As actor and environmental activist Kal Penn appeared on Monday's CNN This Morning, the show's three liberal hosts were taken aback when their liberal guest informed them that their painstaking personal efforts to recycle plastic have all been a waste of time since very little plastic is actually recycled.
Don Lemon called it a "scam" as Penn and Kaitlan Collins called it a "scandal" that plastic companies only recycle a small portion of the used plastic they collect just so they can claim that they are recycling.
Penn -- who was appearing to promote his show, Getting Warmer with Kal Penn, also declared that President Joe Biden is "the most progressive we've had" because of the climate bill that he signed.
The group also wondered why the President's polling numbers were not better. After the liberal activist recalled the bill's passage, lauding it as "a very positive thing for the Biden administration," Collins posed:
But why do you think he's not getting more credit for that? Because, you know, you talk about the investments from the Inflation Reduction Act, but the Washington Post poll is -- 62 percent of people think he has accomplished "not very much" or "little" during his time in office.
Penn responded with a snarky joke aimed at the respondents: "Well, what have they done in their lives? No, I'm just kidding. Yeah, I don't know."
A bit later, a clip of Penn's show was played in which viewers were informed that most plastic is not recycled in spite of what people have been told. Lemon recalled that, when his mother visits, she is perplexed by the complexity of disposing of trash in his home, allegedly for the sake of recycling, and then posed:
So the stats are staggering. Less than six percent of plastic waste is recycled in the U.S. And you point out that putting stuff in the recycle bins doesn't mean that it gets recycled. So what is going on? Mom is right.
Penn then explained how misleading plastics companies have been about the issue of recycling:
So, essentially, companies will pay to recycle X percent of their product, right? They'll pay more money than it costs, meaning more money than they get back in the plastic recycling, just to say that their product is recyclable.
After he clarified that plastic items placed in recycling containers are usually put in landfills, the group were taken aback and jumped in to comment on how morally questionable the truth is:
COLLINS: That's like a massive scandal.
(cross talk -- Don Lemon can be heard using the word "scam.")
PENN: It's a huge scandal. That's right.
Those who follow the work of John Stossel -- a former anchor for Fox Business Network -- would already be aware of this issue. His video series recently related to viewers that New York City wastes more than $300 million a year on recycling because liberals are so persistent about pretending to recycle.
This episode of CNN This Morning was sponsored in part by Consumer Cellular. Their contact information is linked.
Transcript follows, click “expand” to read:
CNN This Morning
February 6, 2023
8:33 a.m. Eastern
KAL PENN, HOST OF GETTING WARMER WITH KAL PENN: You know, Biden is the most progressive President we've had. This climate bill, for example, you know, that took decades of advocacy from a lot of people -- especially a lot of young people who aren't necessarily young anymore, and so one of the great challenges -- I felt this when I was President Obama's youth liaisons -- young people are the only demographic that don't stay with their demographic over a lifetime obviously -- you age out.
So any of the advocacy that you do when you're 18 or 22 that comes to fruition when you're in your thirties, you don't necessarily feel that joy and that ownership, but that's exactly what's happening. And so I think telling that story and letting folks know, look, things are not a light switch. Change doesn't happen overnight. It's a really slow build. I think that's a very positive thing for the Biden administration.
KAITLAN COLLINS: But why do you think he's not getting more credit for that? Because, you know, you talk about the investments from the Inflation Reduction Act, but the Washington Post poll is -- 62 percent of people think he has accomplished "not very much" or "little" during his time in office.
PENN: Well, what have they done in their lives? No, I'm just kidding. Yeah, I don't know.
(...)
(clip of Getting Warmer with Kal Penn)
UNIDENTIFIED MAN: The perception out there is, "What I put in my recycling bin -- you know, the blue bin -- is technically what can be recycled." But, in reality, no recycling company anywhere is mandated by law to recycle what you put in the blue bin.
UNIDENTIFIED WOMAN: I think it very much falls into the category of helping corporations reassure us of things we should not be reassured about.
(...)
DON LEMON: We have these separation bins in our place. You know, you pull out, you put the plastic on this side and whatever, and then you take and don't know what happens to it. My mama is from Louisiana. She's like, "What are you guys doing? Why do you have different things?" She didn't get it. So the stats are staggering. Less than six percent of plastic waste is recycled in the U.S. And you point out that putting stuff in the recycle bins doesn't mean that it gets recycled. So what is going on? Mom is right.
(...)
PENN: A lot of companies will say, "Okay, this toothpaste tube or this pen is technically recyclable, but it's not (recycled) because the cost of recycling takes more money than what you yield back from it," unlike a lot of the cans and bottles that actually do get recycled. So one of the problems there is --
COLLINS: Wait, say that part again.
PENN: So, essentially, companies will pay to recycle X percent of their product, right? They'll pay more money than it costs, meaning more money than they get back in the plastic recycling, just to say that their product is recyclable.
POPPY HARLOW: Wow!
PENN: But, in practice, it is not municipally recyclable, meaning you can't just toss it in the recycling bin in your town or your city and have it get recycled.
HARLOW: Well, what happens when we toss it in our recycling bin?
PENN: Ends up in the landfill. So the challenge here is understanding what is municipally recyclable -- what can be practically recycled and what's just thrown away. And that thrown away component is a huge chunk of plastic. And that's -- I think -- what a lot of advocates are hoping that businesses will change in how we package things.
COLLINS: That's like a massive scandal.
(cross talk -- Don Lemon can be heard using the word "scam.")
PENN: It's a huge scandal. That's right.
LEMON: Do you recycle? Do you separate, I should say?
COLLINS: Yeah, you recycle. But I'm saying, "If you're putting your toothpaste tube in the recycling and it's not actually getting recycled..."
(...)
LEMON: So you separate.
HARLOW: We only have two bins -- trash and recycling -- so not only do I separate, I go down to the recycling and I take out of the -- I put the glass and the plastic and the paper -- and it's gross. And I do it, and now you're telling me it's not worth it.
