By — William Brangham William Brangham By — Madison Staten Madison Staten By — Solveig Rennan Sandbulte Solveig Rennan Sandbulte By — Satvi Sunkara Satvi Sunkara By — Alexa Gold Alexa Gold By — Zoie Lambert Zoie Lambert Leave your feedback Share Copy URL https://www.pbs.org/newshour/video/horizons/2026/08/can-recycling-solve-the-worlds-trash-problem Email Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Pinterest Tumblr Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Story Reduce, reuse, recycle. It's the mantra heard for decades, but does it work? There's a lingering cynicism that recycling is a scam, that it doesn't really help, and it's more about making us feel good than doing something meaningful. Horizons moderator William Brangham separates fact from fiction with Meredith Danberg-Ficarelli of WATS and Judith Enck of Beyond Plastics. By — William Brangham William Brangham William Brangham is an award-winning correspondent, producer, and substitute anchor for the PBS News Hour. He also serves as the host of Horizons from PBS News. @WmBrangham By — Madison Staten Madison Staten By — Solveig Rennan Sandbulte Solveig Rennan Sandbulte Solveig Rennan Sandbulte is a producer of national affairs for PBS News Hour and Horizons. By — Satvi Sunkara Satvi Sunkara Satvi Sunkara is a producer for PBS News. By — Alexa Gold Alexa Gold Alexa Gold is a producer for PBS News. By — Zoie Lambert Zoie Lambert Zoie Lambert is an associate producer for PBS News.