If the slogan “reduce, reuse and recycle” has been ingrained in everyone’s memory since primary school, why do only less than 10% of plastics ever get recycled?

For starters, we’re not that great at it. Only 34% of Americans can be bothered to throw their recyclables in a blue or green bin, and even if they do, many cities don’t have the appropriate recycling streams. That and the fact that plastic is virtually everywhere.