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About This Project
Summary
This groundbreaking investigation had immediate and continuing impact after examining what happens to plastic bags consumers return to retail stores to be recycled. ABC News and nine ABC owned/affiliate stations deployed 46 trackers bundled up in plastic bags at recycling bins in Target and Walmart stores across ten states. The results revealed a troubling reality. Just four out of 46 trackers made it to facilities nvolved with recycling plastic bags. Half turned up in landfills & incinerators.
Goals & Objectives
Our report sought to help inform the dialogue around plastic pollution by revealing the significant challenges that remain to our existing recycling systems in the United States. We took all the nuances of a complicated subject and turned it into a visually rich narrative broadcast.
Results & Impact
The report’s impact was immediate, with both Target and Walmart being dropped from a prominent national directory that listed them as recycling partners. Six months later, the entire national directory was taken offline after 20 years of operation. along with an industry funded recycling program.
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