Haven't signed into your Scholastic account before?
Teachers, not yet a subscriber?
Subscribers receive access to the website and print magazine.
You are being redirecting to Scholastic's authentication page...
Announcements & Tutorials
How Students and Families Can Log In
1 min.
Setting Up Student View
Sharing Articles with Your Students
2 min.
Interactive Activities
4 min.
Sharing Videos with Students
Using Junior Scholastic with Educational Apps
5 min.
Join Our Facebook Group!
Exploring the Archives
Powerful Differentiation Tools
3 min.
World and U.S. Almanac & Atlas
Subscriber Only Resources
Access this article and hundreds more like it with a subscription to Junior Scholastic magazine.
Article Options
Prereading Quiz: The Truth About Recycling Plastic
Before you read “The Truth About Recycling Plastic,” take this five-question quiz to find out how much you already know.
About what percentage of plastic waste in the U.S. is successfully recycled?
9 percent
26 percent
66 percent
According to the Environmental Protection Agency, less than 9 percent of plastic waste in the U.S. was successfully recycled in 2018 (the latest year for which figures are available).
Which is an example of single-use plastic?
car seat belts
helmets
disposable straws
Durable plastic goods like car seat belts and helmets can help save lives, but single-use plastic waste like food wrappers, bottle caps, and disposable straws often end up in nature.
How much single-use plastic does the average American get rid of each year?
about 50 pounds
about 110 pounds
about 175 pounds
Today, the average American discards about 110 pounds of single-use plastic each year.
When did Americans start depending on plastic?
around World War I (1914-1918)
around World War II (1939-1945)
in the 1970s and ’80s
Americans started depending on plastic around World War II, when it was used to construct planes, parachutes, and other supplies.
Before 2018, which country bought most of the plastic waste discarded in the United States?
China
Mexico
Russia
For years, the U.S. exported a third of its recyclable waste to other countries. Companies in China bought most of our used plastic. However, in 2018, China banned businesses from importing most plastic waste from overseas.