NEW YORK — For more than a decade, Courtney Williams and her family have lived in the shadow of the Wheelabrator waste-to-energy incinerator, located along the Hudson River in Peekskill, New York.
"We go outside, we open the door, and the … kind of burning plastic smell hits us," Williams told ABC News.
She says her concerns only deepened after it was revealed to her that a tracking device ABC News attached to a plastic bag intended for recycling last pinged at the trash incinerator near her home. Plastic is difficult and expensive to recycle to begin with and bags are even more so because they can get ensnared in equipment at most recycling centers -- causing costly delays.
"I think if a lot of people really made the connection between what they put in the recycle bin, what they put in the garbage and the fact that they're going to breathe it, we'd have folks paying a lot closer attention," Williams said."It's not enough for you to put your recyclables in the recycling bin.
One tracker dropped off at a New York Walmart last pinged in Indonesia, and other trackers dropped off at one Walmart location in Florida and another Walmart in Kansas last pinged in Malaysia -- places known to be struggling with plastic waste imports from around the world. Baca admitted the store drop-off concept for plastic bag recycling"doesn't work to the scale that we want." The American Chemistry Council tells ABC News its position on best ways to recycle plastic has been evolving -- the industry will change course -- renewing its push for adapting curbside recycling for plastic bags -- an issue WRAP was originally designed to provide an alternative for.
Erin Simon, the head of Plastic Waste and Business at environmental advocacy group World Wildlife Fund, told ABC News there are various efforts across the country to reduce plastic waste, but what is needed is more transparency in the system. "Walmart offers in-store recycling bins for plastic bags as an option for customers who may not have access to curbside recycling. We are also pursuing initiatives to reduce the use of single-use plastic including plastic bags, and working with policy makers, waste management companies, non-profits and other retailers to reduce demand for single-use plastic bags.
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