Why most plastic isn’t getting recycled

Jan Dell, the outspoken recycling critic and thorn in the side of the plastics industry, wants the American public to face facts.  

Those grocery-bag drop-off boxes, she says, are glorified trash bins. That swirly recycling symbol on coffee lids and granola pouches is more fantasy than fact. Clear plastic bottles are recyclable: green ones are not.  

“You walk in a Walmart and see all these single-use Halloween decorations,” Dell said. “All that will be in a landfill the week after Halloween.” 

Dell, a chemical engineer who vice-chaired a...