Lynn Lyle: Does recycling plastic matter?

I, a committed recycler, was disappointed in the Oct. 27 letter “Recycling works in North Carolina.” Scott Mouw, director of the North Carolina Recycling Program, responded to John Tierney’s earlier opinion piece, which questioned some of the benefits of community recycling.

Mouw did not mention one of Tierney’s major contentions that recycling plastic does not pay off with a reduction in carbon footprint although recycling aluminum and glass does.

I wonder why Mouw did not directly address this in his letter. Why are we recycling plastic if it does not pay off?

This story was originally published November 1, 2015 at 1:00 PM with the headline "Lynn Lyle: Does recycling plastic matter?."