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Asian countries take a stand against the rich world’s plastic waste

latimes.com

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Re: Asian countries take a stand against the rich world’s plastic waste

#221

Post by dv_dt »

uxp100 wrote: post #147
dv_dt wrote: post #126

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We're so wasteful in the US. I'd guess that when glass is reused to the point of needing recycling it's a different balance - e.g. when beer bottles in areas of Europe are cleaned and refilled.

That was the practice not so long ago in the US too. But it is complex. Reusables were thicker and heavier than modern bottles, not just the super light high life bottle, but almost every bottle, I believe, and cans are so light in comparison.

It's true, but where/how it survived in Europe seems like it's a regionally or even city localized bottle re-use cycle which might shift the balance of costs and re-use.

Re: Asian countries take a stand against the rich world’s plastic waste

#222

Post by ZeroGravitas »

throw2016 wrote: post #145

A lot of assertions here about waste management and relative harmlessness of landfills. Do you have experience or exposure to the recycling, waste management and landfill industry that you can share? Have you spoken to any landfill managers, have some idea of the volume of plastic waste and the landfill industry? Or is this just speaking from the gut? Most articles have experts[1] and researchers[2] expressing grave…

No, they're just repeating libertarian propaganda.

Libertarians hate recycling, the Dvorak keyboard and climate change because they are all popular examples of market failures.

So they've attacked them all for decades and now most American nerds will pipe up with "actually, it turns out..." and spew a bunch of lies if you bring up any of these topics and feel all pleased with themselves that they're not getting suckered like all the sheeple who believe in climate science.

It's actually got to the point were libertarian "journalists" are openly admitting that they intentio ally lied about climate change for 20 years because they didn't like the political implications.

Depressingly they're not saying this through any sense of guilt but rather a calculation that they can continue to have more influence by partially admitting but still downplaying climate change rather than blank denial.

Re: Asian countries take a stand against the rich world’s plastic waste

#223

Post by dflock »

protonfish wrote: post #214
dflock wrote: post #131

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Plastic waste is not toxic It absolutely is. It breaks down into micro-plastics, which are sub-celluar sized plastic particles. These have a large surface area and are easily absorbed into tissues and cells. They then leech out whatever additives are in that particular piece of plastic - plasticizers, colourings, etc... Some of these are directly toxic/harmful when released into tissues and cells - and lots of them…

That's why you should dispose of them in a landfill and not the ocean. Problem solved.

Then it just leaches out into groundwater - albeit more slowly.

Re: Asian countries take a stand against the rich world’s plastic waste

#224

Post by boznz »

dv_dt wrote: post #126
greensoup wrote: post #112

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That it can be recycled without "waste" doesnt mean its worthwhile. Making glass costs a large amount of energy. As far I know, when plastic is recycled, it is better for the environment than using glass.

We're so wasteful in the US. I'd guess that when glass is reused to the point of needing recycling it's a different balance - e.g. when beer bottles in areas of Europe are cleaned and refilled.

Re-Use is the way to go, I generally check in at the re-use centre in our town, the scrap yard and the local auction sites before buying anything new.

Its a shame everything electronic is basically landfill due to either lack of circuit diagrams and parts or software that no longer works.. Ditto for new cars :-(

Re: Asian countries take a stand against the rich world’s plastic waste

#227

Post by 59EFCD18 »

jessaustin wrote: post #149
ryanianian wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is a company called Loop that is shipping and re-using packaging. Much of it is aluminum. (Personally I'm looking forward to laundry detergent not coming in an extremely thick single-use plastic thing I know will end up in a landfill.) Glass is very heavy relative to other materials so you've got to include the added shipping weight into CO2 calculations. Glass makes a lot of sense for things you don't buy very…

I always buy detergent in a cardboard box? That's probably not great either...

That box is coated to make it water-resistant. Technically they can be separated and the paper half recycled, but almost no municipality does it.

Re: Asian countries take a stand against the rich world’s plastic waste

#228

Post by jessaustin »

59EFCD18 wrote: post #227
jessaustin wrote: post #149

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I always buy detergent in a cardboard box? That's probably not great either...

That box is coated to make it water-resistant. Technically they can be separated and the paper half recycled, but almost no municipality does it.

I'm talking about the powder detergent. (Liquid detergent inherently wastes resources hauling water around. I already have water.) The inside of the box is just cardboard. The outside is printed with some sort of glossy image, but I don't see how it's qualitatively different than a cereal box...
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