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U.S. generates more plastic trash than any other nation, report finds (2020)

nationalgeographic.com

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Re: U.S. generates more plastic trash than any other nation, report finds (2020)

#41

Post by Causality1 »

jedberg wrote: post #27

This problem won't get fixed without legislation. Single use plastic is cheaper, so of course companies will use that if they can. Most people don't have the income to support "voting with their wallet", and even those who do don't always have the option. IF the best solution out there happens to use single use plastic, you're not going to opt for a worse solution just because it doesn't. And even if one company care…

You also have to think in terms of actual harm. Considering the US has an absurd amount of junk land it can use for landfills, a single use plastic object that has 1/1000 the carbon emissions of the reusable alternative may be the best environmental choice.

Re: U.S. generates more plastic trash than any other nation, report finds (2020)

#42

Post by gogopuppygogo »

hereforphone wrote: post #37

This might be the case, I don't necessarily dispute it. But with this sort of thing always keep in mind that the US (and other Western countries) tend to be more compliant with reporting actual facts than say.... China (who somehow is ranked 107 in the world for covid-19 cases, despite their huge population).

[flagged]

Re: U.S. generates more plastic trash than any other nation, report finds (2020)

#43

Post by ALittleLight »

"The pioneering 2015 study of marine plastic didn’t include illegal dumping and export of plastic waste. In the new analysis, the team considered those actions, but only for the U.S. They say data for other nations were inconsistent or didn’t exist."

Doesn't this seem like it's saying illegal + legal plastic waste in the US is greater than legal plastic waste in other countries? That seems like a much different claim to me.

Re: U.S. generates more plastic trash than any other nation, report finds (2020)

#44

Post by pb7 »

arodyginc wrote: post #26
zz865 wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah everyone does, which is why those big oil companies are causing global warming but not me.

You can't cause any real harm to nature without help from corps. But they can, by just setting up an oil drill leaking into the ocean.

They would drill for oil nobody wants? I don’t buy that. It’s a two way transaction between supply and demand.

Re: U.S. generates more plastic trash than any other nation, report finds (2020)

#45

Post by gruez »

arodyginc wrote: post #26
zz865 wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah everyone does, which is why those big oil companies are causing global warming but not me.

You can't cause any real harm to nature without help from corps. But they can, by just setting up an oil drill leaking into the ocean.

But they wouldn't be setting up oil drills if there wasn't consumer demand.

Re: U.S. generates more plastic trash than any other nation, report finds (2020)

#46

Post by edoceo »

Causality1 wrote: post #41
jedberg wrote: post #27

This problem won't get fixed without legislation. Single use plastic is cheaper, so of course companies will use that if they can. Most people don't have the income to support "voting with their wallet", and even those who do don't always have the option. IF the best solution out there happens to use single use plastic, you're not going to opt for a worse solution just because it doesn't. And even if one company care…

You also have to think in terms of actual harm. Considering the US has an absurd amount of junk land it can use for landfills, a single use plastic object that has 1/1000 the carbon emissions of the reusable alternative may be the best environmental choice.

Where is the "junk land"? Almost everywhere has animals that likely don't enjoy plastic.

Re: U.S. generates more plastic trash than any other nation, report finds (2020)

#48

Post by hereforphone »

gogopuppygogo wrote: post #42
hereforphone wrote: post #37

This might be the case, I don't necessarily dispute it. But with this sort of thing always keep in mind that the US (and other Western countries) tend to be more compliant with reporting actual facts than say.... China (who somehow is ranked 107 in the world for covid-19 cases, despite their huge population).

[flagged]

Not arguing your point but I think a fair amount of that likely inaccuracy comes from lack of infrastructure / a large amount of rural communities. I'd guess there's some intention there (for misreporting) but I doubt that's the entirety of the issue

Re: U.S. generates more plastic trash than any other nation, report finds (2020)

#49

Post by l33t2328 »

edoceo wrote: post #46
Causality1 wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You also have to think in terms of actual harm. Considering the US has an absurd amount of junk land it can use for landfills, a single use plastic object that has 1/1000 the carbon emissions of the reusable alternative may be the best environmental choice.

Where is the "junk land"? Almost everywhere has animals that likely don't enjoy plastic.

How important are those animals?

Re: U.S. generates more plastic trash than any other nation, report finds (2020)

#50

Post by IfOnlyYouKnew »

Causality1 wrote: post #41
jedberg wrote: post #27

This problem won't get fixed without legislation. Single use plastic is cheaper, so of course companies will use that if they can. Most people don't have the income to support "voting with their wallet", and even those who do don't always have the option. IF the best solution out there happens to use single use plastic, you're not going to opt for a worse solution just because it doesn't. And even if one company care…

You also have to think in terms of actual harm. Considering the US has an absurd amount of junk land it can use for landfills, a single use plastic object that has 1/1000 the carbon emissions of the reusable alternative may be the best environmental choice.

Does the US still operate landfills? Some or all EU countries have completely abandoned the practice. So that's just not a harm that matters, unlike some other ones.

In any case, it'd be compounding the problem here, and rather bad economics at the same time. Plastics aren't that hard to collect/separate, especially if it's ok to be mixed with paper. They burn readily and, given high temperatures, cleanly, allowing the recuperation of a significant fraction of its energy content.

Then, there's recycling, of course. Not always possible, but not entirely impossible, either.

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