So long as we’re using plastics (hence the sorting and “recycling”), the better alternative in terms of what to do with post-usage (non-usage is moot given it’s in the stream already), is to bury it and sequester carbon. Actually recycling it doesn’t sequester carbon and it’s energy negative.
> non-usage is moot given it’s in the stream already
You can apply backpressure to the stream by buying things not wrapped in plastic in the first place. It’ll take some time for the signal to have an impact, but if enough people selected less-packaged goods, the market would fix the supply chain over time.
Also, if you pick items with less packaging up-front, then you don’t need to do as much work sorting waste on the back end!
