5 ms·

I've got wooden furniture. It doesn't rot, because it's inside. If plastic rotted like wood when exposed to the elements, that would be great.

dwater 4y ago
Well, it would be great when we wanted to get rid of those items. It would be less great when we wanted to preserve those items, like the massive amount of goods and infrastructure that are constructed out of plastic. The insulation on power cables, for one thing, would be bad if it started rotting.
- ars 4y ago
  The already use PVC on cable insulation. If this because a problem then everything would switch to using that instead of a mix. Also, I've seen nothing to indicate these enzymes can eat nylon, which is the most common insulation other than PVC.
- fitzroy 4y ago
  Not exactly the same, but rats eating the power cables has been a problem with cars built in the last decade because of the switch to soy-based insulation. https://www.thedrive.com/news/20878/rodents-are-feasting-on-newer-cars-soy-based-wiring-insulation https://www.thedrive.com/news/20878/rodents-are-feasting-on-...
alex_young 4y ago
Cars are largely plastic. They live outside. It would be interesting if say your bumper started rotting for instance.
- mperham 4y ago
  They are plastic today because earlier they were steel and rusted. Thus the “rustproof undercoating” which some dealers offered. A mechanic said my 1990 Honda CRX was mostly rust after 6 years in the Northeast US.
  - marginalia_nu 4y ago
    Rust is an entirely different process though. You can mitigate it with sacrificial anodes, for example (that's how steel ships survive bobbing around in salt water).
chaorace 4y ago
It would be great in some ways, but it would also have enormous consequences. There is so much infrastructure that would need to be prematurely replaced -- so many consumer durables which will fail years or even decades ahead of their expected shelf lives. I wouldn't be surprised at all if we were to start concocting additives with antimicrobial properties, which would probably be even worse for the environment while also preventing the beneficial function of post-use decomposition.
- hosh 4y ago
  Or perhaps, our way of life changes and we live without a durable, non-biodegradable, lightweight, apparently-cheap material that enables a disposable, consumerist lifestyle.
  - MichaelZuo 4y ago
    You want to reduce the living standards of most of the human population?
- ars 4y ago
  Most outdoor plastic is PVC which is not susceptible to this. > with antimicrobial properties The Chlorine in PVC does that. In general PVC is used where you want the plastic permanently, and HDPE is used for disposable plastic (and is edible to microbes). So basically we are fine, and no need to change anything.
masklinn 4y ago
> I've got wooden furniture. It doesn't rot, because it's inside. Also because it's treated.
- ars 4y ago
  Wooden furniture is not treated. You are thinking of pressure-treated lumber, which is not used for furniture, but rather for outdoor wood in contact with soil.
  - masklinn 4y ago
    Staining is a treatment. So is waxing, or varnishing. I’m sure some people leave their wood furniture unfinished but it’s certainly not the standard, and not how you make them last.
    - muti 4y ago
      Completely untreated wood stored in a dry environment will last many years (hundreds? tens at least) without degrading. Look at woodworkers hoarding wood in basements, beams in old buildings, etc Staining/waxing/varnishing is used to protect the surface from wear and tear or change aesthetics. A varnished table that has been worn through in areas can be sanded back and look like new. The wood under worn spots won't be noticeably different.
    - wyago 4y ago
      I've never heard someone in woodworking call finished wood "treated". That would be really odd, given that treated wood is a specific term of art. Plainly oiled wood is pretty normal, and isn't going to do anything to protect against rot (because it doesn't need to indoors).
marginalia_nu 4y ago
We often use plastic for things that need to be able to deal with environmental exposure, though, or to protect things that can't deal with that sort of thing. Things like water-pipes and cable insulators would be especially problematic if they started rotting.

dwater 4y ago

Well, it would be great when we wanted to get rid of those items. It would be less great when we wanted to preserve those items, like the massive amount of goods and infrastructure that are constructed out of plastic. The insulation on power cables, for one thing, would be bad if it started rotting.

ars 4y ago
The already use PVC on cable insulation. If this because a problem then everything would switch to using that instead of a mix. Also, I've seen nothing to indicate these enzymes can eat nylon, which is the most common insulation other than PVC.
fitzroy 4y ago
Not exactly the same, but rats eating the power cables has been a problem with cars built in the last decade because of the switch to soy-based insulation. https://www.thedrive.com/news/20878/rodents-are-feasting-on-newer-cars-soy-based-wiring-insulation https://www.thedrive.com/news/20878/rodents-are-feasting-on-...

alex_young 4y ago

Cars are largely plastic. They live outside. It would be interesting if say your bumper started rotting for instance.

mperham 4y ago
They are plastic today because earlier they were steel and rusted. Thus the “rustproof undercoating” which some dealers offered. A mechanic said my 1990 Honda CRX was mostly rust after 6 years in the Northeast US.
- marginalia_nu 4y ago
  Rust is an entirely different process though. You can mitigate it with sacrificial anodes, for example (that's how steel ships survive bobbing around in salt water).

chaorace 4y ago

It would be great in some ways, but it would also have enormous consequences. There is so much infrastructure that would need to be prematurely replaced -- so many consumer durables which will fail years or even decades ahead of their expected shelf lives. I wouldn't be surprised at all if we were to start concocting additives with antimicrobial properties, which would probably be even worse for the environment while also preventing the beneficial function of post-use decomposition.

hosh 4y ago
Or perhaps, our way of life changes and we live without a durable, non-biodegradable, lightweight, apparently-cheap material that enables a disposable, consumerist lifestyle.
- MichaelZuo 4y ago
  You want to reduce the living standards of most of the human population?
ars 4y ago
Most outdoor plastic is PVC which is not susceptible to this. > with antimicrobial properties The Chlorine in PVC does that. In general PVC is used where you want the plastic permanently, and HDPE is used for disposable plastic (and is edible to microbes). So basically we are fine, and no need to change anything.

masklinn 4y ago

> I've got wooden furniture. It doesn't rot, because it's inside. Also because it's treated.

ars 4y ago
Wooden furniture is not treated. You are thinking of pressure-treated lumber, which is not used for furniture, but rather for outdoor wood in contact with soil.
- masklinn 4y ago
  Staining is a treatment. So is waxing, or varnishing. I’m sure some people leave their wood furniture unfinished but it’s certainly not the standard, and not how you make them last.
  - muti 4y ago
    Completely untreated wood stored in a dry environment will last many years (hundreds? tens at least) without degrading. Look at woodworkers hoarding wood in basements, beams in old buildings, etc Staining/waxing/varnishing is used to protect the surface from wear and tear or change aesthetics. A varnished table that has been worn through in areas can be sanded back and look like new. The wood under worn spots won't be noticeably different.
  - wyago 4y ago
    I've never heard someone in woodworking call finished wood "treated". That would be really odd, given that treated wood is a specific term of art. Plainly oiled wood is pretty normal, and isn't going to do anything to protect against rot (because it doesn't need to indoors).

marginalia_nu 4y ago

We often use plastic for things that need to be able to deal with environmental exposure, though, or to protect things that can't deal with that sort of thing. Things like water-pipes and cable insulators would be especially problematic if they started rotting.