Just burn your trash
https://www.energimyndigheten.se/en/news/2025/from-waste-to-...
My understanding is that biological decomposition of waste creates methane which is a worse greenhouse gas than CO2.
Just Bury Your Trash
21–30 of 176 posts
Re: Just Bury Your Trash
#22"I am once again asking you to consider plasma gasification." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plasma_gasification InEnTec says its plasma technology effectively destroys PFAS - https://www.wastetodaymagazine.com/news/inentec-says-its-pla... - August 23rd, 2024 Production of high quality syngas from argon plasma gasification of plastic - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=41623879 (September 2024) (0 comments) Plasma…
What's the point of this when incineration is an option? Even its wikipedia page has only negatives compared to incineration.
> Air emissions can be cleaner than landfills and similar to that of incinerators.
> Large initial investment costs relative to that of alternatives, including [...] incineration.
> Operational costs are high relative to that of incineration.
Re: Just Bury Your Trash
#23The argument that is pro-polyethylene plastic bags over cotton completely ignores the source: Renewable plants that are grown and harvested, vs. finite fossil fuels extracted from the Earth and refined. > Instead of a simple blowing and sealing process, the cotton must be made into yarn, woven into fabric, prepared, dried, sized, dyed, and finished, which takes around 1,725 megajoules, around 3,050 times as much ener…
> That conveniently ignores the drilling, extracting, transporting, refining, and transporting again to make "polyethylene resin".
It also ignores the energy requirements to grow the cotton. This isn't the gotcha you think it is.
Re: Just Bury Your Trash
#24Not every place has space for landfills... which is why we often ship trash over to low-income countries.
There’s precious few places on earth that don’t have room for landfills, and those places will be shipping their refuse whether it is sent as “recycling” or as trash. The article also points out that incineration is an option to reduce volume, but expensive.
There are cases of shipping trash around, but it has more to do with it being cheaper to send a container of garbage somewhere than dispose of it locally.
Cost is the constraint, not available space.
Re: Just Bury Your Trash
#25In the Netherlands the cradle to cradle hype of some years ago has created a paper reality where waste is turned magically into building material and can thus be effectively dumped anywhere in the environment.
Re: Just Bury Your Trash
#26I think using a cotton bag 173 times to beat plastic bags and a mug 1,000 times to beat disposable cups sounds completely reasonable.
thats assuming the plastic bag is used once, but i've always reused them, sometimes had the same bags for 10 years however i have never re-used a paper bag because they are awfully loud and cannot be compressed. it is the worst kind of bag.
Turning a plastic grocery bag into a small bathroom trashcan liner is IMO the perfect reuse. it displaces a thicker plastic bag and ensures the grocery bag goes into a landfill.
Re: Just Bury Your Trash
#27I don't remember energy use being the problem with plastic bags? It was plastic bags being absolutely everywhere in the environment. Streets, parks, trees. Wrapped around anything sticking out of the ground. On your face on a windy day. Pollution is the problem with plastic. Probably health, too, now that microplastics are being recognized as an issue.
But the pollution problem from plastic bags is solved equally well if we bury them or recycle them. Provided your municipality doesn't just dump trash in the nearest river which is an issue in some parts of the world.
Since we can't get 100% compliance in rich countries and poor countries can't afford landfills that's a good reason to not use plastic. But it's not a good reason to have plastic recycling programs.
Re: Just Bury Your Trash
#28I don't remember energy use being the problem with plastic bags? It was plastic bags being absolutely everywhere in the environment. Streets, parks, trees. Wrapped around anything sticking out of the ground. On your face on a windy day. Pollution is the problem with plastic. Probably health, too, now that microplastics are being recognized as an issue.
I remember a debate in Texas politics a few years ago because livestock were dying from consumption of littered plastic bags.
The state government response was to ban the ban of plastic bags.
Re: Just Bury Your Trash
#29Just burn your trash https://www.energimyndigheten.se/en/news/2025/from-waste-to-... My understanding is that biological decomposition of waste creates methane which is a worse greenhouse gas than CO2.
That's only if it's buried. Properly managed compost is the best option.
Re: Just Bury Your Trash
#30Other papers/articles on this topic:
Tierney:
"The Reign of..." https://www.nytimes.com/2015/10/04/opinion/sunday/the-reign-...
Kinnaman:
"Is it Time to..." https://www.vox.com/2016/2/13/10972986/recycling
Kinnaman, Thomas C. "Determining the Socially Optimal Recycling Rate." Resources, Conservation and Recycling, vol. 85, 2014, pp. 5–10, doi:10.1016/j.resconrec.2013.11.002.