21–30 of 67 posts
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Incineration means needlessly releasing greenhouse gasses.
The incinerators used in this case (claim to) recapture the emissions from the incineration. However, they do leave some amount of toxic ash, which requires special disposal.
Recycling is a tactic. Without a strategy, a tactic often won't work and can even be counterproductive.
Reducing production is a strategy. We should always focus first on the strategy, then tactics.
I recorded a podcast episode on reducing being strategic and efficiency being tactical https://shows.pippa.io/leadership-and-the-environment/episod....
It's literally oil. It belongs in the ground.
Or we can burn it for energy, and then do carbon sequestration, in which case it'll need to end up back in the ground.
I don't get what the big deal about putting plastic in the ground is. It's literally oil . It belongs in the ground. Or we can burn it for energy, and then do carbon sequestration, in which case it'll need to end up back in the ground.
[1] https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/environment/a3752/4...
There's a good case to be made that we shouldn't be recycling (all) plastics but instead sequestering much of it in well-run landfill operations. The energy required to recycle it combined with the inferior product that results make it a net-loss operation. Especially when taking into account the high levels of contamination and processing that must be done to prepare it. Reduce, re-use (and ban single-use), then seq…
So he was not concerned about recycling at all.
There's a good case to be made that we shouldn't be recycling (all) plastics but instead sequestering much of it in well-run landfill operations. The energy required to recycle it combined with the inferior product that results make it a net-loss operation. Especially when taking into account the high levels of contamination and processing that must be done to prepare it. Reduce, re-use (and ban single-use), then seq…
I once talked to a guy who worked in a landfill for a county in Florida and I asked him his opinion of recycling. He said you can either recycle it now or recycle it later, or in other words, dig up a landfill and figure out what you can reuse. This is already being done in some places with very old landfills. So he was not concerned about recycling at all.
I hope everyone concludes that the top level strategy everyone can implement is to reduce plastic use and demand at every level -- government, corporate, and, yes, individual. Recycling is a tactic. Without a strategy, a tactic often won't work and can even be counterproductive. Reducing production is a strategy. We should always focus first on the strategy, then tactics. I recorded a podcast episode on reducing bein…
It’s never made sense since day 1. As a kid, I couldn’t figure out how the hell recycling was working because everywhere I saw, all the recycling “policies” were being violated, and unless there was a massive team at the recycling center re-sorting it all, it made no sense why we had to sort it in the first place.
Turns out, it was just getting dumped in China. Reducing consumption is the only solution.
It says most plastics end up in incineration.
It also says plastics are separated using infrared technology.
I wonder if it is far from imagination to regulate the types of plastics available for use. What if all plastics for all single use purposes were restricted to a single kind of plastic.
I hope everyone concludes that the top level strategy everyone can implement is to reduce plastic use and demand at every level -- government, corporate, and, yes, individual. Recycling is a tactic. Without a strategy, a tactic often won't work and can even be counterproductive. Reducing production is a strategy. We should always focus first on the strategy, then tactics. I recorded a podcast episode on reducing bein…
Recycling was a way to get people to feel better about their consumption, and for certain politicians to tout they “did” something. It’s never made sense since day 1. As a kid, I couldn’t figure out how the hell recycling was working because everywhere I saw, all the recycling “policies” were being violated, and unless there was a massive team at the recycling center re-sorting it all, it made no sense why we had to…
Most recycling programs in the U.S. are little more than a social experiment at this point.
[1] https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2019/03/china...
Ah the realities of the difficulty involved in recycling like for like come to the fore. In some ways I think this situation has been exacerbated by proponents of plastic who have marketed it as "infinitely recyclable" for many years. That statement is technically true, in that there exists a process by which you can take post consumer plastic and reduce it back to its component parts for re-use. At the same time it…
> I am also a proponent of structural re-use of post consumer plastics. Wouldn't the flammability of plastic make this a non-starter?
[1] https://sciencing.com/burn-potassium-nitrate-7708552.html
[2] https://www.nist.gov/sites/default/files/documents/el/fire_r...