It has been [two years][1] since China has cracked down on importing recyclables, and it appears the U.S. has had to stockpile, incinerate, [landfill][2], or divert most of its recyclables stream to other, less-apt countries (where it tends to just be [dumped or burned][3]).  Combine that with the issue of [contamination][4] (which my city just reported went from 5 % to 10 % in recent years) and it seems grim for most plastics recycling.  Would it be better to just toss them in the garbage?

Since most plastics are derived from crude oil (let's leave the [bioplastics][5] out of this) the idea is that burying plastics is a [form of cheap carbon capture and storage][6].  Granted, it's not capturing carbon from the air but at least it isn't adding any.


  [1]: https://www.npr.org/2017/12/09/568797388/recycling-chaos-in-u-s-as-china-bans-foreign-waste
  [2]: https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/jun/21/us-plastic-recycling-landfills
  [3]: https://theintercept.com/2019/07/20/plastics-industry-plastic-recycling/
  [4]: https://www.rubiconglobal.com/blog-recycling-contamination/
  [5]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bioplastic
  [6]: https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-43120041