Plastic...is it too late?

[tommieboy]

Originally Posted by Silurian

Here the onus is put on the consumer to sort the waste into 5 separate containers. The reasoning is that it encourages the private sector to get involved as separating the waste encurs costs that otherwise make it uneconomical.

Whether there is any truth to that is anyone's guess.

The city provides 3 color-coded bins, and we presort per the city's instructions. It just surprised many that the city was sending the contents of these bins to the landfill.

Tommy

[Dirk Hofman]

Our local company makes it pretty clear what we can and can't recycle or compost. https://www.recology.com/recology-sa...e-residential/

[imwjl]

Originally Posted by Dirk Hofman

Our local company makes it pretty clear what we can and can't recycle or compost. https://www.recology.com/recology-sa...e-residential/

For your earlier post we have two extremes between main home and where our 2nd home is. We see big differences in what everyone in our circle takes to the curb Sunday nights. By the cabin the township and closest municipality stopping lots of services means some are back to just burning.

What some are saying here is absolute nonsense on plastic recycling not working. That's only true of some plastics, and much doesn't get done because of market value. There are firms and communities that choose to pay the price to recycle items with poor market value.

I know it to be nonsense - the can't do it - from my current work and 6 years on the city council committee that figured and worked out how we do this. Our city's annual contract with the trash hauler and the costs sent down via property taxes cover all or most of plastics that can be recycled getting recycled.

In my day job we pay the cost for some plastics to be recycled vs how we get paid for our cardboard and metal scrap. 2-4x a year a specialty recycler does data destruction and recycling of electronics and breakage scrap. We get reports of what has been recycled and what was unable to be recycled.

The Apple electronics is easiest to get done. Beyond what the store 3 blocks from HQ always takes at no cost, a lot of the products have some resale value if only for parts. There are YouTube videos worth watching on their recycling robots and used resale.

AI is already promising for better recycling. The robots are doing a good job in two ways. Better at some materials and they are filling jobs many people do not want to do. I think AMP is the CO firm.

[jpd]

The only time it's too late is when it's all over!

[Talk2Me]

Originally Posted by jpd

The only time it's too late is when it's all over!

Not all. It can be mostly over and too late as well.

[dilver]

The great pacific garbage patch is twice the size of Texas… just floating around the ocean and getting bigger. The world has billions of dollars and only one planet. I suspect that’s why billionaires are so interested in space travel.

[icuker]

I'm pessimistic also. I did read an interesting article that mentioned if we moved from plastics to natural materials, we'd do massive damage to nature also, meaning the wood, cropland etc that would have to go into producing natural materials to replace plastics. The article wasn't stating that plastics aren't a huge problem, they are, but the replacement can also be a huge issue. The bigger problem is the increasing number of people and us wanting so much stuff.

[ozzman]

The problems Always are problems cause of over population bottom line.and they are only problems to the population. The earth don't care,it will be fine. Less people solves it.now lets get motivated

[imwjl]

I will suggest this book. It is not exactly this topic but a tremendous look at energy and related things that sustain us such as ag, plastics, construction etc.... After reading it I also felt some pundits misrepresented it. Smil's very interesting anyway. I've read another one of his books.

https://vaclavsmil.com/2022/07/11/ho...eally-works-2/

Having once owned a recycling center, I was also fascinated by this firm's progress. Check out their videos. It is a promising way to recycle more efficiently including the challenges to just staff recycling centers.

https://ampsortation.com

Originally Posted by icuker

I'm pessimistic also. I did read an interesting article that mentioned if we moved from plastics to natural materials, we'd do massive damage to nature also, meaning the wood, cropland etc that would have to go into producing natural materials to replace plastics. The article wasn't stating that plastics aren't a huge problem, they are, but the replacement can also be a huge issue. The bigger problem is the increasing number of people and us wanting so much stuff.

That book goes into interesting dependencies such as you mention.

[mike o]

Expanding on my post. Plastic is mentioned.
.https://www.livescience.com/mass-ext...ped-Earth.html

[BillyH]

Originally Posted by LiveMusic

Our societies are built upon perpetual expansion, and the earth (and humans) can't support that. We are consuming ourselves to ruin. And the planet's ruin.

I totally connect with this statement!

Billy

[MrDB]

I have a lifetime pet peeve with packaging. Everything is shrinkwrapped and encased in plastic. I hate it. We throw it in the recycler bin but goodness why can't we just use less of this crap.

[imwjl]

Originally Posted by MrDB

I have a lifetime pet peeve with packaging. Everything is shrinkwrapped and encased in plastic. I hate it. We throw it in the recycler bin but goodness why can't we just use less of this crap.

That one's always been in mind and I think of it with the theme brought up earlier here about how much stuff you have in trash and recycling bins.

If you cook at home more, consider more local and bulk in your shopping, it can help. Where I work specializing in selling groceries that don't travel far helped me realize the extra cost is also really good for the prosperity near where you live. A lot of stores do what our small chain started around 20 years ago and mark or sign if not merchandise separately.

For some of the local and bulk stuff I like I rationalize the extra cost as a better first class ticket than airlines, hotels and most eating out is. If I walk or bike to the brewery a mile away or bakery 1.5 mi away beyond packaging, it's health for the county I live in and self.

The way grocery is becoming concentrated with fewer players and different outlets is more packaging too. Your local owned or traditional store is not getting trucks where food is packaged so it can also travel with lawn chairs or underpants.

The way we had largest family in our circle - 3 kids - and always had less in our trash and recycle bins tells me we can all make reasonable steps that can add up. We did not totally eliminate treats and commercial stuff. Just a little thought and change did a lot.

[Merak]

The only real solution is to stop using and buying these materials but that’s not going to happen now is it? It’s been know for a long time that only 10-20% of the plastic you put in the recycling bin ends up recycled. The rest goes into the dump or burned. Who remembers when bottled water first came out? Many including me laughed and thought who will buy a bottle of water when it’s so cheap and easy out of the tap. And here we are with cases and cases of it being sold and generating huge amounts of waste. So it goes….Remember glass?

[RJVB]

I don't remember anything about the tap water in north America but here in Europe it's really not that good everywhere. It's probably safe to drink as a general rule (at least at the point where your building or neighbourhood is connected) but I can still remember being in places where it would give a bad taste to anything you cooked with it, let alone brewed.

Originally Posted by Merak

Remember glass?

Order a bottle of mineral water in a restaurant in France and it'll be glass. Has to be.

But you rarely if ever find those in stores.

The EU have been trying to do something about all those disposable packagings and also cups, plates etc. in everything from snackbars, fast-food chains to small club cantinas. I don't hear much reporting about the implementation of that here in France but it's a regular news item in the Netherlands that this turns out to be non-trivial problem. Same for extending the existing deposit-return system (which we don't even have in France...).