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We asked three companies to recycle plastic and only one did

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Re: We asked three companies to recycle plastic and only one did

#61

Post by benj111 »

golemiprague wrote: post #3

There is nothing wrong with landfill or incineration. Unlike metals, recycling plastic is not economic. So converting it to energy by incineration is a pretty good option. In the future if the oil supplies will dwindle it might be economically viable to recycle plastic and then people (or maybe robots) will excavate those landfills for material. It is us taking care of the future generations. Isn't it what all those…

"It is us taking care of the future generations"

And I suppose pumping co2 into the atmosphere is to keep future generations nice and warm? And we're helpfully clearing the rainforests for them too.

Re: We asked three companies to recycle plastic and only one did

#62

Post by mjevans »

nashashmi wrote: post #28

Research find: I came across this video. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=I_fUpP-hq3A It says most plastics end up in incineration. It also says plastics are separated using infrared technology. I wonder if it is far from imagination to regulate the types of plastics available for use. What if all plastics for all single use purposes were restricted to a single kind of plastic.

Limiting the types is probably easier. Different types of plastic are desirable based on material properties.

Re: We asked three companies to recycle plastic and only one did

#63

Post by smileysteve »

yoz-y wrote: post #55
ken wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Do we have reason to believe banana peels will decompose any quicker than lettuce, hot dogs, or guacamole, which were found to be "almost as good as new" after 25 years in the ground? https://www.nytimes.com/1992/08/13/nyregion/seeking-the-trut...

I think the idea would be that if we could actually sort out the food waste, it wouldn't have to be in a 'proper' landfill, rather it could be composted. In theory nothing will really decompose in a landfill because it is a big hermetic tin can by design.

If your landfill is sealed. I came upon the knowledge that many of the the US landfills are really just dumps.

Re: We asked three companies to recycle plastic and only one did

#64

Post by whenchamenia »

smileysteve wrote: post #63
yoz-y wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the idea would be that if we could actually sort out the food waste, it wouldn't have to be in a 'proper' landfill, rather it could be composted. In theory nothing will really decompose in a landfill because it is a big hermetic tin can by design.

If your landfill is sealed. I came upon the knowledge that many of the the US landfills are really just dumps.

Us landfills are highly regulated and sealed at multiple layers. Your 'knowledge' is incorrect. A cursory google would have enlightend you. But never miss a chance to take a dig at the USA.

Re: We asked three companies to recycle plastic and only one did

#65

Post by whenchamenia »

rwallace wrote: post #49
golemiprague wrote: post #3

There is nothing wrong with landfill or incineration. Unlike metals, recycling plastic is not economic. So converting it to energy by incineration is a pretty good option. In the future if the oil supplies will dwindle it might be economically viable to recycle plastic and then people (or maybe robots) will excavate those landfills for material. It is us taking care of the future generations. Isn't it what all those…

The article claims if you incinerate plastic with scrubbers, that prevents air pollution. I've seen it elsewhere claimed incinerating plastic still produces a lot of really nasty air pollution. Which is correct?

The answer, as usual, is 'it depends'. Many will just burn it at incredibly high temp and hope for the best, while many advanced scrubbing systems exist, with various effectiveness, usually correlated with cost. The incentives are obvious on both sides.

Re: We asked three companies to recycle plastic and only one did

#66

Post by calvinbhai »

At times I feel, if there's no recycling programs, people will automatically buy cheap products with plastic because it'll guilt trip them into using less plastic.

When a country like India is taking steps to ban single use plastics (I think from October 2019), why cant more developed countries / rich economies do the same?

Cities that implement 10 cent bag fee have succeeded in reducing the use of plastic carry bags.

Similarly bans on single use plastics will go a long way.

But the more such articles I read, I feel like an idiot when I segregate recyclables and trash

Re: We asked three companies to recycle plastic and only one did

#67

Post by justinclift »

joshspankit wrote: post #45
justinclift wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Different plastics have different melting points, and some (eg PVC) produce toxic gases (chlorine gas from memory) when heated enough to burn. For plastic than can be separated into their specific types reliably enough, that does kinda make sense. But (guessing here) the heating process itself would take a bunch of energy and likely cost.

As bulk building material it wouldn’t have to be heated much

Again, the amount of heating will vary depending on the type of plastic.

Also, it'd only work for thermoplastics. Anything that thermosets instead would have to be treated differently as well.

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