This Common Plastic Packaging Is A Recycling Nightmare

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This article was created in partnership with the National Geographic Society.

The scissors were on sale for $3. Suspended between two thick layers of tough plastic, they looked permanently imprisoned. Ingenuity, and no small amount of effort, would be needed to free my excellent deal from its clamshell prison. But there was also a risk that blood would be spilled—my blood. Thousands of people seek medical treatment every year with cuts and other injuries from attempting to open clamshells and other similar packages.

Clamshells have not only been voted the worst design ever, they've spawned the term “wrap rage” as exemplified by comedian Larry David’s attempt to open one. Despite all this, products inside clamshells line the shelves of retail stores and supermarkets.

Product packaging generates more plastic waste than any other industry. In Europe it accounts for 59 percent of all plastic waste by weight. In the United States that is likely closer to 65 percent, experts say. The global packaging market is a $700-billion-a-year industry and growing at 5.6 percent per year. Plastics account for one-third of this, making packaging the largest single market for U.S. plastics.

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