The US exports its plastic waste. But now other countries are rejecting it.

When it comes to plastic, recycling has almost always been a lie. But that guilt-free plastic consumption is so built into our infrastructure and way of life that we keep insisting on living that lie anyway. In truth, less than 10% of plastic has ever been recycled, because the process involved is just too expensive. Which is why the US just ships all that plastic waste overseas and lets someone else deal with the problem.