Note: for all that many of us criticize the lack of plastics recycling and plastics recyclability overall, please realize that correct container plastics put into our recycling boxes, carts, and bins, DO get recycled and turned into new materials. Our recycling programs are not where the problem lies, despite what one may read. Here are the materials to recycle in your curbside container in Western Mass.
Watch this space as we add new links from time to time. Following these links will cause you to leave our Greening Greenfield site. We do not necessarily endorse everything said by others mentioned here, but some of our members have found the information here to be valuable.
Greenfield legislation:
Katrina Kincade of WWLP interview with Peg Hall: Greenfield residents adjusting to plastic bag ban with reusables.
Covid-19 used by plastics industry to weaken environmental regulations:
WasteDive article No clear proof single-use bags are less likely to spread coronavirus:
Former EPA Regional Admin in Newsweek for Earth Day 2020: Covid no excuse for single-use plastics
Organizations:
National Caucus of Environmental Legislators (NCEL)
Plastic Film Recycling (industry description of what film can be recycled and where)
Articles and Videos:
Plastics is the New Coal Plastics & Climate Change. Beyond Plastics October 2021: 27 page report documents the plastic sector’s staggering contribution to greenhouse gas emissions in the United States which is now poised to surpass those of coal-fired power plants.
Dear Plastics Industry: We are Heading for a Divorce
5 Reasons Why We’re Not Crazy About Compostable Food Ware (Natural Resources Council of Maine)
Chemical Recycling: It still needs time. Perhaps you've heard industry folks touting Chemical Recycling as the next savior, well, maybe not. See also Greening Greenfield's own Definitions page.
Break Free From Plastic (BFFP) Movement Position on Chemical Recycling
Plastic Wars. PSB/Frontline 54-minute show on Plastics Industry efforts to pretend consumer recycling is the answer, deflecting attention from Waste Reduction and what's really going on.
Rethinking Recycling. Northeast Recycling Council (NERC) Webinar, 1.5 hours long, Excellent background on how recycling, as wonderful and necessary as it is, is used by industry to encourage consumers to solve problems that need a bigger fix that only industry can provide. Uses life cycle analysis to analyze a broad range of environmental impacts of various types of packaging and concludes Product Stewardship is necessary.
Planet Plastic: How Big Oil and Big Soda kept a global environmental calamity a secret for decades. Very long article in Rolling Stone magazine. 2nd half points out what industry is up to, nice sounding names for industry-funded front groups, and some not-so-pretty strategies being employed:
No Time to Waste: Tackling the plastic pollution crisis before it’s too late: 80 page report.
Plastics in the Air (and Oceans). 14 minute video: