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A more general solution would be to require that at least e.g. 30% of plastic in new products is recycled. Regardless of the details it should create economic i

A more general solution would be to require that at least e.g. 30% of plastic in new products is recycled. Regardless of the details it should create economic incentive to sustain plastic recycling companies in 1st world countries.

andrewstuart 8y ago
I think recycling is the distraction that packaging companies use to stop the public being infinitely angry with them for spewing infinite garbage into the world. Hey, it's OK that we're making never ending garbage, look, its being recycled! But the reality is that most recycling was just garbage being sent to China and now China has stopped accepting it the lie of recycling has been exposed. Gigantic piles of "recycling" are accumulating around the world. "Recycling" isn't any solution to the garbage manufacturing industry / packaging industry. If we want a world that isn't "garbage world" then we have to stop paying companies to make garbage/packaging. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-10-21/melbourne-recycling-facilities-pose-fire-risk/10368302 https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-10-21/melbourne-recycling-f... https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/mountain-of-toxic-waste-deemed-huge-fire-risk-20180811-p4zwx8.html https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/mountain-of-toxi... https://www.theage.com.au/politics/victoria/recycling-crisis-more-than-200-dangerous-stockpiles-found-in-victoria-20180425-p4zblc.html https://www.theage.com.au/politics/victoria/recycling-crisis...
ericd 8y ago
Then each bottle is still .7 new bottles. Better than 1.0, but still pretty bad.
- ganzuul 8y ago
  Absolutely. Then we can hope people would push for 100% recycling when they make this exact realization for themselves. Starting with 100% recycling feels like a non-starter, but getting a foothold with something like 30%, or enough to sustain that industry I mentioned, could be a beginning.
sethammons 8y ago
Fun story I heard back in my first year of university. This was over a decade ago, so I can't recall sources. A paper company was required to use x% recycled paper. This cost more money. To make up the loss, the company had to make more paper. A recycling initiative to save trees led to the cutting down of even more trees.
- ganzuul 8y ago
  Interesting. I wonder how much paper and plastic industries have in common. In the case of plastic, the goal is to capture waste before it gets into the environment. For paper that isn't a concern since it is cellulose. However, ramping up plastic production certainly is a threat, especially as the industry might react with hostility to green tech.
- megy 8y ago
  Ok, but it is not like people starting using more paper? They just sold more and another paper company sold less, who cut down less trees.

andrewstuart 8y ago

I think recycling is the distraction that packaging companies use to stop the public being infinitely angry with them for spewing infinite garbage into the world. Hey, it's OK that we're making never ending garbage, look, its being recycled! But the reality is that most recycling was just garbage being sent to China and now China has stopped accepting it the lie of recycling has been exposed. Gigantic piles of "recycling" are accumulating around the world. "Recycling" isn't any solution to the garbage manufacturing industry / packaging industry. If we want a world that isn't "garbage world" then we have to stop paying companies to make garbage/packaging. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-10-21/melbourne-recycling-facilities-pose-fire-risk/10368302 https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-10-21/melbourne-recycling-f... https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/mountain-of-toxic-waste-deemed-huge-fire-risk-20180811-p4zwx8.html https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/mountain-of-toxi... https://www.theage.com.au/politics/victoria/recycling-crisis-more-than-200-dangerous-stockpiles-found-in-victoria-20180425-p4zblc.html https://www.theage.com.au/politics/victoria/recycling-crisis...

ericd 8y ago

Then each bottle is still .7 new bottles. Better than 1.0, but still pretty bad.

ganzuul 8y ago
Absolutely. Then we can hope people would push for 100% recycling when they make this exact realization for themselves. Starting with 100% recycling feels like a non-starter, but getting a foothold with something like 30%, or enough to sustain that industry I mentioned, could be a beginning.

sethammons 8y ago

Fun story I heard back in my first year of university. This was over a decade ago, so I can't recall sources. A paper company was required to use x% recycled paper. This cost more money. To make up the loss, the company had to make more paper. A recycling initiative to save trees led to the cutting down of even more trees.

ganzuul 8y ago
Interesting. I wonder how much paper and plastic industries have in common. In the case of plastic, the goal is to capture waste before it gets into the environment. For paper that isn't a concern since it is cellulose. However, ramping up plastic production certainly is a threat, especially as the industry might react with hostility to green tech.
megy 8y ago
Ok, but it is not like people starting using more paper? They just sold more and another paper company sold less, who cut down less trees.