The report unveils the fraudulent marketing and public education campaigns used to promote plastic as recyclable, despite knowing that it is not a workable solution.

These strategies allowed the single-use plastics industry to expand, while avoiding regulation to effectively address waste and pollution, the report says.

“Recycling cannot be considered a permanent solid waste solution [to plastics], as it merely prolongs the time until an item is disposed of,” reads a 1986 report by industry trade group the Vinyl Institute (VI).