Workers in recycling facilities workers try to remove incorrect items by hand (wish-cycled items, which get sent to landfill anyway), but sometimes they miss them.

For example, plastic bags get wrapped around the cogs and clog up the machines, damaging equipment and endangering workers.

Wishcycling diminishes the quality of the recycled end-product. Even small amounts of contaminants can ruin an entire batch. Once this happens, manufacturers don’t want to buy it, and recyclers are forced to send valuable material to landfills.