4 ms·

> In the U.S., even widely recyclable soda and water bottles often end up in landfills Arguably, this isn't a bad outcome. A lot of stuff that goes through the

> In the U.S., even widely recyclable soda and water bottles often end up in landfills Arguably, this isn't a bad outcome. A lot of stuff that goes through the official recycling programs ends up in landfills! Landfills are cheap, effective, and safe. And if there is no market for low-quality recyclables, it's far superior to shipping them overseas to sit in open pits next to rivers. > While other packaging alternatives exist, Smith says they all come with tradeoffs. Glass bottles, for example, have a larger carbon footprint than plastic during transportation, because they’re heavier. (Also, the recycling rate for glass in the U.S. is abysmally low.) The company is still experimenting with other solutions, including a paper bottle that could potentially be used with the new cap. A good summary of why single use plastics are the current local minimum. It's at least nice to hear the industry regularly considers alternatives.

gumby 4y ago
Landfills take up space which in some areas is at a premium. Also, as they contain a lot of organic matter, they spew methane. And as they also contain a lot of nasty things like batteries, they leach all sorts of toxic plumes. Finally, though sequestering carbon by dumping it into a landfill sounds like a good idea, in reality plastic bottles themselves often contain nasty compounds (like various plasticizers) that themselves leach out if the landfill is perfused with water. They are a necessary evil, but too much stuff ends up in them.
- legitster 4y ago
  Space could be an issue in some places. But there is a LOT of space in the US. And a good number of landfill land is reclaimed afterwards anyway. Methane is not really related to plastics - if anything the problem is exacerbated by renewables. But landfills could actually be part of the renewables picture here: https://www.epa.gov/lmop/basic-information-about-landfill-gas https://www.epa.gov/lmop/basic-information-about-landfill-ga... Leachate is also a landfill factor that has been MUCH improved over the last few decades https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leachate https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leachate I think people underrate how good modern landfills are. I think you'll find for most plastics, landfills are much less carbon intensive than recycling. And in some categories, they may even be superior to reuse.
  - gumby 4y ago
    > But there is a LOT of space in the US. It's pretty obscure, but a little known fact is that a surprising number of people don't live in the US.
    - natpalmer1776 4y ago
      I mean, we could pull the ol' uno reverse and start importing the world's trash instead of exporting our own under the guise of recycling.
  - autoexec 4y ago
    > I think you'll find for most plastics, landfills are much less carbon intensive than recycling. recycling means we don't need to worry about the carbon intensive process of extracting and processing the raw materials to make new plastics instead of just reusing the plastics we've already created. The continuous creation of more and more plastic also means more and more microplastics. You might love landfills, but I hope I never live too close to one. Proximity to landfills has been linked to all kinds of cancers and health problems.
    - gumby 4y ago
      Plastic recycling basically doesn't work. Virgin feedstock is cheaper and easier to work with. Few plastic products are "pure" (most contain pigments, adhesives, and/or different kinds of plastic, not to mention other contaminants like the previous product contained in it). In other words, essentially all plastics are "single use" plastics.

gumby 4y ago

Landfills take up space which in some areas is at a premium. Also, as they contain a lot of organic matter, they spew methane. And as they also contain a lot of nasty things like batteries, they leach all sorts of toxic plumes. Finally, though sequestering carbon by dumping it into a landfill sounds like a good idea, in reality plastic bottles themselves often contain nasty compounds (like various plasticizers) that themselves leach out if the landfill is perfused with water. They are a necessary evil, but too much stuff ends up in them.

legitster 4y ago
Space could be an issue in some places. But there is a LOT of space in the US. And a good number of landfill land is reclaimed afterwards anyway. Methane is not really related to plastics - if anything the problem is exacerbated by renewables. But landfills could actually be part of the renewables picture here: https://www.epa.gov/lmop/basic-information-about-landfill-gas https://www.epa.gov/lmop/basic-information-about-landfill-ga... Leachate is also a landfill factor that has been MUCH improved over the last few decades https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leachate https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leachate I think people underrate how good modern landfills are. I think you'll find for most plastics, landfills are much less carbon intensive than recycling. And in some categories, they may even be superior to reuse.
- gumby 4y ago
  > But there is a LOT of space in the US. It's pretty obscure, but a little known fact is that a surprising number of people don't live in the US.
  - natpalmer1776 4y ago
    I mean, we could pull the ol' uno reverse and start importing the world's trash instead of exporting our own under the guise of recycling.
- autoexec 4y ago
  > I think you'll find for most plastics, landfills are much less carbon intensive than recycling. recycling means we don't need to worry about the carbon intensive process of extracting and processing the raw materials to make new plastics instead of just reusing the plastics we've already created. The continuous creation of more and more plastic also means more and more microplastics. You might love landfills, but I hope I never live too close to one. Proximity to landfills has been linked to all kinds of cancers and health problems.
  - gumby 4y ago
    Plastic recycling basically doesn't work. Virgin feedstock is cheaper and easier to work with. Few plastic products are "pure" (most contain pigments, adhesives, and/or different kinds of plastic, not to mention other contaminants like the previous product contained in it). In other words, essentially all plastics are "single use" plastics.