Think all your plastic is being recycled? New research shows it can end up in the ocean

By Monique Retamal, Elsa Dominish, Nick Florin, and Rachel Wakefield-Rann of The Conversation

We all know it's wrong to toss your rubbish into the ocean or another natural place. But it might surprise you to learn some plastic waste ends up in the environment, even when we thought it was being recycled.

Our study, published today, investigated how the global plastic waste trade contributes to marine pollution.

We found plastic waste most commonly leaks into the environment at the country to which it's shipped. Plastics which are of low value to recyclers, such as lids and polystyrene foam containers, are most likely to end up polluting the environment.

The export of unsorted plastic waste from Australia is being phased out—and this will help address the problem. But there's a long way to go before our plastic is recycled in a way that does not harm nature.