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Paper/cardboard can be quite worthwhile. This article [0] was discussed on HN not so long ago. And some plastics too (I used to work for a firm that sold its wa

Paper/cardboard can be quite worthwhile. This article [0] was discussed on HN not so long ago. And some plastics too (I used to work for a firm that sold its waste PVC). The real discrepancy is between consumers and businesses recycling. Businesses can have a clean, unadulterated stream of waste, likely trivial for them to sort at scale. Most consumer recycling is useful for awareness at best and distraction at worst, like California shaming people into fixing their leaky taps during droughts when a billion times as much water is diverted to almond farming. [0] https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-51420503 https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-51420503

toomuchtodo 6y ago
All consumer waste streams should be filtered for metals and then shoveled into a plasma gasifier. You’re not going to break even on the energy input (source renewables to cover anything above what you generate from burning the syngas byproduct), but you’re going to break everything down into something that be trivially landfilled or used as aggregate for asphalt repaving (slag) and burn the syngas for power.
- dmurray 6y ago
  Aren't there some waste materials you'd prefer to bury in the ground than oxidise and release into the atmosphere near a city? I don't know much about this but I suspect you're over-simplifying.
  - toomuchtodo 6y ago
    Gasification uses a plasma arc to break down the molecular bonds of the waste (molecular dissociation) versus incineration oxidation; it can be used for industrial and hazardous waste you’d want to avoid incinerating, and release of anything toxic is greatly reduced. The link below has examples of two such facilities that operated successfully in Japan about two decades ago; one shut down because the Japanese improved their waste stream recycling, depriving the facility of the necessary feedstock to continue operations. https://www.netl.doe.gov/research/Coal/energy-systems/gasification/gasifipedia/westinghouse https://www.netl.doe.gov/research/Coal/energy-systems/gasifi...

toomuchtodo 6y ago

All consumer waste streams should be filtered for metals and then shoveled into a plasma gasifier. You’re not going to break even on the energy input (source renewables to cover anything above what you generate from burning the syngas byproduct), but you’re going to break everything down into something that be trivially landfilled or used as aggregate for asphalt repaving (slag) and burn the syngas for power.

dmurray 6y ago
Aren't there some waste materials you'd prefer to bury in the ground than oxidise and release into the atmosphere near a city? I don't know much about this but I suspect you're over-simplifying.
- toomuchtodo 6y ago
  Gasification uses a plasma arc to break down the molecular bonds of the waste (molecular dissociation) versus incineration oxidation; it can be used for industrial and hazardous waste you’d want to avoid incinerating, and release of anything toxic is greatly reduced. The link below has examples of two such facilities that operated successfully in Japan about two decades ago; one shut down because the Japanese improved their waste stream recycling, depriving the facility of the necessary feedstock to continue operations. https://www.netl.doe.gov/research/Coal/energy-systems/gasification/gasifipedia/westinghouse https://www.netl.doe.gov/research/Coal/energy-systems/gasifi...