"Does that mean that the 92% that goes to landfill
Post# of 43064
That depends on how you look at it. HDPE, LDPE and PP do have a value of a few hundred dollars per ton...when sorted out of the waste stream. HDPE plastic about $0.20/lb right now and a lb is about eight plastic milk jugs. It's a hard business sorting plastic--that $0.025/jug, for example, doesn't add up very fast.
By contrast, aluminum is about $0.85/lb. If you can get people to sort aluminum as they use it, it's worthwhile because that's essentially free labor. But if aluminum has to be sorted from the waste stream, not so much. The people you see picking aluminum cans out of garbage typically aren't making enough to be driving around in Hummers.
While Mr. Bordynuik definitely pushed the "92% of plastic is landfilled" story, he conveniently forgot to mention the cost to separate that plastic from the other waste.