EU Commission presents draft directive to ban some plastic waste • Hacker News Board

Re: EU Commission presents draft directive to ban some plastic waste

#71

Post by siruncledrew » Wed, May 30, 2018, 6:55 PM UTC

It's pretty insane that 90% of the plastic dumped into the ocean comes from 10 rivers (including many famous ones)[0]. Two are in Africa (the Nile and the Niger) while the other eight are in Asia (the Ganges, Indus, Yellow, Yangtze, Haihe, Pearl, Mekong and Amur).

What were once historically prominent rivers that greatly contributed to agriculture and civilization are now disgusting cesspools of trash and pollution.

[0] https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/stemming-the-plas...

Re: EU Commission presents draft directive to ban some plastic waste

#72

Post by jasonkostempski » Thu, May 31, 2018, 2:51 AM UTC

avar wrote: post #41

houshuang wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

At most festivals in Switzerland, you have a single kind of reusable plastic cup, for which you pay a deposit of a few Euro. You can then hand it back at any venue part of the festival and get the deposit back. Of course it requires some dishwashing facilities, but it seems to work very well, everyone is used to it, and it avoids massive heaps of garbage.

We have these in Amsterdam too. I'll buy a beer with one of these, then by the time I'm ready to leave the lines are so long that I think "fuck it" and throw it in my bike saddlebag thinking I'll bring it back next year. It's not worth it to stand 15 minutes in a line to get 2 EUR back. But of course I forget about it and just buy a new one at the same festival next year, and each festival will only accept their own…

They're not branded with custom design for the event? Seems like something you could easily sell if it were. Either way, I like your idea about a standard, similar to TSA Approved beverage containers.

Re: EU Commission presents draft directive to ban some plastic waste

#73

Post by ganzuul » Thu, May 31, 2018, 9:39 AM UTC

haste410 wrote: post #66

ganzuul wrote: post #11

I want to put 2D barcodes on trash-to-be. Then when you find it in nature you should be able to trace it to when and where it was purchased. If this is one of those 10% of users causing 90% of the problems - type situations this would be an effective strategy to hold trashy people accountable.

What happens when my trash, or even something I purchased that later became trash because of someone else, finds its way outside of normal disposal routes through no fault of my own?

Probably nothing. Usually people don't make decisions based on only a single point of evidence.

Re: EU Commission presents draft directive to ban some plastic waste

#74

Post by ganzuul » Thu, May 31, 2018, 9:42 AM UTC

amelius wrote: post #68

ganzuul wrote: post #11

I want to put 2D barcodes on trash-to-be. Then when you find it in nature you should be able to trace it to when and where it was purchased. If this is one of those 10% of users causing 90% of the problems - type situations this would be an effective strategy to hold trashy people accountable.

Nice idea, but who can we trust with all that data?

It makes no difference to people who already pay with cash to maintain their privacy.