Plastic recycling a "failed concept," study says, with only 5% recycled in U.S. last year as production rises
CBSN
Washington — Plastic recycling rates are declining even as production shoots up, according to a Greenpeace USA report out Monday that blasted industry claims of creating an efficient, circular economy as "fiction."
Titled "Circular Claims Fall Flat Again," the study found that of 51 million tons of plastic waste generated by U.S. households in 2021, only 2.4 million tons were recycled, or around five percent. After peaking in 2014 at 10 percent, the trend has been decreasing, especially since China stopped accepting the West's plastic waste in 2018.
Virgin production — of non-recycled plastic, that is — meanwhile is rapidly rising as the petrochemical industry expands, lowering costs.
Washington — Secretary of State Antony Blinken is set to testify Wednesday before the Republican-led House Foreign Affairs Committee, which has long sought to question him over the deadly evacuation from Afghanistan.
A federal judge on Tuesday night rejected the sale of the conspiracy platform Infowars to The Onion satirical news outlet after Alex Jones claimed that a recent bankruptcy auction was fraught with illegal collusion.
A group of House Democrats Tuesday called for action from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, days after CBS News published an investigation which found dozens of law enforcement officials illegally sold firearms, even weapons of war, across 23 states, Puerto Rico and Washington, D.C.
President-elect Donald Trump made another flurry of job announcements on Tuesday, selecting Andrew Ferguson as the next chair of the Federal Trade Commission, Ronald Johnson was nominated to be ambassador to Mexico, and Kimberly Guilfoyle to be ambassador to Greece.
President-elect Donald Trump announced Monday he is nominating Kimberly Guilfoyle to be U.S. ambassador to Greece. Guilfoyle, a former Fox News host-turned-political fundraiser, was dating Trump's eldest son, Donald Trump Jr.
A federal judge on Tuesday blocked Kroger's $24.6 billion acquisition of Albertsons, ruling that the proposed union would lessen competition for grocery shoppers.
Washington — The House task force investigating the assassination attempts against President-elect Donald Trump released a final report on its probe on Tuesday, presenting a series of recommendations to combat future security failures.
A second infant has died in an 8-state listeria outbreak related to recalled Yu Shang Food ready-to-eat meat and poultry products, according to federal health officials. The products were sold online and at retail locations nationwide, according to federal health officials.
The Justice Department failed to follow department policy and ignored some established protections when seeking records from members of Congress, dozens of congressional staffers and members of the media during the first Trump administration, an internal watchdog found.