Editor,
Thank you for the recent column by the head of the Carmel recycling program. Many, if not most, Americans are doing a good job of recycling, but the problem is that there no longer is the market for much of our waste.
China no longer wants our used plastic, since it is now concentrating on its own plastic pollution problem. So, more and more is ending up in landfills, costing cities, and eventually taxpayers, more.
Plastic pollution is perhaps the worst problem. Plastic pollution is killing marine life, making trash heaps in our oceans and eventually getting in humans, perhaps causing some of our health problems.
Sadly, only about 9 percent is recycled, and our society has not adopted some of the uses of recycled plastic that Europe has. Some states and local governments in the U.S. have banned plastic straws and plastic bags. They can be replaced by paper straws made right here in Indiana – think jobs for Hoosiers.
Plastics also can be made from plants, which biodegrade faster without the problems that petroleum-based plastic have. Plant-based plastics would give our hard-hit farmers a new market and boost the economy of small-town rural America. State government in Indiana needs to promote these solutions rather than put legal obstacles in the way!
Mike Boland, Fishers
