Brooklyn Recyclers Turn Plastic Crisis Into Community Action

New York's plastic problem is impossible to ignore, but so are the people refusing to give up on solving it.

At Sure We Can's redemption center in Brooklyn, workers sort and count plastic bottles one by one, keeping thousands of containers out of landfills each week. It's painstaking work, but it represents something bigger: everyday people taking action when systems fail them.

The scale of the challenge is staggering. Americans generated 218 pounds of plastic waste per person in 2018, up from just 60 pounds in 1980. Nobody voted for this increase, says Judith Enck, former EPA regional administrator who now leads Beyond Plastics.

"No one voted for more plastic, but we don't have much choice when we enter a modern American store," Enck explains. The fracking boom created cheap natural gas, making plastic production wildly profitable for oil and gas companies.

Photographer Bryan Anselm spent months documenting this reality across New York and Quebec. He captured mountains of plastic after the Mermaid Parade in Coney Island and workers managing the endless stream at recycling facilities.

"It's wild to see how after events the plastic, the garbage, can just pile up," Anselm says. His goal was helping people understand what happens after they toss something in the bin.

The Ripple Effect

The images reveal both crisis and response. Chester, Pennsylvania residents march against incinerators burning New York's trash in their neighborhoods. Brooklyn families work at redemption centers, turning waste into livelihood while protecting their environment.

These grassroots efforts prove change starts locally, even when systems seem overwhelming.

Sure We Can and similar community operations show that individual action matters, even against industrial-scale problems.