Plastic is light, easy to store and transport comes in an endless variety of textures and shapes and can hold almost anything. Those properties make it attractive to manufacturers and packagers, who use it for everything from ketchup bottles to disposable utensils. Unfortunately, plastic is much more difficult to recycle than materials like glass, aluminum, or paper. Most plastic ends up in a landfill, despite the promotion of plastic recycling. Plastic production has outpaced recycling more than 5x over the past decade.