The CEO of electric vehicle giant Tesla, Elon Musk, believes recycling household trash is counterproductive to environmental protection.
What Happened: In a post on X, Musk responded to Billy Markus, the co-creator of Dogecoin, who questioned the usefulness of plastic recycling, and called the practice “virtue signaling.”
“In the USA, only about 5% of plastics actually get recycled, most just ends up in landfills if you want to actually reduce your plastic waste, consume less plastic,” he added.
“Yeah, recycling household trash, with rare exception, is actually counterproductive,” Musk said. “It costs more energy and causes more environmental harm to recycle than not to recycle!”
Why It Matters: However, it’s important to note that Tesla itself prioritizes recycling in certain areas. The company is the world’s largest seller of battery electric vehicles and heavily invests in EV battery recycling.
Musk has a history of advocating for what he sees as impactful environmental solutions. Earlier this week, he argued that mandating heat pumps over traditional air conditioning would be more beneficial than focusing on individual choices like using incandescent bulbs. He has also dismissed concerns about population growth and criticized some environmentalists whose views differ from his.
Meanwhile, in Berlin, environmentalists and citizens are protesting against Tesla’s plans to expand its gigafactory, citing water pollution and deforestation concerns.
Despite the protests, Tesla remains committed to doubling its battery production capacity and car output.
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