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India Imposes Complete Ban on Solid Plastic Waste Imports

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Re: India Imposes Complete Ban on Solid Plastic Waste Imports

#61

Post by triplewipeass »

sykic wrote: post #54
xfitm3 wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The article suggests glass shampoo bottles? No thanks. Plastic is a great material, it is just abused.

Plastic is not a great material for the environment and your comment illustrates the crux of the issue for humanity. We tend to optimize for local maxima and not global ones. As other commenters have pointed out pricing in externalities would be a great step forward. Plastic shampoo containers may not be so great in your eyes if their cost became prohibitively expensive.

Plastic is a great material for some uses, but it’s also a very durable material. I’d love to purchase shampoo in the form of a refill of the plastic shampoo bottle I’ve already purchased some months ago. Why buy a new bottle every time? That’s the part which doesn’t make sense.

Re: India Imposes Complete Ban on Solid Plastic Waste Imports

#62

Post by Waterluvian »

I want to live in a world of reusables. Where I show up to a grocery store with glass bottles to be swapped out for filled ones of soda and milk. Give me yogurt in glass, even. I don't care.

We have this complicated recycling sorting program in Waterloo. And months ago I noticed that they simply stopped giving a crap about the sortedness or cleanliness of anything that isn't aluminum.

Are papers still decently recycled?

Re: India Imposes Complete Ban on Solid Plastic Waste Imports

#63

Post by jpatokal »

godzillabrennus wrote: post #11
andrewstuart wrote: post #4

The dumping of "recycling" onto other countries just goes to show what a lie recycling actually is. It's not recycling, it's just garbage, but the word recycling makes us feel good about sending it to some other country to be dumped. With India and China refusing it, look to the "recycling" companies to make deals with countries that don't have the political will to say no to accepting the worlds plastic and paper ga…

Maybe Russia needs a new industry? Is there any other nation (North Korea aside) that would let foreigners ship trash to be dumped on their land?

This is already big business in Africa:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agbogbloshie

Re: India Imposes Complete Ban on Solid Plastic Waste Imports

#64

Post by [deleted] »

triplewipeass wrote: post #61
sykic wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Plastic is not a great material for the environment and your comment illustrates the crux of the issue for humanity. We tend to optimize for local maxima and not global ones. As other commenters have pointed out pricing in externalities would be a great step forward. Plastic shampoo containers may not be so great in your eyes if their cost became prohibitively expensive.

Plastic is a great material for some uses, but it’s also a very durable material. I’d love to purchase shampoo in the form of a refill of the plastic shampoo bottle I’ve already purchased some months ago. Why buy a new bottle every time? That’s the part which doesn’t make sense.

[deleted]

Re: India Imposes Complete Ban on Solid Plastic Waste Imports

#65

Post by frankbreetz »

frosted-flakes wrote: post #60
maxxxxx wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Good point. Or think about the Interstate system. No way the country could so such a thing today.

Inter-state what? Trading? Highways?

I think he meant Interstate highways, such a large infrastructure project would be impossible to get through congress today. I hope that the attitude towards these types of projects change soon. America could be such a better place if we could invest in our infrastructure and citizens

Re: India Imposes Complete Ban on Solid Plastic Waste Imports

#66

Post by wutbrodo »

greeneggs wrote: post #56
WheelsAtLarge wrote: post #36

India should have done this long ago. Recycling items is way harder than it needs to be. First companies need to re-engineer their products to minimize the solid waste and maximize recyclability Second, people need to easily understand what can be recycled and what can not so they can make an informed decision Third, communities should not have the option to ship out their waste and have someone else deal with the pr…

> Solid waste is as much pollution as smog has been in large cities. Clean air laws have changed the whole environment in cites like Los Angeles.It's time we start doing the same with solid waste. As much as smog "has been"? Los Angeles today is still full of SUVs belching smog. The air quality is still insanely awful. Yet the dialog has moved on (maybe because SUVs are for the wealthy?). Why care about landfills? Ai…

> As much as smog "has been"? Los Angeles today is still full of SUVs belching smog. The air quality is still insanely awful. Yet the dialog has moved on (maybe because SUVs are for the wealthy?).

Meh, there's no need to resort to conspiracy theories to explain why the conversation has dropped off the radar. The level of smog in LA is _drastically_ lower than its peak, both quantitatively (as one figure, ozone levels are 40% of what they were in 1970) and in terms of how the man on the ground experiences it. Most people stop caring about a problem when it stops being so dramatically visible.

Re: India Imposes Complete Ban on Solid Plastic Waste Imports

#68

Post by maxxxxx »

frankbreetz wrote: post #65
frosted-flakes wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Inter-state what? Trading? Highways?

I think he meant Interstate highways, such a large infrastructure project would be impossible to get through congress today. I hope that the attitude towards these types of projects change soon. America could be such a better place if we could invest in our infrastructure and citizens

I think stuff like this is what made America great so the MAGA guys should be all for it.

Re: India Imposes Complete Ban on Solid Plastic Waste Imports

#69

Post by phkahler »

TheSpiceIsLife wrote: post #58
cdolan wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Waste to energy programs, where exhaust is contained and not released into the atmosphere, is a viable means of disposal for many materials. Particularly viable for those which are oil based, like plastic, which are highly pollutive if not contained (see our oceans), take a massive amount of time to naturally decompose, and have relatively high potential energy (because they are petroleum based). Edit: I notice you s…

Thank you for your swift and comprehensive reply. I wasn’t aware plastics could be burned and the exhaust contained / treated / whatever.

Burning plastic is perhaps not ideal. But I'd guess it's better than pretending to recycle it while actually dumping it somewhere.

Re: India Imposes Complete Ban on Solid Plastic Waste Imports

#70

Post by [deleted] »

TheSpiceIsLife wrote: post #58
cdolan wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Waste to energy programs, where exhaust is contained and not released into the atmosphere, is a viable means of disposal for many materials. Particularly viable for those which are oil based, like plastic, which are highly pollutive if not contained (see our oceans), take a massive amount of time to naturally decompose, and have relatively high potential energy (because they are petroleum based). Edit: I notice you s…

Thank you for your swift and comprehensive reply. I wasn’t aware plastics could be burned and the exhaust contained / treated / whatever.

[deleted]
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