Plastic-eating enzyme could eliminate billions of tons of landfill waste • Hacker News Board

Re: Plastic-eating enzyme could eliminate billions of tons of landfill waste

#161

Post by makeitdouble » Thu, May 19, 2022, 1:34 AM UTC

rootusrootus wrote: post #34

Can't help but wonder if this is a solution searching for a problem. Landfills already have protections against leeching into the surrounding environment. And we aren't going to plausibly run out of space for landfills in the foreseeable future (images from Wall-E notwithstanding). Isn't plastic basically inert once it gets to a landfill anyway? Even if it takes centuries to break down, who cares? IMO we'd be better…

> Landfills already have protections against leeching into the surrounding environment.

Not to get into tinfoil hat territory, but can any large enough industry be trusted on narratives regarding how waste is handled ?

I don't think there is controversy around landfills leaking. There is debate on wether it's as bad as we think, or the actual impact, but then I find it hard to take a "We don't hear about it in the news, so it's probably fine" stance when we got served BS "we're all in on recycling, don't worry just buy more from us" narratives for decades with almost nothing actually getting recycled.

PS: more on leakage from an industry publication: https://wasteadvantagemag.com/how-much-does-my-landfill-leak...

> As a result of advances in installation quality and CQA practices, leakage rates greater than 50 liters per hectare per day (lphd) have decreased significantly in the past 20 years.

Re: Plastic-eating enzyme could eliminate billions of tons of landfill waste

#162

Post by w-j-w » Thu, May 19, 2022, 1:34 AM UTC

ThrowITout4321 wrote: post #153

This is BS "could" does not mean "will". We get these types of articles every so often but I've yet to see any of it come to anything. My suspicion is that this research gets amplified by PR firms that service the plastic industry with the idea that the public will feel better about all the plastic that is being thrown into the environment and landfills. Right now the only solution is to minimize plastic use as much…

No post body was provided.

Re: Plastic-eating enzyme could eliminate billions of tons of landfill waste

#163

Post by popcube » Thu, May 19, 2022, 1:37 AM UTC

flaviut wrote: post #85

wyager wrote: post #68

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I would infinitely rather have a bit more gaseous carbon than a 10,000 year source of endocrine disruptor microplastics leaching into the water.

It's a good thing we're all rich here, able to move to places with better climates or buy air conditioners, not the billions of poor people who have no way to survive intensifying extreme weather events.

yes! American do not need worry about typhoon, so I can understand why there are so many people trust global warming can made environment "better"

Re: Plastic-eating enzyme could eliminate billions of tons of landfill waste

#164

Post by lgessler » Thu, May 19, 2022, 1:37 AM UTC

userbinator wrote: post #159

ThrowITout4321 wrote: post #153

This is BS "could" does not mean "will". We get these types of articles every so often but I've yet to see any of it come to anything. My suspicion is that this research gets amplified by PR firms that service the plastic industry with the idea that the public will feel better about all the plastic that is being thrown into the environment and landfills. Right now the only solution is to minimize plastic use as much…

I very much hope none of it will "come to anything" --- if plastic-eating organisms start becoming widespread, and there is definitely plenty for them to feed on, we'll face a much bigger problem. with the idea that the public will feel better about all the plastic that is being thrown into the environment and landfills. Personally, I don't think it's anywhere as much of a problem as the environmentalists claim it is…

> Much like the biomass from long ago which has become the oil of today, I'm pretty sure the plastic waste of today will simply become the oil of the future.

OK, but on that timescale virtually nothing about climate change or environmental issues matters. On the scale of millions of years, life on Earth will continue in some way or another. But what's important is how much suffering will be endured in the potentially cataclysmic coming 100 years, and plastics hold great potential for harm on that timescale.

Re: Plastic-eating enzyme could eliminate billions of tons of landfill waste

#165

Post by BariumBlue » Thu, May 19, 2022, 1:38 AM UTC

userbinator wrote: post #159

ThrowITout4321 wrote: post #153

This is BS "could" does not mean "will". We get these types of articles every so often but I've yet to see any of it come to anything. My suspicion is that this research gets amplified by PR firms that service the plastic industry with the idea that the public will feel better about all the plastic that is being thrown into the environment and landfills. Right now the only solution is to minimize plastic use as much…

I very much hope none of it will "come to anything" --- if plastic-eating organisms start becoming widespread, and there is definitely plenty for them to feed on, we'll face a much bigger problem. with the idea that the public will feel better about all the plastic that is being thrown into the environment and landfills. Personally, I don't think it's anywhere as much of a problem as the environmentalists claim it is…

Eh, there's stuff that eats wood but we still build our houses out of it. Paper disintegrates pretty gosh darn easy if you leave it outside but we still use plenty of it. Most steel rusts in the right conditions, including the stuff in infrastructure.

I don't think plastic eating bacteria would be as much of a problem as people make it out to be.

Re: Plastic-eating enzyme could eliminate billions of tons of landfill waste

#166

Post by ars » Thu, May 19, 2022, 1:41 AM UTC

hackernewds wrote: post #130

ars wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because then we can avoid pumping oil out of the ground and burning that. The hydrocarbons are going to get burned one way or another, you can just trade one type for another types.

You do have significant differences between noxious fumes and clean burning between burning plastic vs burning fossil fuels. The energy captured from the burn is obviously not the same - same reason you can't just set fire to a "bowl" of plastic.

What noxious fumes? Plastics are very clean burning if you do it properly (which isn't hard to do).

They burn MUCH MUCH cleaner that coal for example.

> The energy captured from the burn is obviously not the same

There is nothing obvious about it. I don't understand what you mean? Plastics have around the same energy density as oil.

Re: Plastic-eating enzyme could eliminate billions of tons of landfill waste

#167

Post by xwdv » Thu, May 19, 2022, 1:41 AM UTC

ThrowITout4321 wrote: post #153

This is BS "could" does not mean "will". We get these types of articles every so often but I've yet to see any of it come to anything. My suspicion is that this research gets amplified by PR firms that service the plastic industry with the idea that the public will feel better about all the plastic that is being thrown into the environment and landfills. Right now the only solution is to minimize plastic use as much…

What’s to stop eco-terrorists from releasing these bacteria and letting them propagate out of control consuming plastic?

Re: Plastic-eating enzyme could eliminate billions of tons of landfill waste

#168

Post by [deleted] » Thu, May 19, 2022, 1:42 AM UTC

dimal wrote: post #135

> Recycling is the most obvious way to cut down on plastic waste. I would think that the most obvious solution is to not use a material that lasts thousands of years for disposable packaging that’s only needed for a few months. Seems like these types of “revolutionary” new processes to make recycling finally work come out every year, and yet nothing changes. I can’t imagine this will be any different. As long as it’s…

[deleted]

Re: Plastic-eating enzyme could eliminate billions of tons of landfill waste

#169

Post by DANK_YACHT » Thu, May 19, 2022, 1:42 AM UTC

jrms wrote: post #136

DANK_YACHT wrote: post #104

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That’s why they’re sealed with clay and plastic and constantly monitored for leakage.

If it needs constant monitoring it's a potential problem... And at some point it will happen... We know that from ages of software development, if it can fail, it will fail at some point.

You’d be surprised by the number of things that need to be constantly monitored. Building structures, power plants, roads, dams, mass transit, etc. basically everything.

Re: Plastic-eating enzyme could eliminate billions of tons of landfill waste

#170

Post by ars » Thu, May 19, 2022, 1:43 AM UTC

lstodd wrote: post #144

ars wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The only part that is true is that burning is the most common method, with recycling being a close third. > which is costly Burning is not costly it is cheaper than all other methods. It's so cheap it's actually profitable. > energy intensive It actually provides extra energy, and reduces energy waste (because now we have to pump less oil.) > and spews noxious gas into the air. It spews nothing except water and CO2.

Yeah, no. It spews NOx and the whole bunch of undesirable things like dioxines. You don't get pure PET and oxygen in, and you don't get pure CO2+H2O out. It's messy to the point that it's debatable if it's better just to bury it.

Why would you have NOx? The fire is not that hot. And no, there are no dioxines because they burn up in the fire.

> It's messy to the point that it's debatable if it's better just to bury it.

No, it's not. You do get that people are doing this already, right now? It's not some theoretical - there's a huge amount of plastics being burned, and it's very clean.