara explains what the infamous stat actually means | 17:33–19:18 | | What really helps? | Kara on “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle” meaning and personal responsibility | 25:06–27:13 | | Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) | Manufacturers’ legal/financial duty to help | 27:49–28:47 | | Should we still recycle? | Hosts’ new consensus and personal changes | 32:16–34:41 |

---

Takeaways & Conclusions

• Recycling works—when you participate. Most materials sent to facilities like Brooklyn’s do get recycled, contrary to common defeatism sparked by national stats.
• Separation matters: Following local instructions (especially separating paper from plastics/metals/glass) saves resources and keeps more out of landfills.
• Debunking the 9% myth: It’s about what’s actually placed in bins, not what happens after sorting.
• The real challenge is participation: Most Americans simply aren’t bothering to recycle basic items—even soda cans.
• Reducing and reusing are even more effective than recycling for environmental impact. But recycling is still worth it.
• Advance needed: Extended Producer Responsibility policies could push manufacturers towards sustainable packaging—NY state is considering this.

---

Closing Reflections – In the Hosts’ Words

• “After seeing how it’s sorted and stuff, it’s like, oh, just literally just put [recyclables] in the bin and it will probably be recycled. So it feels like the bar is much lower to just do the right thing.” – Devan (33:28)
• “Reducing and reusing, I think, is going to make much more of an impact than me kind of like fumbling over what goes in what bag every Monday night.” – Noah (33:42)
• “Now, when I see things not separated in my building, I get a little upset… You can’t put the cardboard in with the plastics and the glass.” – Devan (35:45)

---

Final Note

This episode brings a nuanced, action-oriented perspective: while recycling isn’t a panacea, it’s far from pointless—provided people actually use it, and provided we keep pressing for better policy and design. Above all, the solution is collective: “Responsibility is everyone’s—manufacturers, consumers, policymakers, all of us.” (Kara, 26:37)

---

For further resources, local recycling guidance, and video of the tour, visit nosuchthing.show

---

Transcript

[A]

All right, folks, this is part two of our show on recycling. So if you haven't heard part one yet, stop what you're doing and click into part one, then come back here. Okay? All right, on with the show,

[B]

Kaleidoscope.

[C]

I'm Manny.

[A]

I'm Noah.

[D]

This is Devin.

[A]

And this is no Such Thing. The show where we settle our dumb arguments and yours by actually doing the research. Previously on no Such Thing. Is recycling a scam? We heard from Davis Allen from the center for Climate Integrity, who walked us through the history of plastic recycling and told us why research shows recycling just isn't worth the investment. When you look at the environmental costs involved and the low percentage of plastic that actually gets recycled, the recycling thing is a distraction.

[C]

It's not anything to do with the actual problem.

[A]

Time jump. It's now a few weeks later. We were pretty shocked by what Davis told us, but us here at NST HQ thought we had to hear from the pro recycling side. So Devin and I went to a recycling center here in Brooklyn to see what's happening to my Coke bottles.

[C]

There's no such thing. No such thing. No such thing. No Touch. Touch.

[E]

This is an iHeart podcast. Guaranteed Human.

[C]

I know you've been sitting on a good business idea. Consider this a sign. It's actually really easy to make a business website with Wix Harmony. Just tell Wix Harmony what you want and it's going to build the entire site, business features included. And everything can still be edited by hand. It's your website and your call. Try [e-mail] Harmony that's wix.com Harmony hey everyone, it's Kel Penn.

[A]

I'm inviting you to join the best sounding book club you've ever heard with

[F]

my podcast, Hearsay The Audible and iHeart Audiobook Club. Every episode, I nerd out with amazing guests and dive into the best new audiobooks available on Audible.

[A]

It' the book club for your ears.

[F]

Listen to Earsay the Audible and iHeart

[A]

audiobook club on the iHeartradio app or wherever you get your podcasts.

[E]

Aging doesn't stop and neither should you with vital proteins, collagen and protein shakes. Because around the age of 30, your body needs more support for movement and recovery. On workout and rest days, reach for a 30 gram total protein shake or go with our classic collagen peptides help support healthy hair, skin, nails, bones and joints so you can stay vital. Stay you. Visit vitalproteins.com to learn more and where to buy. These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

[A]

So Devin and I went on a field trip to investigate recycling further.

[C]

I was jealous of this one. I wish I could have joined.

[A]

Well, now it'll be like you joined us.

[C]

Okay.

[B]

My name is Kara Napolitano. I am the education director for Circular Services out at the Sunset Park Materials Recovery Facility. We receive all the metal, glass, plastic and carton recycling from all of the homes and all of the public schools and almost all of New York City right here. And it's our job at this facility to sort through those materials. Then we compress them into bales, like that little robot wall E from the movie. And then we sell the bales to companies that use the products. They prepare them to become new products and use them again.

[A]

Basically, we went through, like, what the little kids get on the tour first, which was actually very helpful.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

And then we saw the real thing.

[B]

So we are a mrf. We're a materials recovery facility, which is a sorting facility for recyclables. We're a pretty fancy mrf. We are considered state of the art.

[A]

Just a quick note here. This MRF is in Brooklyn, so we're following New York rules and processes as far as recycling goes. This stuff varies county by county across the country. So for specifics, you should look up your own area to find out how recycling is happening, because it will in all likelihood be at least a little bit different than here in New York. Materials arrive from all across the city on a barge or a truck. This center handles metal, plastic, glass and cartons. Paper is supposed to go elsewhere. All this trash is placed in a big pot or all this is all of this. Call it trash, refuse. Perhaps it's placed in a big. All this material. Yeah. Is placed in a big pile, then pushed into the actual sorting process. Glass is smashed up into small pieces so it can filter out away from the plastic and metal. Magnets grab the metal and non magnetic metals are sorted with eddy currents. Then optical sorters send out near infrared beams. They can read what the other items are made out of. So it shoots a laser essentially at a piece of plastic and says, okay, this is this type of plastic. Send it over here. This is this. Send it over there.

[C]

Wow.

[A]

Once it knows which one it is, then different air beams shoot them in the right direction.

[C]

What?

[A]

It's an incredibly complex system. It's amazing. Yeah. So all of this is basically happening. Big pile, then they push into these chutes that then these different sorting things Happen. So there's like, grinders that are breaking up the. The glass. So that gets it out of there. Then the magnets take the metal away.

[C]

Yeah.

[D]

Pull it out.

[C]

And the idea is that the grinder is only going to break glass because of the way glass.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

It's not doing anything.

[A]

So it breaks into small pieces. That gets rid of that.

[C]

Okay. It's a filtering.

[A]

Exactly. So it's filtering step by step for different types. Yeah. Then these laser beams are going. Okay, that's. That's number three. We're going to send the air to shoot it over this direction.

[C]

Okay.

[A]

It's kind of. It's amazing.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

And we're going to put video of this on our newsletter. So a lot of this is automated.

[B]

Human interaction is fairly light at our facility. It's just at the end of the process. Whereas some smaller facilities might use humans more so in the process.

[A]

Kara even said they have some AI robotics in use. And then there's a few people you can see in the different parts of the facility to kind of check up on stuff. So once everything's sorted, then they bail it up.

[B]

Then we have our wall e moment. We make our bales. So you see, all the sorted recyclables, they dump into a bunker. When the bunker is full, it feeds into the baler. The baler compresses the recyclables from all sides and they pop out in a nice bale that's held together with steel cabling. And that is what we sell. So MRFs, material recovery facilities, they sort and they bale, sell the bales and

[A]

sell it to whoever's looking for said material to reuse. It's not like directly to, like a Coca Cola or Nestle. It's like a intermediary company. I see, who kind of gets in there and deals with that.

[C]

Okay.

[D]

And the company will break the material

[A]

down further so that it's actually presented to. Yeah. Because right now they're just getting a big bail. And it's just like. You just took all this stuff in compare mail carton.

[D]

Yes, essentially.

[A]

Yeah, exactly. So just piles and piles of that. Something I didn't know is that soft plastics, like plastic bags, cannot be recycled.

[C]

Soft plastics, like plastic, like a grocery bag?

[A]

Yeah, yep. Grocery bag. Or just like, you know, shrink wrap on a thing? No, like, don't. Don't put that in your.

[C]

I guess. Is that why, like, New York had banned.

[D]

Yeah.

[A]

Which makes sense, of course, when I hear it like this, but I just assumed. Yeah, I don't need this back.

[C]

I'm just plastic. Like I just thought. I don't know.

[A]

So. And you. We could see on the thing like it would get. Basically because like so many things are rollers or whatever, the soft plastic would just then wrap around. Yeah.

[D]

It gets tangled beam.

[C]

So is the only reason that plastic can't be recycled because their machine would get fucked up. They can't have it.

[A]

That's one piece. But I don't think that's the main reason. I think it's mainly like it's so soft that it's like you can't really break it down.

[D]

And I see plastic only degrades the more recycle it once you get to that point.

[A]

One more quick note on the plastic bag. Soft plastic thing. Again, this varies based on where you are. But here in New York, while bags shouldn't be put in household recycling, you can recycle plastic bags and other film plastics by bringing them to large stores or certain chain stores in the city. So check out what's going on in your area to find out what to do with those things in particular. Devin, what were your biggest takeaways from seeing the process?

[D]

I was shocked by how high tech it was.

[C]

Yeah, it sounds really.

[A]

The lasers and the magnets. Really the.

[D]

The air blowing at specific items to push them in specific directions on the conveyor. This. It looked like some shit out of like Futurama.

[A]

Yeah. Well, also just. And the scale of it. Describe this pile. It was massive.

[D]

It was huge. I mean this is buildings, you know, stories.

[A]

We're in like a huge warehouse, essentially.

[D]

Warehouse.

[A]

A barge is coming in. Barges aren't small.

[C]

No.

[D]

You ever seen a barge?

[C]

I've seen a few.

[A]

They're pretty large and they're carrying a lot of stuff on there.

[D]

Char.

[A]

Not small either.

[D]

Seriously Big, big boat.

[A]

Yeah. And they look tiny compared to this pile.

[D]

Yep.

[C]

It's bringing in recycled things that people thought you could recycle.

[A]

Yes.

[D]

And this is the thing that she emphasized too is that please only put recycling in a recycling bin. When they get garbage, then they gotta sort that out and then send it to get thrown in the garbage. So it's just making the garbage take a longer route. It's more money they need to pay for it.

[C]

Yeah, yeah.

[D]

To end up in a place where it should have just gone initially. Yeah. So it was much more high tech than I thought. Because part of me was like, this is what my frustration with the recycling process was when I was just doing it at home. Like, how did I know which material goes where? If I'm putting all these different type of plastics into one place. Right. Like, who's sorting it? Is there a guy who's just down there like, oh, this is like a, you know, a milk carton. I'm putting it over here, and it's like, no, that's not what's happening.

[C]

Yeah.

[D]

And I was surprised by how many. At least in New York, you can kind of recycle almost any. Any hard plastic.

[C]

Hard plastic.

[D]

Any hard plastic. So, like we said plastic bags. No. But any, like, food containers. Anything that is hard can be recycled. So she was showing us, like, you know, they have the prices for the types of materials, and.

[A]

And it changes every day. It's like, you know the market. You know the markets.

[D]

You know the markets.

[C]

Of course.

[A]

Of course you wake up every day and you check what's hard plastic costs right now.

[D]

But it was. Yeah, it was pretty incredible to see that. Okay. Me putting the stuff into my little plastic bin at home does actually make it somewhere where they are shorting it and then sending it out for reuse elsewhere.

[C]

So when I'm at home separating my recyclables.

[A]

Yep.

[C]

I separate paper and cardboard away from. That's good plastic.

[D]

That's a good.

[A]

That's good. Because they don't do. They don't do paper here. That's.

[D]

But they do collect it.

[A]

Yeah. That goes to a different place.

[C]

They just take.

[D]

They don't.

[C]

Rerouted.

[A]

That's recycled. But not here. Not at the Mercury.

[C]

So it is actually helpful that I'm not putting everything I think I can recycle into one bag.

[D]

No.

[A]

Yeah. So you can put these things. So you can put metal, plastic.

[D]

Yes.

[A]

And I guess glass.

[D]

Yes.

[A]

In here. In one bag.

[C]

One thing.

[A]

As long as your super will allow it.

[C]

Yeah, yeah.

[A]

That's a separate.

[C]

I'm sending him this episode.

[A]

But that can all be in one paper. Should be separate.

[D]

Paper and cardboard needs to be separated.

[A]

Yeah. Because it's. It might go here, but they're gonna have to send it out. You're wasting money, taxpayer dollars.

[D]

You know, talking about apartment bill. This drives me crazy. Now I go downstairs, they just got recycling bins and people printing everything in there.

[A]

There's paper. Yeah, that's what I'm doing.

[D]

There's plastic, there's metal, there's glass, all in the same bin. So now I'm thinking about, my God, this is ending up at that place. And it's just half of this is probably just going in the trash.

[C]

That's really crazy. You should have a bin Downstairs at your apartment, that's like, here's the.

[D]

And this is if you go and you walk around, look around, you'll see people. There are people doing this, right?

[B]

So in New York City, we have our two OG recycling bins. We have what we call the blue bin, where you can recycle four materials. Anything that is mostly metal, from a tiny bottle cap to a large refrigerator and everything in between, but not batteries and electronics. Then glass bottles and jars. Only if it's glass, it must be called bottle or jar. Otherwise, it is not recycled. Unfortunately, then cartons is the third material. Cartons go in the blue. I know it's a cardboard box. It's coated in plastic, so we don't want it in the paper bin. Cartons go in the blue bin and then rigid plastic. So in New York City, put all rigid, all hard plastic in the blue bin. No soft plastic bags, pouches, or wrappers. All hard plastic of all shapes and sizes. Then in what we call the green bin, that's for paper and cardboard. All paper. Any paper. If you can rip it, you can recycle it. And all cardboard, including greasy pizza boxes. You may absolutely put greasy pizza boxes in the recycling bin with the paper cardboard. Just don't leave any pizza in the box.

[D]

So when you put out your materials. Materials. And you got your. The guys who are taking it and putting it into the truck, there's sections, okay? So the paper and plastic, they have a section for that. And the metals, glass, materials, they have a section for that.

[C]

So they're pulling out the bags from my blue bin, but they're taking a quick look at it because the bag is transparent. Yeah, this is going over here. This is going over there.

[A]

Yeah.

[D]

Now that we have the. You're supposed to have standardized trash bins and recycling bins. That's supposed to make that process easier. So they know, okay, this green. So they don't have to look at it. They could just pick where it needs to be. But if. As long as it's in a clear bag, I think that's fine.

[A]

They should be able to. To figure that out.

[D]

Yeah.

[A]

Time for a quick break. When we're back, we hear from Kara about why those recycling rate numbers from part one are so low.

[D]

All right, fellas, I need you to help me with a problem that I got. You know, usually we're the ones helping other people with their problems, but I'm about to go abroad, and I want to watch mech games. Noah, how can I watch them?

[A]

That's a tough one. Maybe Get a really large telescope.

[D]

I don't think that's the best way to do. Manny, do you have any solutions on how I could watch Mets games abroad?

[C]

I think I've got a slightly more practical solution for you, Devin. If you use NordVPN, you'll be able to change the location of your laptop's IP address and watch the content with no problem.

[A]

What about my privacy online? I'm worried someone's watching me.

[C]

First of all, no one is watching you, Noah. But in case someone was watching you, NordVPN provides you with privacy online, leaving no digital footprint by hiding your IP address. It's like wearing an invisibility cloak while you're surfing the web.

[A]

Sounds comfy.

[D]

So, Manny, I've heard about these VPNs and how they're super slow. How do I make sure my Internet is not throttling?

[C]

If you want to use a VPN without slowing down your Internet, Devin, you're going to want to use NordVPN. Because whenever I use it, I don't see any buffering or lagging while I'm streaming my favorite content.

[D]

How do I get NordVPN?

[C]

Devin, if you or our listeners want to get the best discount off of your NordVPN plan, go to nordvpn.com nst Our link will also give you four extra months on the two year plan. And there's no risk because Nord has a 30 day money back guarantee. The link is in the show notes. That's nordvpn.com nst by now, I'm sure you've heard of Vibe coding. Everywhere I go, I'm always hearing someone talk about how they Vibe coded an app. It's everywhere right now. But here's the thing. It's not just for apps anymore. Now it's making its way into website creation. WIX has introduced WIX Harmony, a Vibe coder for websites that lets you type what you want and generate a site ready to use right away, complete with forms, payments, security and more. But don't worry, WIX Harmony doesn't require AI for everything. You can still click and edit anything manually or select an element and have Aria, your AI agent, make updates for you. It's a smart solution to the frustration of repeatedly prompting AI just to make small changes. Try it for [e-mail] Harmony that's wix.com Harmony. Now get out there and vibe code to your heart's content.

[A]

Kara brought up the 9% recycling rate issue, which is kind of the big thing we were Talking about with Davis, where only 9% of things got recycled. And she brought this up before I even got there. You know, I was saving up for the end because I was like, this is going to get. This is going to get nasty.

[B]

And if you want me to explain the 9% of plastic, I would be happy to do so.

[A]

Yes.

[B]

If you've heard that.

[A]

Yeah, yeah.

[B]

Okay. So, yeah, so there's the statistic that everyone loves to, like, run at me with their hands flailing in the air. Only 9% of plastic gets recycled. So I just want to explain that statistic because it's a bit misunderstood. So I think people hear this stat and they think, oh, my gosh, of all the plastic I'm putting in my recycling bin, only 9% of it is actually getting recycled. And no, that is not what that number is describing. If of all the plastic we were getting, if we could only recycle 9% of it, that would be a 91% loss for us. And that costs money. Anything that we send to the trash, we pay it for. So we would probably say, hey, guys, stop sending us plastic, because 91% of it, we have to pay to send it to a landfill. Right. It just makes no sense. So what that number is describing is describing the percentage of all plastics manufactured in a year that United States residents actually put into recycling bins. That's usually what those numbers are describing, is how much we, as residents are actually putting in to the bin. Once it gets in the bin and comes to a sorting facility, Sorting facilities are going to recover 87 to 95% of the good stuff.

[C]

Let's make a really rudimentary example here where the United states only produces 10 water bottles a year. She's saying consumers are only recycling 1 out of the 10 water bottles produced by the United States.

[D]

And that's nothing to say of what becomes of that water bottle, just that we're only putting one in the bin.

[A]

And that one, once it gets to the MRF, is getting recycled.

[D]

85.

[A]

So 85% of that one bottle is getting recycled.

[C]

So the statistic that we originally thought was an indictment of the recycling industry is, she's arguing, is actually an indictment of human beings. Consumers.

[A]

Well, yeah, which is kind of the whole crux of this, because that's also what, to be fair to Davis, he's saying we're taking the guilt on for. Yeah, who's making the plastic? You know, but it is. What I'm learning is everyone's involved in this. But if you put all the. All the Plastic. In your house. In your apartment.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

Your home.

[C]

Yeah. Into microplastics.

[A]

The recycling bin. It would get to the center, and most of that, or 87 to 95% of that would be recycled.

[C]

Well, this revelation is bittersweet in the sense that I feel a lot better that what I'm recycling is pretty much ending up getting recycled. But it also means that way fewer people are recycling than I thought.

[A]

Well, yeah, I mean, that's the trouble, because, you know, I. I mentioned how relieved, in a sense, I was in a sick way, that their cycling doesn't do anything. And now I'm realizing I might need to recycle more than ever.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

You know, it's all my countrymen. Yeah.

[D]

Yeah.

[C]

We need to get to the bottom

[A]

of this because

[C]

it's just like. It's like, which way, Western man? It's like this episode could end when I were with me not recycling anymore or going even harder stuff.

[A]

Yeah.

[D]

Like, I might have to confront my landlord about the bins.

[A]

I'll say this. I'm probably gonna have to have three bins now.

[D]

Yeah.

[A]

I have two.

[D]

I know. I was thinking about this.

[A]

I have a garbage bin.

[D]

Yep.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

And a recycling bin. Yep. And for a while, I was putting all my recyclables, including paper.

[D]

Yeah.

[C]

In the same.

[A]

In the one bin. I was like, no one's. No one's sorting downstairs.

[D]

Yeah.

[A]

I'm putting.

[D]

I'm.

[A]

I'm doing my best. I'm putting this stuff here.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

And then my trash, my real trash in the trash bin. That's not gonna. That's not gonna fly anymore.

[C]

I'm have.

[D]

Listen me.

[A]

You're gonna have four things.

[D]

I have compost. I got trash. I'm gonna have to have my metals, my glass, my plastics. And then I'm gonna have to have another one for my car.

[A]

I'm gonna have to buy a storage unit.

[C]

You're gonna use one of your room, one of your bedrooms. You're gonna get a bedroom apartment. One of the rooms.

[D]

Cash room. You were saying earlier, New York, it takes all rigid plastics, but there are some places that do not. Does that 9% number also account for those places who are just like, we're not going to sort this.

[B]

No. That 9% is its own thing, is

[A]

never attached to recycling centers.

[B]

It's not. It's really not. Yeah. It was a study done by the EPA in 2018 where they. They looked at all material, looked at how much was manufactured in a year, and then they looked at how much of what was Manufactured people put into recycling bins. That's what it's describing. It's the whole country. It's not localized. You can look sometimes cities like New York City, you can look at our recycling rates. The city puts out a really great report every five years, the waste characterization study. And you can see what percentage of each type of material New Yorkers are putting into the right bin. You know, you look at like a milk jug or a water jug. New Yorkers are putting like over 50%, I think maybe 60% of these into the recycling bin. So we're doing a great job with these. But then you look at something like a soda can and I think it's only like 30%, which is crazy. That's like the poster child of recyclable. But people are putting 30% of their soda cans in the recycling bin and the rest they're putting in the trash. That makes me want to pass out. Aluminum is so recyclable and it's so tax free to mine the raw materials and then manufacture aluminum from raw materials. It's very environmentally taxing.

[A]

If say 90% of plastic was put into recycling bins and made it to facilities like this, I'm sure there'd be some loss, obviously, but most of that would be recycled and then sold.

[B]

So the one other thing you have to consider is what of that is recyclable or not? Now most of the things that just regular everyday folks, most plastics that we buy that are rigid, most of it's plastic packaging. The more like large substantial stuff. And most of that is recyclable. But then you get into like little stuff and like cosmetics and toys and like the multi material stuff.

[A]

Right.

[B]

So you'd kind of have to look at the percentages of, well, how much of it is recyclable and then. Yeah. Of the good stuff. If you put it in the right bin, we're gonna recover it. It's gonna get recycled.

[C]

Did you guys happen to ask her about what happens if there's food stuck on the thing? Like I remember we were not. Not an issue. Okay.

[A]

Wow. Yeah. Yeah.

[C]

It's gonna save me about 10 minutes of work when I'm recycling.

[A]

Yeah, yeah.

[D]

Obviously don't like, you know.

[C]

Yeah.

[D]

Roast chicken in your.

[A]

But they're not throwing out plastic because there's like food residue on it, you know, like. Or yogurt or something.

[D]

Yeah, I would say that's more so. So it just doesn't stick up your house.

[A]

Yeah, yeah. Do it for yourself.

[D]

Yeah.

[A]

Not for.

[C]

I missed recycling last Night. Actually, I fucked up on that one.

[D]

Wow.

[C]

It only comes Monday. That's kind of inconvenient.

[A]

Garfield hates that. What do you see as the solution to get that number higher so you don't need to argue about it anymore?

[B]

Yeah. The funny thing about the 9% of plus statistic is if people put more recyclable plastic in the recycling bin, that percentage would go up and then more plastic would be recycled. But I think what ends up happening is people hear that statistic, they kind of misunderstand it, they lose faith and hope and they put less in the bin and that's going to just lead

[A]

to that number going down.

[B]

So look, I'm a recycling educator, so I will tell you to recycle. I will tell you recycling is good. But I will stress also recycling saves materials, which is great and essential. But if you want to save the planet, we need to reduce and reuse first. That's obvious. No one is trying to skirt around that. But still, recycling has its place. So there are some materials that aren't made for reuse, unfortunately, but can definitely be recycled. So just put them in the recycling bin, get the recycling numbers up. It's not hurting anything.

[D]

I like that. I like that what she just said. Cycling saves material. If you want to save the planet, we got to reduce and reuse and reverse.

[A]

Okay, put that on a shirt.

[C]

We're all familiar with the reuse sentiment there. But reduce meaning just like stop using as many plastics.

[D]

Stop buying plastics. Well, yeah, instead of buying a plastic water bottle, when you go to the store.

[C]

Hey, have you have a reusable one? Have you seen my Martinelli's? It's glass,

[D]

but just they're still producing that material.

[C]

I know.

[D]

Every time you go and then you throw it out.

[C]

I know, I'm saying I gotta crush an apple and get the juice out of it.

[A]

Yeah, put it into your glass. No, put it into that glass bottle. You can reuse that.

[D]

Yeah.

[A]

Okay. So yeah, so I asked about, I asked about basically the argument that we're putting the onus on the individuals, not the corporation, the powers that be.

[C]

Yes.

[A]

So this is what Kara said.

[B]

I absolutely hear that as well. And yeah, manufacturing is all single use culture of convenience. Like we're dug very deeply into that. And I do, you know, want to kind of put a spotlight on that. And I think that manufacturing actually could change. We could figure out more ways to integrate, reuse, less single use packaging. Yes. But the responsibility is everyone's, you know, yeah, they're making it, but who's buying it, you know, someone's buying it as well. So I really look at the responsibility as everyone's look in the mirror.

[D]

We need to fix ourselves. If we weren't buying all these plastics, they wouldn't be making them.

[C]

Yeah, they wouldn't be making them. It's true. But we're such an on the go culture. I can imagine myself, you know, getting like a subscription liter bag of like Coca Cola or whatever and then pouring it into my bag. Not a bag. Not a bag, obviously.

[D]

Fountain soda.

[C]

I'm trying to think about how I would, how I would satisfy my Coca Cola craving.

[D]

Drink less Coke.

[A]

No, that's not an option.

[B]

But I would say it's everyone's responsibility. Buy less, single, use stuff, commit to reuse and be an example in that, you know, let others see how possible it is and others will follow, you know, and yeah, we want to do things to push the needle. We want to push manufacturers to do better and the big companies to do better. One thing we're trying to pass in New York State now is something called extended producer responsibility. It puts more responsibility on producers. Right, okay, you made that. You're also going to help us pay to recycle it and manage it once it becomes waste. So this has existed in Europe and Canada for decades. And a few states, I think seven states now have passed this legislation. Extended producer responsibility. We're trying to get it in New York State, which can encourage manufacturers to design materials that are easier to recycle. Because then you pay less, basically, if it's easier to recycle and you pay more if it's trash or you pay more if it's difficult to recycle, what have you. So that can kind of move the needle on design.

[A]

That's a fair take, I think, as far as everyone could be doing better. Yes, recycle it to your best ability. And also, obviously, point of the big companies who produce it to maybe do less or do more.

[B]

Yeah, you know, they're doing stuff. So our company, Circular Services, we're a part of Closed Loop Partners, and there's some of those big companies that are investors, you know, they know they're responsible. They know and they're, they're coming to the table. But yeah, how can we all push that push circularity forward.

[A]

All right, we are going to take a quick break, and when we return, we weigh in with our final takeaways about everything we've learned during this wild ride into the world of recycling.

[C]

By now, I'm sure you've heard of Vibe coding. Everywhere I go, I'm always hearing someone talk about how they vibe coded an app. It's everywhere right now. But here's the thing. It's not just for apps anymore. Now it's making its way into website creation. WIX has introduced Wix Harmony, a Vibe coder for websites that lets you type what you want and generate a site ready to use right away, complete with forms, payments, security and more. But don't worry, WIX Harmony doesn't require AI for everything. You can still click and edit anything manually or select an element and have Aria, your AI agent, make updates for you. It's a smart solution to the frustration of repeatedly prompting AI just to make small changes. Try it for [e-mail] harmony that's wix.com harmony now get out there and Vibe code to your heart's content.

[F]

Support for the show comes from Public, the investing platform for those who take it seriously. On Public, you can build a multi asset portfolio of stocks, bonds, options, crypto and now generated assets which allow you to turn any idea into an investable index. With AI. It all starts with your prompt. From renewable energy companies with high free cash flow to semiconductor suppliers growing revenue over 20% year over year, you can literally type any prompt and put the AI to work. It screens thousands of stocks, builds a one of a kind index and lets you back test it against the S&P 500. Then you can invest in a few clicks. Generated assets are like ETFs with infinite possibilities, completely customizable and based on your thesis, not someone else's. Go to public.com podcast and earn an uncapped 1% bonus when you transfer your portfolio. That's public.com podcast paid for by Public Investing Brokerage Services by Open to the Public Investing Inc. Member FINRA and SIPC Advisory services by Public Advisors llc, SEC Registered Advisors. Generated Assets is an interactive analysis tool. Output is for informational purposes only and is not an investment recommendation or advice. Complete disclosures available at public.com disclosures this

[G]

Mother's Day Celebrate all the women who make life brighter with a gift from Pandora Jewelry. Choose jewelry that reflects what she means to you and the moments you share. Make it even more meaningful by personalizing your piece with an engraving in your own handwriting, something no one else has, either a date, a name or something unique to you. Because the best Mother's Day gift says more than I love you. It says I appreciate you. It says I see you find the perfect Mother's Day gift at your local Pandora store or [e-mail].

[A]

What are you guys thoughts as far as should we be recycling?

[D]

I think initially I felt a little bit sort of like this is all a waste of time. I still feel a bit that way because I think recycling is just the way for the oil companies to be like, hey, we're doing our good deed. But I think now I feel a bit like, well, I'm just going to put this stuff in a recycling bin and then whatever y' all do with it is on y'. All. But you can't point. I feel like if I don't recycle, then they can point the finger at me, right. And say, hey, we couldn't have done a better job, you know, saving the earth. But Devin over here is not putting stuff in recycling.

[A]

Lazy, lazy Devin.

[D]

Lazy Devin. But now if I say whatever, I'm gonna take every single thing that can be recycled and put it in bin, and now it's up to you whether or not it's actually gonna be reused. Takes very little effort on my side of things.

[A]

That's generally how I feel like, especially

[D]

after, you know, talking to Kara, I think we had a lot of assumptions that you gotta rinse the thing out and these things can't be together and blah, blah, blah. And after seeing how it's sorted and stuff, it's like, oh, just literally just put it in the bin and it will probably be recycled.

[C]

Yeah.

[D]

So it feels like the bar is much lower to just like, do the right thing.

[A]

Do your small part.

[D]

Yeah.

[A]

As small as it may be.

[D]

And I don't think that's gonna solve the problem. I think more. So my takeaway from all of this is like, I just am gonna try to use less plastic, period.

[C]

Yeah. After hearing from Kara, I'm much more interested in the reduce out of that. You know, the catchphrase of reduce, reuse, recycle, reducing and reusing, I think is going to make much more of an impact than me kind of like fumbling over what goes in what bag every Monday night. But it is good to know that, like, most, if not all of what I put in to the bags on Monday night will end up getting recycled. I. I did think beforehand, like, you know, God bless whatever happens to this stuff is what happens. And, you know, I'm doing this because my landlord makes me do it, not because I feel like I have to. I'm saving the world and, you know, now I have. There's a lot more context, you know, into where these things are ending up, which, which is good. But it honestly Made me think about, like, Coke bottles. Like, you know, glass Coke bottles. Like, maybe I can just fill that up with water and keep using it.

[A]

Well, that's gonna be tough because they don't have caps.

[C]

Well, just like, at home.

[D]

At home as a blast.

[C]

Hey, I'm taking. I'm taking start.

[D]

You go to Manny's house.

[A]

Yeah.

[D]

To drink out of.

[C]

Not. Not necessarily Coke bottles, but, like. Yeah, I feel like there's a lot of. I buy and immediately

[D]

to get rid of it. It's funny because I feel like our parents were reusing a lot of stuff. You know, you go to people's houses,

[A]

they would have refilling jugs.

[D]

Yeah. Refilling jugs would be plastic. There'd be plastic, like, butter containers that would turn into, like, oh, now this is a container for food.

[A]

Yep.

[D]

Right before, it was so easy to go on Amazon and be like, I need a container for this thing, or, I need a thing for this thing.

[A]

There was a lot. You should be looking at the Container Store.

[D]

Yeah. I wonder who owns that Big Oil.

[A]

Yep.

[D]

But, yeah, I think there is a way that, like, we should. Well, it's also just like the stuff that we choose to buy.

[C]

Yes. Right.

[A]

Well, you know, people make fun of, you know, the millennial Mason jar thing. Yeah, they had the right idea.

[D]

Exactly. This also makes me a little bit, like, it's really upsets me now when I go downstairs and I see that things are not separated correctly in my building because I'm like, guys, you can't put the cardboard in with the plastic and the glass. You know, like, now I'm kind of a tyrant for that.

[A]

I'm gonna set up a new bin in my home after this, I think, for the papers and cardboard.

[D]

I bugged my landlord about a lot of things. I'm adding this to list. I'm like, you gotta label.

[C]

They can't wait till you move out.

[D]

Yeah. Really? You gotta label two of these bins.

[C]

Cardboard harassing the people.

[D]

Cardboard and paper only.

[A]

Yeah, it's getting the initial setup, I think, the whatever, the, you know, crowd psychology of getting people to actually adopt something. It's, you know, people study this and it's very difficult to do, and it's going to take a lot. I mean, we're. We're only just now learning we don't need to clean out our plastic that we're recycling.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

Thoroughly. How long has that rumor been going around, you know, and, like, you know, updating the. The popular knowledge of these things? Yeah, a lot of time, especially people aren't like I was never particularly interested or invested in this subject.

[C]

Right.

[D]

You know, I didn't make a bunch of tick tocks and tweets about it.

[A]

Yeah.

[C]

I don't even know where that came from.

[A]

The cleaning thing. Yeah.

[D]

Your asshole friend who thinks they know.

[A]

Yeah. I mean, it was probably some article like 20 years ago.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

You read it once, you go, oh, and then like, I'm not going to check in on updates on that. They need better campaigns from there, campaign messaging. They need some, I don't know, celebrities to do something about this.

[D]

Get some influencers. Instead of going to Coachella, y' all need to tell us how to recycle correctly.

[A]

Think how much recycling is or isn't happening at Coachella. It's disgusting. Hearing these explanations back to back is just interesting as kind of a workshop test of like depending on who you're talking to or the rest of the conversation, you can hear the same thing and just kind of take a totally different takeaway in some ways. But at the same time they are kind of saying, hey, we're using way too many plastics.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

Single quote, unquote, single use or disposable plastics. And this is bad. And then you can choose. Yeah, you can choose which path your mind goes from there.

[C]

Yeah.

[A]

There's a good, good lesson. As a, as a podcaster and a journalist and as a, as a man. No Such Thing is a production of Kaleidoscope Content. Our executive producers are Kate Osborne and Mangesh Hatakedur. The show is created by Manny Fadal, Noah Friedman and Devin Joseph. Theme and credits Song by Manny Mixing by Steve Bone thank you to our guest Kara Napolitano from Circular Services. You can visit Nosuchthing show to subscribe to our newsletter for links to research and more, including some video of what we saw at the recycling facility. And lastly, we want to hear from you. We made a survey. You can find a link in the Show Notes and on our newsletter to get feedback about what you like about our show, what you don't like, and a lot more. If you had other feedback for us or a question, our email is mannynoadevonmail.com or you can leave us a voicemail by calling the number in our show Notes. If you like this episode, please give us a five star rating and a nice review. Wherever you listen or just drop a link in your family group chat. I promise you'll enjoy it. Thanks and we will be back next week.

[C]

No such thing.

[B]

Hot take. You can disagree with someone and not hate them. I know. Really groundbreaking stuff. But lately that line seems blurry because hate is rising across communities in all kinds of ways, and Jewish communities are getting a lot of it right now. You don't have to agree with people, you just have to not be awful. The blue square is a simple way to say, I'm with you and I don't tolerate hate of any kind. Of go to bluesquarealliance.org, get a pin, share it, and stand up at CVS,

[E]

it matters that we're not just in your community, but that we're part of it. It matters that we're here for you when you need us, day or night, and we want everyone to feel welcomed and rewarded. It matters that CVS is here to fill your prescriptions and here to fill your craving for a tasty and, yeah, healthy snack. At cvs, we're proud to serve your community because we believe where you get your medicine matters. So Visit [e-mail] or just come by our store. We can't wait to meet you. Store hours vary by location.

[C]

I'm U.S. transportation Secretary Sean Duffy. We all get distracted when we drive, whether it's from our phones or kids in the backseat bickering. But how we handle these distractions can be a matter of life or death. Before you get on the road for your next road trip, please put your phones on silent and take a mental note to focus on driving. Paid for by NHTSA

[G]

this Mother's Day celebrate all the women who make life brighter with a gift from Pandora Jewelry. Choose jewelry that reflects what she means to you, and the moments you share make it even more meaningful by personalizing your piece with an engraving in your own handwriting, something no one else has, either a date, a name, or something unique to you. Because the best Mother's Day gift says more than I love you. It says I appreciate you. It says, I see you. Find the perfect Mother's Day gift at your local Pandora store or [e-mail] this

[E]

is an I Heart Podcast. Guaranteed human.