As most of you probably know, single-use plastics are not the best for the environment — they don't decompose and instead turn into microplastics that pollute our food and water.

But some plastics are worse than others, with black plastic being especially problematic. First, it is difficult to recycle black plastic. Recycling centers use infrared cameras with optical scanners to reflect light and differentiate one type of plastic material from another. However, black plastic does not reflect light (it absorbs light), so it is often left unsorted and winds up in landfills. Second, even if black plastics are recycled, they tend to have little market value. In contrast to light or clear plastics which can be dyed any color, black plastics can only be recycled into products that are black-pigmented.

So what can we do to avoid black plastic? Black plastics are ingrained into many aspects of our daily lives such as utensils and personal care products, and many restaurants use black takeout containers since it makes food look more appealing. If local health codes allow it, I recommend bringing your own reusable containers to restaurants. To make an even larger impact, try talking to some local restaurants and convincing them to switch from black to clear plastic, or even better, to compostable takeout containers. But, if you are ever in a situation where you have to use black plastic takeout containers, I recommend reusing them for other purposes such as storage rather than having them end up in landfills.

References and Further Reading

- weforum.org/agenda/2019/12/black-plastic-recycling-supermarkets-waste/
- theguardian.com/environment/2019/jul/02/use-compostable-plastic-and-the-16-other-essential-rules-of-effective-recycling