Once upon a time, there was an assumption that the United States had gotten better at managing plastic waste, keeping it from polluting the planet. But then China stopped accepting shipments of our "recycled" materials, and the assumption changed.
Now a new study from The Ocean Conservancy shows that the United States ranks high among nations--possibly in the top three--for the rate of its plastics getting into the oceans.
Nick Mallos, a co-author of the study and the Senior Director of the Trash Free Seas program at TOC, talks about the findings.