5 ms·

In countries with good waste management I assume they are burned if they are not recycled. Other containers such as paper might sometimes even be worse as it wi

by cc81 8y ago

In countries with good waste management I assume they are burned if they are not recycled. Other containers such as paper might sometimes even be worse as it will cost more energy to produce them than plastic.

NullPrefix 8y ago
>paper might sometimes even be worse as it will cost more energy to produce them than plastic That's the point. Plastic is cheap to produce but costly to look after. Paper is costly to produce but cheap to look after.
- cc81 8y ago
  And my point is that it is not necessarily true in countries with good waste management. I will take Sweden as an example with plastic bags. I cannot find the quotation now but a researcher was asked about plastic bags and the environmental impact on them and the point was that it was not as clear as people think. In Sweden almost all plastic bags ends up being burned like this: https://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/green-tech/energy-production/sweden-is-great-at-turning-trash-to-energy.htm https://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/green-tech/e... That is very cheap. And the result would be that the total environmental impact for the complete life cycle might be greater if you choose a paper bag as more energy was required in creating it.
gambiting 8y ago
>>In countries with good waste management I assume they are burned if they are not recycled Those countries are so rare that it's almost not worth mentioning. Vast majority of places around the world, including most of the developed world do not have "good waste management" by this definition. Even in countries as rich as UK, Germany and France most waste goes to a landfill, not an incinerator. Sure Sweden shows a good example how it can be done, but it's like dismissing the problem of car-related pollution because there exists one hydrogen car that you can actually buy. Yes, it doesn't have those problems but in the large scheme of things it's completely irrelevant.
- barney54 8y ago
  I’m not seeing the problem with plastic going into landfills. That means it doesn’t result in plastic pollution in waters and the ocean and is sequestering the carbon back in the earth.
- martinald 8y ago
  Not true in the UK anymore. Nearly every local authority has or has under construction a 'waste to energy' plant (incinerator). Most of South London's waste has been burnt since 1994: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SELCHP https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SELCHP, for example.
- zAy0LfpBZLC8mAC 8y ago
  > Even in countries as rich as UK, Germany and France most waste goes to a landfill, not an incinerator. Dumping untreated waste into landfills has been illegal in Germany since 2005, so that's not a thing anymore.
- tonyedgecombe 8y ago
  Landfill has been falling steadily in the UK for a long time. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/607416/Digest_of_Waste_and_Resource_Statistics__2017_rev.pdf https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/...
- xorfish 8y ago
  Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, Japan, Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Austria All these countries throw less than 5% of their trash into landfills. https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/environment/environment-at-a-glance-2015/municipal-waste_9789264235199-14-en https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/environment/environment-at-a-g... Germany throws 0% of their waste into landfills.

by cc81 8y ago

NullPrefix 8y ago

>paper might sometimes even be worse as it will cost more energy to produce them than plastic That's the point. Plastic is cheap to produce but costly to look after. Paper is costly to produce but cheap to look after.

cc81 8y ago
And my point is that it is not necessarily true in countries with good waste management. I will take Sweden as an example with plastic bags. I cannot find the quotation now but a researcher was asked about plastic bags and the environmental impact on them and the point was that it was not as clear as people think. In Sweden almost all plastic bags ends up being burned like this: https://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/green-tech/energy-production/sweden-is-great-at-turning-trash-to-energy.htm https://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/green-tech/e... That is very cheap. And the result would be that the total environmental impact for the complete life cycle might be greater if you choose a paper bag as more energy was required in creating it.

gambiting 8y ago

>>In countries with good waste management I assume they are burned if they are not recycled Those countries are so rare that it's almost not worth mentioning. Vast majority of places around the world, including most of the developed world do not have "good waste management" by this definition. Even in countries as rich as UK, Germany and France most waste goes to a landfill, not an incinerator. Sure Sweden shows a good example how it can be done, but it's like dismissing the problem of car-related pollution because there exists one hydrogen car that you can actually buy. Yes, it doesn't have those problems but in the large scheme of things it's completely irrelevant.

barney54 8y ago
I’m not seeing the problem with plastic going into landfills. That means it doesn’t result in plastic pollution in waters and the ocean and is sequestering the carbon back in the earth.
martinald 8y ago
Not true in the UK anymore. Nearly every local authority has or has under construction a 'waste to energy' plant (incinerator). Most of South London's waste has been burnt since 1994: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SELCHP https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SELCHP, for example.
zAy0LfpBZLC8mAC 8y ago
> Even in countries as rich as UK, Germany and France most waste goes to a landfill, not an incinerator. Dumping untreated waste into landfills has been illegal in Germany since 2005, so that's not a thing anymore.
tonyedgecombe 8y ago
Landfill has been falling steadily in the UK for a long time. https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/607416/Digest_of_Waste_and_Resource_Statistics__2017_rev.pdf https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/...
xorfish 8y ago
Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, Japan, Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Austria All these countries throw less than 5% of their trash into landfills. https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/environment/environment-at-a-glance-2015/municipal-waste_9789264235199-14-en https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/environment/environment-at-a-g... Germany throws 0% of their waste into landfills.