141–150 of 219 posts
Maybe a solution is the same with cigarettes in the UK. Any packaging which is non-recyclable must be a standard color (i.e. red), and may not contain any creative branding on it. If advertisers want to market their products and make them look attractive on the shelves, they'll find creative solutions to using recyclable packaging.
This is LUDICROUS. Recycling is harder than doing your taxes. We desperately need uniformity on this. " BEVERAGE BOTTLES Recyclable. Be sure to remove the plastic film label, which isn’t recyclable. " FFS. Have you ever tried to remove one of those labels? It's impossible. " A bottle with a cap or an opening the same size or smaller than the base of the bottle is probably going to be recyclable. " -- WTF does the siz…
Living in a country where the majority, including me doesnt have to deal with their taxes, I cant help thinking maybe that's the solution. Whether the onus is put on manufacturers to make things trivially recyclable, or on recyclers to sort of a big bag of mixed waste, or some combination I don't know. Does seem silly for everyone to have to become domain experts in recycling though.
The truth is that plastic generally can't be recycled, and we should stop pretending as such. Consequently it would make sense to tax it and generally discourage its use as much as possible. Polluters get away with overusing plastic packaging precisely because consumers stop caring when they think it can be recycled.
>>The truth is that plastic generally can't be recycled, and we should stop pretending as such. This. Plastic _was_ developed to be long-lasting, the indestructibility is _by_design. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20240243
Plastics are hard to recycle because their melts don’t mix. As a result, when cast, you end up with an interface inside your part where the plastic can delaminate and fail.
Therefore, to recycle plastic you have to classify it according to type (plastic things usually have little numbers stamped on them indicating type) and you have to be right over 99% of the time.
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I've noticed that people aren't actually fully capable of just sorting the recycling correctly. There's always stuff in the wrong bins in my building despite an ongoing education effort to fix that and helpful illustrated rules above the bins. Rules about lids and labels is a joke.
Since lids and labels and such seem to actually matter, the only sensible solution is for the governments of the world to legislate to mandate specific shapes and material compositions for things like drink containers. Standardize it all.
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I concur, everything on that list is recycled curbside in my city, Paris [0]. Those rules can evolve very fast, and unfortunately the communication is lacking. A lot of people still use the rules of several years ago, not recycling things that are now accepted. There is also an issue on products labels: a lot of them will say something isn't recyclable, while it can be in some cities. Only the most dedicated consumer…
Indeed, and I feel that way to contribute is to just add all your plastics to the recycle bin, hoping that even the most difficult types will reach a threshold amount that will trigger research into their recycle-ability, or at least into better separation techniques. Please show me I'm wrong if I am.
It makes recycling more costly, as the recycling factory have to spend more time sorting it, or just refuse recyclable garbage because it's mixed with non-recyclable and sorting is too costly.
This year, we did the same and noticed the recycling collection bins were gone. Went inside to inquire and were proudly told, “Oh, we got a big new landfill opened up with plenty of space; we don’t have to recycle anymore!”
Ugh.
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Agreed. Incentivize the correct materials.
One cannot coercively distort the market with government power and expect that life will not, "uh, uh, find a way." Great intentions do not always lead to great outcomes (often the opposite).
Incorrect. Taxation has proven to be a very effective way to incentivize certain behaviors and disincentivize others. It's a very powerful tool to deal with many types of problems that typically ail free markets, such as tragedy of the commons.
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Indeed, and I feel that way to contribute is to just add all your plastics to the recycle bin, hoping that even the most difficult types will reach a threshold amount that will trigger research into their recycle-ability, or at least into better separation techniques. Please show me I'm wrong if I am.
Please don't do that. It makes recycling more costly, as the recycling factory have to spend more time sorting it, or just refuse recyclable garbage because it's mixed with non-recyclable and sorting is too costly.
nearly everything we acquire ends up in a landfill eventually, plastic or not. Plastic unlike metals can never be restored as good as new. The recycled plastic will always be inferior. Metals do not have that problem.