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Once I learned about it, I have never since recycled and have encouraged others not to recycle. The whole thing now is basically a gimmick and a great example o

Once I learned about it, I have never since recycled and have encouraged others not to recycle. The whole thing now is basically a gimmick and a great example of the 90s style thinking that believes touches around the edges will solve climate change. If governments want to make an impact on trash pollution on the ecosystem reduce really is the only thing that should be pushed.

otikik 4y ago
I still separate my trash because even though my plastic will probably end on the landfill, my municipality does process organic materials into compost, and plastic added to the mix burns CO2 on the separation plant. But yes, if it all ends up in a landfill anyway where you live sorting out the trash is a waste of effort
- yurishimo 4y ago
  This depends on the country though. Here in the Netherlands, it's extremely expensive to dispose of things in the "general trash" bin. Recycling on the other hand, is essentially free (at least in my village). Organic waste is not free (except during the holidays!), but it's an order of magnitude cheaper than the general waste.
  - nirimda 4y ago
    Yes but this just changes which bin the stuff is put into. The organic bin next to my apartment in Germany always has plenty of plastic in it. The stuff that actually gets put into the packaging bin vs the general waste bin seems to be completely random, to the extent that I can see it. (Glass and paper bins mostly contain glass and paper.)
    - cinntaile 4y ago
      This is sometimes solved by requiring pre-paid see through bags. If the garbage man notices something that shouldn't be in there, it's not collected.
  - Acinyx 4y ago
    They are more and more working on doing the separation at the garbage company though instead of at the source. Generally the reason for this that that consumers aren't very consistent in the separation and a few mistakes makes the whole stream worthless if they don't implement separation after collection. Two examples of large municipalities going this route: * https://www.amsterdam.nl/afval-en-hergebruik/plastic-scheidingsinstallatie/ https://www.amsterdam.nl/afval-en-hergebruik/plastic-scheidi... * https://www.almere.nl/wonen/afval/afval-scheiden/nascheiden https://www.almere.nl/wonen/afval/afval-scheiden/nascheiden
- nosianu 4y ago
  There is a problem with people putting plastic into organic waste bins though. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2468584421000696 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S24685... (Compost as a carrier for microplastics and plastic-bound toxic metals into agroecosystems) https://www.science.org/doi/full/10.1126/sciadv.aap8060 https://www.science.org/doi/full/10.1126/sciadv.aap8060 (Organic fertilizer as a vehicle for the entry of microplastic into the environment) When I look at the contents of the organic waste bin of my apartment house people often put what they throw in there inside plastic bags, which is kind of understandable because just throwing it in there unprotected and open to the air will probably lead to a rot problem and some really bad smells right in front of the house. I don't think this is collected every day. I read an article here in Germany years ago that this is a major problem and a leading cause of ever more plastic in agricultural soil. and also https://www.newscientist.com/article/2345545-most-home-compostable-plastic-doesnt-break-down-in-garden-bins/ https://www.newscientist.com/article/2345545-most-home-compo... (Most ‘home compostable’ plastic doesn’t break down in garden bins)
tpm 4y ago
Recycling is mostly a theatre, but PET plastic (mostly bottles) is recycled and (in our country) is recycled locally into PET bottles again. So while recycling will not save us, to not recycle is also wrong.
ilyt 4y ago
"Here is your paper straw in your entirely plastic cup"
- sokoloff 4y ago
  I’ve also seen paper straws wrapped in clear plastic.
yummypaint 4y ago
Aluminum recycling still makes complete sense both economicaly and environmentally. It's cheaper and less energy intensive to reprocess cans and car bodies than to process ore into metallic aluminum. We should be focusing on recycling of metals (including batteries) and try to ditch plastics for glass. Glass just becomes sand in a landfill, which is vastly preferable to plastics that will still be around in a million years.
- Acinyx 4y ago
  But it is also extremely easy to filter out aluminium from the general waste stream, so no real need to separate them, especially as the average consumer is not very consistent.
- loudmax 4y ago
  I generally feel the same way that you do, especially about recycling metals. But glass is much heavier than plastic, which translates to more energy spent shipping products around. We need to be cautious about the effects of plastics, and especially microplastics, on the environment. We also need to recognize that plastics are part of the picture when it comes to reducing carbon emissions.
  - yummypaint 4y ago
    The weight issue with glass is a good point. At some level we may need a subtle cultural shift away from individually packaged items. The other day i saw individually packaged eyedrops. The packaging was more mass and volume than the product, and probably contained sketchy plasticisizers. If we can shift to renewables and electric trucks for overland shipping, it would at least help.

otikik 4y ago

I still separate my trash because even though my plastic will probably end on the landfill, my municipality does process organic materials into compost, and plastic added to the mix burns CO2 on the separation plant. But yes, if it all ends up in a landfill anyway where you live sorting out the trash is a waste of effort

yurishimo 4y ago
This depends on the country though. Here in the Netherlands, it's extremely expensive to dispose of things in the "general trash" bin. Recycling on the other hand, is essentially free (at least in my village). Organic waste is not free (except during the holidays!), but it's an order of magnitude cheaper than the general waste.
- nirimda 4y ago
  Yes but this just changes which bin the stuff is put into. The organic bin next to my apartment in Germany always has plenty of plastic in it. The stuff that actually gets put into the packaging bin vs the general waste bin seems to be completely random, to the extent that I can see it. (Glass and paper bins mostly contain glass and paper.)
  - cinntaile 4y ago
    This is sometimes solved by requiring pre-paid see through bags. If the garbage man notices something that shouldn't be in there, it's not collected.
- Acinyx 4y ago
  They are more and more working on doing the separation at the garbage company though instead of at the source. Generally the reason for this that that consumers aren't very consistent in the separation and a few mistakes makes the whole stream worthless if they don't implement separation after collection. Two examples of large municipalities going this route: * https://www.amsterdam.nl/afval-en-hergebruik/plastic-scheidingsinstallatie/ https://www.amsterdam.nl/afval-en-hergebruik/plastic-scheidi... * https://www.almere.nl/wonen/afval/afval-scheiden/nascheiden https://www.almere.nl/wonen/afval/afval-scheiden/nascheiden
nosianu 4y ago
There is a problem with people putting plastic into organic waste bins though. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2468584421000696 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S24685... (Compost as a carrier for microplastics and plastic-bound toxic metals into agroecosystems) https://www.science.org/doi/full/10.1126/sciadv.aap8060 https://www.science.org/doi/full/10.1126/sciadv.aap8060 (Organic fertilizer as a vehicle for the entry of microplastic into the environment) When I look at the contents of the organic waste bin of my apartment house people often put what they throw in there inside plastic bags, which is kind of understandable because just throwing it in there unprotected and open to the air will probably lead to a rot problem and some really bad smells right in front of the house. I don't think this is collected every day. I read an article here in Germany years ago that this is a major problem and a leading cause of ever more plastic in agricultural soil. and also https://www.newscientist.com/article/2345545-most-home-compostable-plastic-doesnt-break-down-in-garden-bins/ https://www.newscientist.com/article/2345545-most-home-compo... (Most ‘home compostable’ plastic doesn’t break down in garden bins)

tpm 4y ago

Recycling is mostly a theatre, but PET plastic (mostly bottles) is recycled and (in our country) is recycled locally into PET bottles again. So while recycling will not save us, to not recycle is also wrong.

ilyt 4y ago

"Here is your paper straw in your entirely plastic cup"

sokoloff 4y ago
I’ve also seen paper straws wrapped in clear plastic.

yummypaint 4y ago

Aluminum recycling still makes complete sense both economicaly and environmentally. It's cheaper and less energy intensive to reprocess cans and car bodies than to process ore into metallic aluminum. We should be focusing on recycling of metals (including batteries) and try to ditch plastics for glass. Glass just becomes sand in a landfill, which is vastly preferable to plastics that will still be around in a million years.

Acinyx 4y ago
But it is also extremely easy to filter out aluminium from the general waste stream, so no real need to separate them, especially as the average consumer is not very consistent.
loudmax 4y ago
I generally feel the same way that you do, especially about recycling metals. But glass is much heavier than plastic, which translates to more energy spent shipping products around. We need to be cautious about the effects of plastics, and especially microplastics, on the environment. We also need to recognize that plastics are part of the picture when it comes to reducing carbon emissions.
- yummypaint 4y ago
  The weight issue with glass is a good point. At some level we may need a subtle cultural shift away from individually packaged items. The other day i saw individually packaged eyedrops. The packaging was more mass and volume than the product, and probably contained sketchy plasticisizers. If we can shift to renewables and electric trucks for overland shipping, it would at least help.