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On which metric? For global warming it’s worse, but it’s probably better in terms of water and soil pollution.
by ashtonkem 5y ago
On which metric? For global warming it’s worse, but it’s probably better in terms of water and soil pollution.
- saddlerustle 5y agoThe water and soil pollution from a landfill is predominantly caused by biodegradable waste. Hard plastics aren't a big contributor because they're stable for a hundred years.
- TheRealPomax 5y ago"This is future humanity's problem, if there ever is one" is not a great argument though. Eventually it destabilized, and 400 years from now all the plastic we've put in the grounds in the last few decades will "suddenly" all create a whole new problem.
- saddlerustle 5y agoYes, but climate change is definitely going to cause problems in far less than 400 years, and landfill soil pollution is highly regional problem, not a global problem.
- zug_zug 5y agoWell, I'd presume it's releasing a lot of chemicals into the air. https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/jul/21/bpa-exposure-hormone-disrupting-fda-missouri-study-bisphenol-endocrine https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/jul/21/bpa-exp...
- Spooky23 5y agoCement is a cornucopia of nasty stuff anyway.
- ashtonkem 5y agoIt also releases CO2 at roughly a 1:1 ratio too. One ton of cement is roughly one ton of CO2.
- ashtonkem 5y agoI skimmed, but I don’t see anything in that article about burning. Given that BPA begins to decompose at a measly 227C, I doubt a lot of it would escape a proper incinerator.
- ju-st 5y agoIt's better for global warming when the plastic is replacing oil/gas in the cement plant.
- Forge36 5y agoIs burning the waste to CO2 worse than the methane from decay in a landfill?
- saddlerustle 5y agoPlastics don't decay into methane in significant quantities.