it is well awarethat it’s been a failure. study has found that even when plastic makes it to a recycling center, it can still end up splintering into smaller bits that contaminate the air and water. “It seems a bit backward, almost, that we do plastic recycling in order to protect the environment, and then end up increasing a different and potentially more harmful problem,” says plastics scientist Erina Brown, who led the research while at the University of Strathclyde