We cannot recycle our way out of the plastics crisis. We need comprehensive systemic solutions to first reduce plastic production.

According to a 2021 report from Beyond Plastics, if current production trends keep up, plastics could be a bigger source of greenhouse gases in the US than the coal industry by 2030. Avoiding the worst impacts of plastics on our health and environment requires a complete rethinking of the way we produce, use, and manage plastic. While the world is struggling with the plastics pollution crisis, producers are just making more of it. Leading experts agree that while recycling can help manage plastic waste, recycling alone is not enough to deal with the increasing amount of plastics produced. Of all the plastic ever produced, from the time of its invention until today, only roughly 9% has been recycled, while 12% has been incinerated. The remaining 79% of all plastic ever produced has been landfilled, or illegally dumped, polluting the natural environment.

Eco-Cycle is committed to plastics reduction first, aligning with three core strategies set forth in the New Plastics Economy developed by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation: 

• Eliminate all problematic and unnecessary plastic items. 
• Innovate to ensure that the plastics we do need are reusable, recyclable, or compostable. 
• Circulate all the plastic items we use through recycling and other means to keep them in the economy and out of the environment.

To address the first of these core strategies, in August 2023, Eco-Cycle and Boulder County (operator and owner of the Boulder County Recycling Center, respectively) changed recycling guidelines to no longer accept some of the most toxic plastics, including all black plastics, #6 polystyrene, #3 polyvinyl chloride, and #7 polycarbonate. This change in recycling guidelines is in keeping with a global and statewide movement to eliminate more toxic and hard-to-recycle plastics:

• The US Plastics Pact, a consortium formed to address the plastics crisis and “create a path forward to realize a circular economy for plastic in the United States,” created a list of 11 “Problematic and Unnecessary Materials” that should be eliminated from production. The Pact defines the term “Problematic or Unnecessary” as: “Plastic packaging items, components, or materials where consumption could be avoided through elimination, reuse or replacement and items that, post-consumption, commonly do not enter the recycling and/or composting systems, or where they do, are detrimental to the recycling or composting system due to their format, composition, or size.” 
  
• The list of 11 materials includes “carbon black” or black plastics, #6 PS (polystyrene) and EPS (expanded polystyrene), as well as #3 PVC (polyvinyl chloride), including PVDC (polyvinylidene chloride).
  
  
• The state of Colorado passed the Plastic Pollution Reduction Act that, in addition to banning plastic bags in 2024, will also ban from use #6 expanded polystyrene cups and containers, frequently referred to as Styrofoam^®.
  
  
• As we move toward implementing Producer Responsibility in the state of Colorado, companies that sell products and packaging will be incentivized to use materials that are truly recyclable within the state, and these more toxic plastics will be on the “no” list. 
  
• Many recycling programs across the country already do not accept #3, #6, #7, or black plastics, and others are removing them from the list of materials accepted.