4 ms·

If billions of dollars spent on various recycling programs fail, I can’t see these homemade machines solving this problem either. It’s clear this is not immune

by xyst 6y ago

If billions of dollars spent on various recycling programs fail, I can’t see these homemade machines solving this problem either. It’s clear this is not immune to the sorting problem which is the root cause of why plastic recycling is unprofitable. I can see this as an educational program for children and adults that ignorantly throw anything plastic into the recycling bin thinking it would be recycled. But in reality, it’s likely going into the local landfill (or overseas). The only way to solve this plastic problem is to ban all single use applications (ie, cups, straws, takeaway containers, grocery bags, ...).

throwaway0a5e 6y ago
There's a lot of things that can be economically viable at the personal/household scale that can't work at the commercial scale because of the regulatory requirements of a modern first world workplace. Most of the time when you see a kit to DIY something this is the niche in which it lives. Not saying the economics work out for this particular thing but just because it's not commercially viable doesn't mean it's not economically viable. You don't see scrapyards hiring people to drive around picking up scrap metal yet people do it for a net profit, same concept.
- throwaway316943 6y ago
  That’s true, this might actually work if it’s done at the household or neighborhood level. The big problems with recycling plastic are manual sorting and cleaning the gross stuff people leave in it. If you’re recycling your own waste you can tackle those problems easily. If it’s your neighbour’s water then you can ask them to be responsible or lose access to your service and good will.
throwaway316943 6y ago
The sorting problem is mostly due to people feeling like they can get away with not washing their recyclables and throwing anything into the recycling bin. If you have to deliver those recyclables to a local business in person and they can tell you to your face that you didn’t do it right and you have to take your bin over to a washing station and redo it before you can leave it there you can be sure it won’t happen again.
- _rpd 6y ago
  > If you have to deliver those recyclables to a local business in person But you don’t have to. You can just throw it in the trash or blue lid recycling bin, emptied every Monday. What motivates someone to spend hours scrubbing and personally delivering clean plastic?
  - throwaway316943 6y ago
    Trillion dollar question.
  - throwaway0a5e 6y ago
    >What motivates someone to spend hours scrubbing and personally delivering clean plastic? Image. If you can convince a bunch of dumb yuppies that they will sound like the hippest hipster in the break room when they chat with all their coworkers about what they're up to they will shovel inordinate amounts of money in your direction. And after a good run at that either you sell out and move down market or someone else comes along and develops a 90% as good solution that's accessible to a much broader cross section of the population. Pulling that off is the big question though. Premium consumers are more fickle than normal consumers.
  - lotsofpulp 6y ago
    > What motivates someone to spend hours scrubbing and personally delivering clean plastic? Hence why taxes on fossil fuels should be so high that a plastic bottle costs $10 and plastic toys cost $100, so the alternatives are worth it and the plastic is not made in the first place.
    - dahfizz 6y ago
      Yeah, screw poor people. They don't deserve toys anyway.
      - lotsofpulp 6y ago
        Poor people and avoiding environmental calamities are separate problems with separate solutions.
_rpd 6y ago
> It’s clear this is not immune to the sorting problem which is the root cause of why plastic recycling is unprofitable Yeah, they depict collectors bicycling around town with a trailer and then washing and delabeling the collected plastic in a domestic kitchen sink. They would have to charge thousands per ton for the clean stock.
datavirtue 6y ago
Plastic needs classified as toxic and treated as such. There are beaches now covered in plastic chips instead of sand (the sand is underneath). The real scary part is waking up one day and realizing that we are infested with microplastics to a dangerous and irreversible saturation point from the natural breakdown. Man made fibers, water bottles, children's toys...all will break down to microscopic levels. We can probably filter it out effectively for drinking but the whole deal is just another log on the fire that humanity has built under themselves.
- slver 6y ago
  You know, I actually prefer plastic sand.
CannisterFlux 6y ago
The latest trick for plastic items is for companies to say they are reusable. So instead of a box of plastic straws, it is now a box with "reusable plastic straws" written on it. Same exact product, but now marketed to get around any single-use bans.

by xyst 6y ago

throwaway0a5e 6y ago

There's a lot of things that can be economically viable at the personal/household scale that can't work at the commercial scale because of the regulatory requirements of a modern first world workplace. Most of the time when you see a kit to DIY something this is the niche in which it lives. Not saying the economics work out for this particular thing but just because it's not commercially viable doesn't mean it's not economically viable. You don't see scrapyards hiring people to drive around picking up scrap metal yet people do it for a net profit, same concept.

throwaway316943 6y ago
That’s true, this might actually work if it’s done at the household or neighborhood level. The big problems with recycling plastic are manual sorting and cleaning the gross stuff people leave in it. If you’re recycling your own waste you can tackle those problems easily. If it’s your neighbour’s water then you can ask them to be responsible or lose access to your service and good will.

throwaway316943 6y ago

The sorting problem is mostly due to people feeling like they can get away with not washing their recyclables and throwing anything into the recycling bin. If you have to deliver those recyclables to a local business in person and they can tell you to your face that you didn’t do it right and you have to take your bin over to a washing station and redo it before you can leave it there you can be sure it won’t happen again.

_rpd 6y ago
> If you have to deliver those recyclables to a local business in person But you don’t have to. You can just throw it in the trash or blue lid recycling bin, emptied every Monday. What motivates someone to spend hours scrubbing and personally delivering clean plastic?
- throwaway316943 6y ago
  Trillion dollar question.
- throwaway0a5e 6y ago
  >What motivates someone to spend hours scrubbing and personally delivering clean plastic? Image. If you can convince a bunch of dumb yuppies that they will sound like the hippest hipster in the break room when they chat with all their coworkers about what they're up to they will shovel inordinate amounts of money in your direction. And after a good run at that either you sell out and move down market or someone else comes along and develops a 90% as good solution that's accessible to a much broader cross section of the population. Pulling that off is the big question though. Premium consumers are more fickle than normal consumers.
- lotsofpulp 6y ago
  > What motivates someone to spend hours scrubbing and personally delivering clean plastic? Hence why taxes on fossil fuels should be so high that a plastic bottle costs $10 and plastic toys cost $100, so the alternatives are worth it and the plastic is not made in the first place.
  - dahfizz 6y ago
    Yeah, screw poor people. They don't deserve toys anyway.
    - lotsofpulp 6y ago
      Poor people and avoiding environmental calamities are separate problems with separate solutions.

_rpd 6y ago

> It’s clear this is not immune to the sorting problem which is the root cause of why plastic recycling is unprofitable Yeah, they depict collectors bicycling around town with a trailer and then washing and delabeling the collected plastic in a domestic kitchen sink. They would have to charge thousands per ton for the clean stock.

datavirtue 6y ago

Plastic needs classified as toxic and treated as such. There are beaches now covered in plastic chips instead of sand (the sand is underneath). The real scary part is waking up one day and realizing that we are infested with microplastics to a dangerous and irreversible saturation point from the natural breakdown. Man made fibers, water bottles, children's toys...all will break down to microscopic levels. We can probably filter it out effectively for drinking but the whole deal is just another log on the fire that humanity has built under themselves.

slver 6y ago
You know, I actually prefer plastic sand.

CannisterFlux 6y ago

The latest trick for plastic items is for companies to say they are reusable. So instead of a box of plastic straws, it is now a box with "reusable plastic straws" written on it. Same exact product, but now marketed to get around any single-use bans.