Penn and Teller did an episode about this on Bullshit!. They found that the only worthwhile recycling scheme is aluminum. Everything else was just literal waste.
“They found that the only worthwhile recycling scheme is aluminum.”
I think Fe recycling is still working after all these years.
Al is clearly economic.
Aluminum, iron, lead, titanium and other metals can be recycled easily.
Plastic would be better repurposed cut into strips as a strengthen agent, or aggregate in concrete or asphalt.
Recycling paper and uses as much or energy as making the product new.
This is just plain not true.
Steel is recycled all the time.
Every jeweler in the world recycles gold and silver as well as any other precious metal.
Motor oil is recycled all the time. Even used deep fat frier oil is recycled into biodiesel.
Some paper and cardboard can be successfully recycled.
The problem with plastic recycling is that different plastics do not mix. BUT most shops that manufacture plastic items take every ounce of clean scrap or defective parts, regrind them and mix with virgin material. Recycling at work.
There is an entire cottage industry that has sprung up over stealing catalytic converters and sellng them to have the precious metal catalysts recycled.
The common feature of all successful recycling is an economic incentive to do it. The material is worth more than the cost of reprocessing. This is just not the case with post-consumer plastic items.
And aluminum is only worth it in bulk quantities, not your curbside. I refuse to comply with any recycling program because they are stupid.