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

Post by ipaddr » Thu, May 19, 2022, 3:18 AM UTC

hajile wrote: post #147

snek_case wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the main problem is that the average Joe/Jane confuses all types of pollution as equally bad. The real, most imminent threat is really CO2. That's what we have to spend the most money/energy on, because it could have absolutely catastrophic consequences in the next few decades. Plastic in a landfill is just... Stuck there. It's unnatural, sure, but it's not immensely harmful, not nearly on the same scale as C…

The real threat is the nearly 1 trillion tons of toxic waste we're racking up PER YEAR. It's the most lethal stuff this planet has ever encountered. If the CO2 levels spike, life on the planet (including many or maybe even most humans) will survive. If you look at historic levels, they were hundreds of times higher and the planet was the greenest it has ever been. If/when that toxic waste leaks out and starts killing…

Post by justapassenger » Thu, May 19, 2022, 3:44 AM UTC

RajT88 wrote: post #160

therealdrag0 wrote: post #82

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Garbage is also a problem in the environment like plastics in oceans, but the problem is not enough (well run and used) land fills (in Asia) not too many!

50% of the plastic problem in the ocean is discarded fishing nets (generally accepted to be discarded from Asian fishing vessels).

Post by DANK_YACHT » Thu, May 19, 2022, 4:09 AM UTC

pastage wrote: post #187

DANK_YACHT wrote: post #169

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Dams break and wreck havoc on ecosystems, the US has had it's fair share of coal mine sludge disasters. Even countries with strict environmental agencies and long history of mining have accidents.

Post by 10amxn10 » Thu, May 19, 2022, 4:37 AM UTC

kingkawn wrote: post #139

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…

Regulation is the way

Post by TylerE » Thu, May 19, 2022, 4:43 AM UTC

stjohnswarts wrote: post #107

DANK_YACHT wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Landfills are not a miracle technology. They exist already and are technologically sound. It’d be way more of a miracle if we somehow managed to greatly reduce waste.

People love to "what if" landfills. Best to not bother arguing with them. We have tons of problems with emissions, plastics pollution, industrial dumping. However landfills ain't one of them, but people won't give up. I've learned to not bother discussing anything with them if they don't know a few basics of how modern landfills are run (at least in western nations).