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Except that throwing plastic in a landfill is carbon sequestration, and way, way better for the environment than “recycling” which usually results in it shipped
by garmaine 7y ago
Except that throwing plastic in a landfill is carbon sequestration, and way, way better for the environment than “recycling” which usually results in it shipped to unaccountable companies overseas that dump it in the nearest river, or ending up in an incinerator and releasing it as CO2.
- chimprich 7y ago> way, way better for the environment than [...] ending up in an incinerator and releasing it as CO2. Not necessarily. Just thinking about total CO2 released, it should be better for the environment to release the energy in the oil you have currently (in plastic form) than burn extra CO2 extracting an equivalent oil from the ground, refining it, transporting it, etc. The equation might be different if you're getting your energy from non-fossil fuels. In this case, the correct answer is probably to recycle it properly rather than ship it to a third country for an unknown fate. EDIT: I'm assuming here that your incinerator is a modern one that generates energy and that you're not just burning things because they're inconvenient.