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New plant-based plastics can be chemically recycled with near-perfect efficiency

academictimes.com

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Re: New plant-based plastics can be chemically recycled with near-perfect efficiency

#201

Post by globular-toast »

ArkanExplorer wrote: post #7

Plastic recycling seems heavily motivated by emotion and virtue signaling. In reality, only about 5% of our crude oil use goes towards plastic. If we rolled out EVs, and then just burned all the plastic trash (using waste-to-energy plants), we would still be far ahead. The biggest challenges with plastics are hormone disruption, and microplastics (particularly in the 3rd world without sufficient landfill or W2E infra…

Have you never come across an area with heavy plastic pollution during your explorations? Seeing it makes me sad and motivates me to reduce my own plastic usage. I also actively pick up waste as part of my civic duty.

Having said that, plastic recycling is bullshit. You can't recycle plastic. You can recycle steel and glass. A can can be turned into a new can. But the plastic around meat will never be turned into a new plastic around meat. That's not recycling. Glass is even better as it can be reused. No need for expensive recycling. Plastic can't be recycled so it just needs to be reduced. There are so many easy ways to do this that don't take a genius to figure out. It's just a matter of forcing the supermarkets etc to care about it.

Re: New plant-based plastics can be chemically recycled with near-perfect efficiency

#202

Post by nicoburns »

ramraj07 wrote: post #75
rmason wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I remember a time when everything was paper bags. Groceries and retailers went with plastic because it was cheaper. But with plastic there was a hidden cost. Now we're told we must pay a premium for recyclable plastic. Personally I'd rather pay a premium for paper because it's made from a renewable resource. Plus paper will decompose within two months in nature. The only drawback I can find is that paper bags take mo…

Also not everything can be paper. A coffee cup can never be fully paper, it needs a plastic lining and can thus never be recyclable. Not without it being extremely crappy. No food item can be enclosed in a fully paper enclosure and expected to have a shelf life. And for all the Portlanders saving a plastic bag there's a Texan buying all their drinking water as pallets of disposable single use plastic bottles. I think…

Coffee cups should just be reusable. Forgotten to bring your reusable cup? Then tough, don't get a coffee (or drink it at the cafe).

Re: New plant-based plastics can be chemically recycled with near-perfect efficiency

#203

Post by mping »

DenisM wrote: post #136
jvanderbot wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I believe plastic recycling is not motivated by oil use primarily. I believe it is motivated by trash accumulation in oceans and the food chain (microplastics). There are a ton of areas of the world where plastic just piles up.

The countries which are the most preoccupied with recycling plastics, such as the US, are also the least likely to throw they trash into the ocean. Plastic bags do no harm buried in the landfill, and we’re not running out of land.

Developed countries outsource plasti garbage handling to other less developed nations that are happy to take care of it for a fee.

Re: New plant-based plastics can be chemically recycled with near-perfect efficiency

#204

Post by dTal »

shawnz wrote: post #191
mqrs wrote: post #168

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are we really supposed to be thinking of all currently available land as being flexibly provisioned for landfills.

Why not? You can still live on top of a landfill. Is it better that we live on top of some ecologically inactive rocks instead?

I don't believe you can live on top of a landfill; it's too toxic. In fact I don't think you can even build housing on the site of a former landfill.

Re: New plant-based plastics can be chemically recycled with near-perfect efficiency

#206

Post by TheGallopedHigh »

Covzire wrote: post #49
joshspankit wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Off-topic, but sometimes I feel like we could harvest the plastic from the ocean, make plastic bricks, and build millions of houses. Edit: Just to be clear, I’m not trying to say that this is a viable solution to anything, or that it’s a good use of resources based on our current methodologies. I’m more just trying to say that there’s so much raw material out there and that it’s better if it comes out of the ocean. L…

There have been attempts at harvesting plastic from the ocean. I remember one fairly recently that built a system using crowd funding but I don't think it was as successful as hoped. If they keep trying I have little doubt they'll make it work and possibly even turn a profit. https://www.sciencealert.com/that-ocean-garbage-collector-is...

This company did a slight pivot to building autonomous collectors anchored in rivers which have the most plastic dumped into them leading to the ocean.

Re: New plant-based plastics can be chemically recycled with near-perfect efficiency

#207

Post by sjg007 »

dTal wrote: post #204
shawnz wrote: post #191

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why not? You can still live on top of a landfill. Is it better that we live on top of some ecologically inactive rocks instead?

I don't believe you can live on top of a landfill; it's too toxic. In fact I don't think you can even build housing on the site of a former landfill.

Clearly you've never heard of Foster City!

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foster_City,_California

Re: New plant-based plastics can be chemically recycled with near-perfect efficiency

#208

Post by hannob »

ArkanExplorer wrote: post #7

Plastic recycling seems heavily motivated by emotion and virtue signaling. In reality, only about 5% of our crude oil use goes towards plastic. If we rolled out EVs, and then just burned all the plastic trash (using waste-to-energy plants), we would still be far ahead. The biggest challenges with plastics are hormone disruption, and microplastics (particularly in the 3rd world without sufficient landfill or W2E infra…

> In reality, only about 5% of our crude oil use goes towards plastic.

This is such a dangerous take, and so popular.

If we want to fix climate change we need to get rid of emissions in all sectors (and yes, plastic does create emissions, both in the refinery process and later on landfills and in incinerators). It's not a reasonable strategy to only focus on the large and easy to fix emission sources.

Plastic is a hard to fix sector, and it's unfortunate that developments to decarbonize it have barely started.

Re: New plant-based plastics can be chemically recycled with near-perfect efficiency

#209

Post by Thiez »

DenisM wrote: post #138
malloryerik wrote: post #116

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What about biodegradable plastics? If regular plastics were made illegal or heavily taxed, wouldn't industry quickly come up with biodegradable alternatives?

Biodegrading plastic releases CO2, landfill-buried plastic does not. Apart from that, what problem are you trying to solve with this innovation?

If the biodegradable plastic isn't made of oil but something we grow, then it would still be CO2 neutral.

Re: New plant-based plastics can be chemically recycled with near-perfect efficiency

#210

Post by himujjal »

srswtf123 wrote: post #159
specialist wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Please say more. My efforts to buy least processed cotton and wood pulp products have been largely unsuccessful. I don't need my toilet paper or t-shirts to be white.

I suggest using a bidet/washlet, and a dry towel. Toilet paper isn’t truly necessary - to me. As a particularly hirsute gentleman, I find it both cleaner and more comfortable. YMMV.

How are people still using toilet papers in developed countries? It still amazes me. I am from a developing country and it costs around $15 to fix a new bidet/handheld-shower to my existing pipe connection. There is the cost of water though. But then again. I am in a rainy area. Water crisis might never occur here. Plus all the waste is going to ground. So, not much to worry here. But seriously. Use bidets or at least handheld-showers
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