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How Big Oil Misled the Public into Believing Plastic Would Be Recycled

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Re: How Big Oil Misled the Public into Believing Plastic Would Be Recycled

#101

Post by esturk »

fmajid wrote: post #7

Yes, it’s a scam. Only aluminum actually gets recycled. It’s time to tax plastic so companies start using paper products (even if they go to landfill, they will at least sequester carbon there) or aluminum.

That's not true at all. The more valuable something is, the more likely it'll be recycled. Take cars for example. The entire frame is recycled. The motor oil gets recycled. The lead battery gets recycled.

Heck, Tesla's ex-CTO recognized the business potential for EV car batteries and started a company for it. There are plenty of hidden arbitrage opportunities out there for recycling.

Re: How Big Oil Misled the Public into Believing Plastic Would Be Recycled

#102

Post by lostlogin »

Trasmatta wrote: post #83
bit_logic wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thinking about this more, wasn't there a time, maybe late 90s early 2000s when the message was that plastic is more environmental than paper? Something like at the supermarket checkout you should pick plastic over paper bags to save rain forest trees? Is my memory wrong or was this a widespread message at the time?

I remember this from that same time period. I was just thinking about that the other day. I don't even recall when the message flipped back over, but it absolutely happened.

The type of trees killed for paper (and timber) here in New Zealand are utter trash, pinus radiata.

Re: How Big Oil Misled the Public into Believing Plastic Would Be Recycled

#103

Post by djcooley »

Aunche wrote: post #78
bit_logic wrote: post #44

The whole recycling scam makes me upset. For decades the message was to recycle for the environment. But it was all just shipped to China and then dumped into the oceans. It actually would've been better if it went to landfills, at least then it's safely contained. Another lie was that we're running out of landfill space, there's so much land out there. Like most environmental issues, the focus should've been on prod…

> But it was all just shipped to China and then dumped into the oceans. I've heard this a lot of times, but I've never seen any source that claimed the recycled material sent to China gets dumped in the ocean. As I recall, they had paid a small amount of money for it, so it doesn't make sense why they would just throw it away. I agree that landfills are underrated. It's much more effective to build landfills in poor…

I lived in Shenzhen from 2007-2011 and can confirm that large amounts of recyclables were shipped to China. Open-air facilities hired pickers to go through the material and pull out whatever they could before disposing of the remainder (by who knows what means).

This all happened within eyesight of my condo building.

Re: How Big Oil Misled the Public into Believing Plastic Would Be Recycled

#104

Post by chrisgd »

newacct583 wrote: post #67
chrisgd wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

“Also glass and steel”? Meaning they do not get recycled either?

No, they do. The grandparent pointed out that aluminum recycles well. I pointed out that there are other consumer recyclables that already work well. But plastics don't.

Thanks

Re: How Big Oil Misled the Public into Believing Plastic Would Be Recycled

#105

Post by [deleted] »

umvi wrote: post #73
bit_logic wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thinking about this more, wasn't there a time, maybe late 90s early 2000s when the message was that plastic is more environmental than paper? Something like at the supermarket checkout you should pick plastic over paper bags to save rain forest trees? Is my memory wrong or was this a widespread message at the time?

I remember cashiers asking me "would you like to kill a tree or kill a fish?"

[deleted]

Re: How Big Oil Misled the Public into Believing Plastic Would Be Recycled

#106

Post by bamboozled »

Aunche wrote: post #78
bit_logic wrote: post #44

The whole recycling scam makes me upset. For decades the message was to recycle for the environment. But it was all just shipped to China and then dumped into the oceans. It actually would've been better if it went to landfills, at least then it's safely contained. Another lie was that we're running out of landfill space, there's so much land out there. Like most environmental issues, the focus should've been on prod…

> But it was all just shipped to China and then dumped into the oceans. I've heard this a lot of times, but I've never seen any source that claimed the recycled material sent to China gets dumped in the ocean. As I recall, they had paid a small amount of money for it, so it doesn't make sense why they would just throw it away. I agree that landfills are underrated. It's much more effective to build landfills in poor…

I’d say it’s more likely that it was incinerated and used to produce electricity.

I really hope it wasn’t dumped into the ocean :(

Re: How Big Oil Misled the Public into Believing Plastic Would Be Recycled

#107

Post by bamboozled »

"It didn't get recycled because the system wasn't up to par," he says. "We hadn't invested in the ability to sort it and there hadn't been market signals that companies were willing to buy it, and both of those things exist today."

Don’t trust this guy, he is supposed to sell oil, recycling is in direct conflict with selling more oil.

There’s no reason we should fall for this twice.

Re: How Big Oil Misled the Public into Believing Plastic Would Be Recycled

#108

Post by ninkendo »

I’ve read about the infeasibility of plastic recycling for years now, and I’m wondering what others are doing at this point.

Should I even bother putting plastic in the blue bin any more? Or should I just toss it? What are the folks reading this doing?

Re: How Big Oil Misled the Public into Believing Plastic Would Be Recycled

#109

Post by SV_BubbleTime »

bamboozled wrote: post #106
Aunche wrote: post #78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> But it was all just shipped to China and then dumped into the oceans. I've heard this a lot of times, but I've never seen any source that claimed the recycled material sent to China gets dumped in the ocean. As I recall, they had paid a small amount of money for it, so it doesn't make sense why they would just throw it away. I agree that landfills are underrated. It's much more effective to build landfills in poor…

I’d say it’s more likely that it was incinerated and used to produce electricity. I really hope it wasn’t dumped into the ocean :(

They have some technology we don’t know about, China burning it along with biomass at a power plant is a very likely scenario.

Re: How Big Oil Misled the Public into Believing Plastic Would Be Recycled

#110

Post by spodek »

nkingsy wrote: post #98
spodek wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> the focus should've been on producers not consumers on producers AND consumers. They're not exclusive. Producers have deceived, but consumers have been all too happy to suspend skepticism when buying things once the producer puts the word "recycle" on it somewhere. Consumers overwhelmingly skip the reduce part. Everyone I talk to about it, when they drop their defenses, says somewhere inside they knew they were par…

Maybe make some videos or something. My tiny California trash can is full to the brim every week, not for lack of trying. I’m fairly sure I’m in the top 10% of giving a f in my country. Culture has huge impact so I don’t want to discourage individual action, but this won’t change until conservation becomes the default.

I posted a video on my blog here: https://joshuaspodek.com/year-emptied-garbage

This post explains more: https://joshuaspodek.com/emptying-my-household-garbage-for-t...

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