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380 million tons of plastic are made every year. None of it is truly recyclable.

21 comments
  • Here's the problem - no one is recycling at anywhere close to scale. This stuff was getting shipped halfway across the world, enough was recycled to make it seem like it was being recycled. But in reality, it ended up in a landfill anyways, just after being shipped around the world

    Paper is the only thing that has seen any real recycling, and if it's not single stream it's probably not happening at all.

    Coca cola and Pepsi sold us the lie of plastic manufacturing when they were being threatened with regulation - it's never been practical

  • I stand firmly on team "let's set the rules first, and if you can't figure out how to stay in business too bad". That's where ubi would be great - we can't keep worrying about jobs with the changes that need to happen

    But the main difficulty is flexible and light water/airtight containers. Plastic is amazing at it - even paper or aluminum almost always uses plastic lining. There are other options, but they're generally inferior and hard to scale - stuff like

    Additionally, these things might need to last for months or years in storage, often in humid environments - anything biodegradable is going to have problems

    But again, we're all being poisoned by this. I think they should be phased out with extreme aggression - if we all have to go back to dried or very fresh goods, so be it - it would probably be healthier. With such a huge incentive, the technology would get there pretty quick.

21 comments