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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

#161

Post by johnisgood »

donavanm wrote: post #152
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?

Current biodegradable plastics are an industry smokescreen. The biodegradable portion is generally plant starch used as a binder. The “plastic” is just that, a very stable long lived micro/nano plastic. The big chunks break down, and the plastics continue to move through the environment and bioaccumulate. The work towards truly biodegrade plastic is generally from the other end; identifying or making organisms that c…

What about hemp or mushrooms?

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

#164

Post by elil17 »

DenisM wrote: post #154
ehnto wrote: post #139

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's not correct, plenty of countries don't have space for landfill and instead burn off trash in incinerators.

Let’s talk about the US then. Do you agree we’re not running out of land? If so, what is the point of recycling?

For plastic and glass, to make you feel better. Even if you're concerned about land use, they end up throwing away a lot of what goes into the recycling anyway. With glass especially, it is actually worse for the enviroment to reuse the glass because of the energy and water use associated with cleaning it. (There's also an argument to be made that we should continue to recycle plastic so the public is in the habit of sorting their trash if we ever come up with a way to do it efficiently)

For aluminum, recycling is incredibly important. It reduces the need for environmentally-destructive aluminum mining and energy intensive smelting.

For paper, recycling high quality paper like clean office paper and some cardboard reduces the demand for virgin wood pulp. Lower quality paper gets thrown away.

Also, shout-out to composting - food and yard scraps breaking down in a well aerated environment produces fewer greenhouse gasses than landfills.

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

#165

Post by jounker »

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.

I see plastic bags on the beach. I walk along the creeks nearby, and I see plastic bags and plastic garbage. I go for a hike in the sierras, and I find plastic garbage.

I bike along the roads in town, and I see plastic bags in the gutter. I look down the incline beside the road and there are plastic bags in the trees.

Is the USA as bad as Morocco? No. Is plastic waste a problem? Yes.

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

#166

Post by smabie »

ehnto wrote: post #137
pkulak wrote: post #98

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, the great irony here is that recycling is what sends the trash to Asia were it's then tossed in the ocean. Or at least, it used to. I think most plastic "recycling" is now going into local landfills.

Depends on your local council. Recycling is a very local issue, and so it's something communities can and should tackle head on. But you are right, the amount of councils sending recycling to landfill is very sad.

Why is it sad? Why does plastic need to be recycled?

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

#167

Post by eggsmediumrare »

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.

We are running out of land. I don't disagree with your point that landfill space isn't "a problem." But if you zoom out and look at inefficient land use more generally (like fields for feed corn), you find that there is for all intents and purposes no nature left in many of the places we occupy.

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

#168

Post by mqrs »

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.

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

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

#169

Post by ars »

pkulak wrote: post #98
cortesoft wrote: post #77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How would recycling help that? Throwing your trash in a trash can and taking it to a landfill would protect the ocean and food chain just as much as recycling it would.

Yeah, the great irony here is that recycling is what sends the trash to Asia were it's then tossed in the ocean. Or at least, it used to. I think most plastic "recycling" is now going into local landfills.

> recycling is what sends the trash to Asia were it's then tossed in the ocean.

That isn't true (and was never true). Trash in Asia that ends up in the ocean is local trash.

Even back when Asia bought recycling from us there wasn't much trash in it, and even the trash that was there didn't end up in the ocean.

The stuff in the ocean is what litters the streets, and then goes in rivers during rain storms.

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

#170

Post by ars »

ehnto wrote: post #160
DenisM wrote: post #154

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Let’s talk about the US then. Do you agree we’re not running out of land? If so, what is the point of recycling?

Presumably you hope the US has a long and prosperous future beyond our generation, so it's a problem that will need to be solved at some point. The US consumes 70 million plastic water bottles a day, just disposable water bottles. Consider all other plastic waste, and consider that just because there is uninhabited land doesn't mean you can economically put rubbish in it. I must admit I am surprised that anyone needs…

There is enough landfill space effectively forever. It's really not a problem.

> What makes you question the need for recycling?

The environment makes me question it. Everything I've seen shows recycling anything except metal is bad for the environment. We only do it because it makes people "feel good".

The right thing to do with:

Metal: recycle it

Glass: bury it

Paper: bury it

Plastic: burn it

Everything else: bury it

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