I had a similar overall reaction, and I'm confused about pieces like this, which have really increased in the last few years.

I admit I'm probably not as knowledgeable as I should be, but I have read many pieces on this issue and I'm only left more confused than I was before. I do think single-use plastic is far too common, but there are reasons why is is used, and in many cases moving to other materials (glass or metal, for example) would create additional problems that are never addressed by pieces like this.

Here's my questions; I'm genuinely curious about them and not trying to be antagonistic to the idea of reducing traditional plastic use, which I am supportive of in general.

1. If mixed single-stream recycling is a problem, why not return to sorted recycling, like we did for years? Yes, getting people to recycle correctly is a problem but it seems like part of that was an educational/system issue (not educating people about what can actually be recycled, making it truly easy for them to do so by supplying the right things, etc.), and if it solves the problem at least by a substantial percentage points, isn't that better?

2. Why not focus on improvements in recycling engineering and plastic production than plastic recycling per se? I can forsee some situation where someone makes it very efficient to recycle plastic, and then we'll be in a position of "undoing" all the "plastic recycling is a myth" pieces like this. Also, what happens when we produce plastic in some kind of sustainable way and end up with compostable plastic? Won't this be confusing to people? Why not focus on specifics?

3. I get the idea that new plastic is cheaper and more efficient to produce than recycling old plastic. But then there's often a leap to something like "we should use aluminum instead because recycling old aluminum is very efficient and cheap compared to producing new aluminum". However, this is not the same as saying "recycling old aluminum is more energy efficient than producing new plastic" or even "recycling old aluminum is more energy efficient than recycling old plastic". When I've read articles about this, it's confusing because they generally have said that producing the same item in either new or old aluminum is more costly environmentally/energy-wise than anything with plastic old or new. This seems like a common error in sustainability campaigns, not fully accounting for the energy costs involved in switching materials due a focus on end-of-life considerations alone.

4. What about all the supply-chain problems introduced by eliminating plastics? I'm thinking weight, damage, etc. It seems just as arbitrary to say "plastic recycling isn't economical" versus "everyone everywhere just get your deodorant and yogurt in reusable containers". Sure, it can be done, but realistically in the modern age? If it's so appealing why don't you see yogurt container deposits taking off?

5. Along those lines, aren't the economics of this somewhat arbitrary and malleable? I don't mean this in a naive way, I mean: taxes and government incentives shift this stuff around. There are also successful companies who base their entire business model on recycled plastic -- aren't they supplying a demand?

6. Also along those lines, much of this seems kind of overgeneralized. I know of locales that, through these sorts of government policies and so forth, push the economics of this all around to create these kinds of opportunities. Putting aside of "scaling this up", it seems a little overstated to say "plastic recycling is a myth" when there are places doing it. Maybe it doesn't usually work, but fighting against it in general seems kind of like the wrong place to put effort.

7. Let's say you successfully recycle 5% of your plastic. "Successfully" in all senses. Isn't that still 5% less plastic, which is a lot?

Again, I'm not trying to be hostile to the idea of reusing and reducing, as opposed to recycling, and I make an effort to avoid plastic when feasible. I'm very much in favor of those things, to the point of probably annoying many people around me. But this anti-plastic-recycling campaign has left me scratching my head when I've looked into it.