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Plastics: What's Recyclable, What Becomes Trash and Why

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Re: Plastics: What's Recyclable, What Becomes Trash and Why

#171

Post by detritus »

wlesieutre wrote: post #27

I live in New Haven and saw on our handy recycling flyer [0] that pizza boxes are listed, with no caveat, as being a single stream curbside recyclable item. Which is great, because pizza is a whole thing in this town. We eat a lot of it. So I was surprised to learn, if you go poking around and find the RecycleCT website [1] and hover your mouse over the pizza box, up pops this note. "No food residue. No liner." Never…

This is a common misconception and one which has led to me having many 'conversations' with housemates and neighbours over the years.

You might find that greasy, unlaminated cardboard is recyclable in the food/organic waste stream, as it is here in London.

Re: Plastics: What's Recyclable, What Becomes Trash and Why

#172

Post by LandR »

mirimir wrote: post #109
Areading314 wrote: post #32

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.

It's appalling how much many containers (plastic, waxed paper, and multiple-layer) and how much packaging we go through every week. We get some bulk food from the local coop. And in the summer, we buy from farmers' markets. But there's no practical way to buy milk, ice cream, detergent for dishes and clothes, prescription drugs, etc. So I end up saving containers, thinking that I'll find some use for them. But it's p…

We can still get milk delivered in glass bottles here. But everything else I agree is pretty impossible to avoid plastic.

Hell, I even saw some fruit, fruit, in plastic containers at the supermarket. I guess to stop it getting bashed. It was peaches.

Re: Plastics: What's Recyclable, What Becomes Trash and Why

#173

Post by pixl97 »

ciconia wrote: post #99

Just stop buying things in plastic . There are alternatives - stores that sell products in bulk, growing your own food, reusing containers. The solutions are there.

I'm not sure if you've bought much at the store, but trying to eliminate plastic from your purchases sounds like a great way to spend a lot more money currently. You are limited to a tiny number of options.

Also when it comes to products that present contamination risks, plastic is an excellent barrier to prevent the spread of microbes.

Re: Plastics: What's Recyclable, What Becomes Trash and Why

#174

Post by blue_devil »

didbsivdf wrote: post #144
blue_devil wrote: post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>>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

I mean sure, but that’s not why it’s not recyclable. I mean we don’t rust iron to recycle it! 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…

Right, my point is that plastic items originally were meant to replace heavier/bulkier items, but with a comparable longevity. Not to be used as single-use throw-away items. The need to recycle comes from the fact plastic stopped being used for durability, and it hence thrown away in humongous quantities.

Re: Plastics: What's Recyclable, What Becomes Trash and Why

#175

Post by raverbashing »

rficcaglia wrote: post #170
raverbashing wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes Plastics have helped a lot in the hygiene aspects of food, as much as some people think ( very naively) that food can't make you sick. Especially if you live in a country with warmer temperatures and low infrastructure (hello Climate Change)

I ran a restaurant in college and had to become a certified food manager (a step up from the line food handler). So while I won’t prentend to have all the data, it was clear that simple processes prevent 99.99% of food borne illness, and not one law required plastic gloves! In fact they expressly warned NOT to use gloves if you were not sure they were food grade. If you follow the simple rules, most illness is caused…

I don't disagree with the points you make, but you're thinking of "the last mile". Think of the steps before the food got to the restaurant or consumer:

For example: delivery of water to locations where the local source is suspected to be contaminated, packaging of meat products from market to consumer, handling of refrigerated or wet products, to name a few

Of course it's not the whole story, a lot of food-borne illnesses have their origin at the producing farm.

Re: Plastics: What's Recyclable, What Becomes Trash and Why

#176

Post by oblio »

18pfsmt wrote: post #114
ImprovedSilence wrote: post #43

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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).

Oh, so that's why the market phased out leaded gasoline? :-)

Re: Plastics: What's Recyclable, What Becomes Trash and Why

#177

Post by Zenbit_UX »

teekert wrote: post #149
Fradow wrote: post #146

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Well, as I don't have spectroscopic eyes to identify the nature of the polymers I have in my hand as I make a choice between bins. And the fact that plastic is a rather broad term combined with the vague communication, I'm going to keep doing this as do many others. So I just hope innovators will find ways to separate better.

I use to do this but it's actually contributing to the problem of wish cycling and why other countries have begun refusing to buy our recycling due to impurities from sorting. Just Google your city name + recycling rules and you'll be able to contribute without being the problem.

Re: Plastics: What's Recyclable, What Becomes Trash and Why

#178

Post by SECProto »

masklinn wrote: post #100
SECProto wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> FFS. Have you ever tried to remove [beverage bottle] labels? It's impossible. As a consumer in North America, it's not easy. Japan has stronger national regulations, however, and beverage bottles universally have labels with either perforated strips or peel-up corners, to facilitate removal. Plastic caps are also easily removed from glass bottles - peel the cover back and it splits in half and releases from the bot…

> As a consumer in North America, it's not easy. Japan has stronger national regulations, however, and beverage bottles universally have labels with either perforated strips or peel-up corners, to facilitate removal. Plastic caps are also easily removed from glass bottles - peel the cover back and it splits in half and releases from the bottle. OTOH Japan wraps pretty much everything in plastic, usually multiple time…

And they burn their garbage, turning thin-film plastics into fuel pretty much as cleanly as the stock used to make the plastic. I much prefer that to making a huge hill with poorly-compacted trash, covering with soil and claiming "problem solved".

Their usage of plastic is higher in some specific instances (omiyage, cookie or snack packages, and convenience stores come to mind), but equivalent to North America in others (standard meat comes in a shrink-wrapped styrofoam tray, vegetables/fruit come loose or a single layer of packaging, grocery stores charge for plastic bags). Despite the meme, I don't think their plastic usage is all that significantly higher outside a few specific instances.

Re: Plastics: What's Recyclable, What Becomes Trash and Why

#179

Post by the_gastropod »

LandR wrote: post #172
mirimir wrote: post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's appalling how much many containers (plastic, waxed paper, and multiple-layer) and how much packaging we go through every week. We get some bulk food from the local coop. And in the summer, we buy from farmers' markets. But there's no practical way to buy milk, ice cream, detergent for dishes and clothes, prescription drugs, etc. So I end up saving containers, thinking that I'll find some use for them. But it's p…

We can still get milk delivered in glass bottles here. But everything else I agree is pretty impossible to avoid plastic. Hell, I even saw some fruit, fruit , in plastic containers at the supermarket. I guess to stop it getting bashed. It was peaches.

This drives me bonkers. Tomatoes in little plastic crates, bananas is plastic bags, (bananas come with their own really great packaging! Why the hell do they put them in bags?!) cellophane-wrapped cucumbers. My previous employer got Fresh Direct shipments frequently, and the blackberries, raspberries, etc. came packaged in Russian doll nested plastic crates. Made my head explode.

Re: Plastics: What's Recyclable, What Becomes Trash and Why

#180

Post by 0xcafecafe »

the_gastropod wrote: post #179
LandR wrote: post #172

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We can still get milk delivered in glass bottles here. But everything else I agree is pretty impossible to avoid plastic. Hell, I even saw some fruit, fruit , in plastic containers at the supermarket. I guess to stop it getting bashed. It was peaches.

This drives me bonkers. Tomatoes in little plastic crates, bananas is plastic bags, (bananas come with their own really great packaging! Why the hell do they put them in bags?!) cellophane-wrapped cucumbers. My previous employer got Fresh Direct shipments frequently, and the blackberries, raspberries, etc. came packaged in Russian doll nested plastic crates. Made my head explode.

That is why I refuse to bag large fruits in their own plastic bags. My shopping cart always has apples, peaches, pears and bananas loose in the cart. Its a slight hassle during checkout but to me its worth it.
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