Trash or Treasure is a season of podcasts finding out what happens to all the stuff Europeans throw away – a surprisingly fascinating journey around the rubbish heaps of Europe, looking at some of the innovations helping us to reduce our waste and even turn it into something useful. 

In this episode we’re taking a closer look at where our waste goes when we’re hoping it’s going to be recycled. When we throw our plastics, metals or paper into a special recycle bin, we expect it’s going to end up being reprocessed and ultimately reused… we hope. But waste disposal is a lot more complicated than many think – especially when it comes to plastics. For decades, plastics have been changing the way we live; we now see it all around us, but we also hear a lot about the destruction it causes if not disposed of properly. 

CGTN Europe correspondent Natalie Carney asks a very simple question – 'What happens to plastic waste?' – which leads her on a trail to unravel the mysteries of the plastics chain. 

She discovers that plastics are not as recyclable as we all hoped and that their use is still on the rise across Europe. She also finds out how new legislation to ban single-use plastic in Germany will impact that country's waste problem.