You'd have to be living under a rock to not know about the plastic crisis threatening our planet. Over the decades, humanity has come to rely on plastic's cheap production value and usefulness in packaging, using it for single-use purposes where hygiene is a concern, as well as for mass-producing all sorts of things. Additionally, many kinds CAN be recycled readily (to my knowledge, black plastic is the only thing that for sure isn't usually recycled at the moment, because the optical sorting machines have a difficult time seeing the pieces against a black conveyer belt).
So, imagine my surprise when I noticed recently that the Great Value (Walmart's store brand for food items) yogurts that my mom and I eat one of each day are marked on the cup as non-recyclable. In a panic, I started checking other yogurt containers, including looking at photos on Walmart's site, and one of the rare times I was actually in the store, I checked all the brands there. Recycling status across all yogurt brands sold there is extremely hit or miss. Containers are either a 5 or a 6. According to how2recycle.info, the entity behind the labeling on packaging, 6 is not yet recyclable, and "[fewer] than 20% of Americans and Canadians can recycle this package or significant challenges exist in sortation, reprocessing, or end markets."
Farmer's Almanac has their own chart online (https://www.almanac.com/which-plastics-are-recyclable-number) which states that not only is 6 recyclable, but it also is believed to leach styrene, a possible carcinogen, into food. It also accounts for about 35% of US landfill material.
Added to the problem is the fact that some cups are only recyclable if the label is removed first, which is a step many people might not bother with. It's also come out recently that a large portion of recyclable material put out as curbside waste intended for a recycling center never makes it there and just goes straight to the landfill. This could easily lead to consumers deciding to not even bother, because what's the point?
The plastics problem is gargantuan, and overwhelming, but manufacturers hold some of the greatest power to turn the tide. With the additional info from Farmer's Almanac, I would suggest to ALL yogurt manufacturers that they adjust their packaging so that only number 2 or 5 plastic is used. Literally the only reason to keep using number 6 plastic for food is penny-pinching, and most of them are in a position where that shouldn't matter. Ideally, of course, no company would use non-recyclable plastics at all, but that's a subject for a different petition.
