6 ms·

You can do your part by not putting plastic in the recycling. Put it in the trash instead where it goes to safe, well regulated American facilities. I have tot

• Cthulhu_ 4y ago
  > Put it in the trash instead where it goes to safe, well regulated American facilities. Is this verified? I have a theory (and haven't bothered to investigate so that one's on me) that a lot of recycling is just parceling it up and exporting it to landfill or incinerators abroad. Mind you, the plastics found in the ocean should be traceable back to their origins; they may be from e.g. Asian rivers, but if the origin is from the US or Europe you know whose fault it is.
  • ianburrell 4y ago
    China said didn't want to recycle plastics. It did pile up in US while figured out where to send it. I don't think the US waste processors have found another place to send it so it is going to landfill. There might have been some plastics that got trashed by foreign recyclers but it shouldn't be common thing now. The solution is to have more regulations about where US waste processors can send recycling to prevent sending to dubious places that throw it away. It is better if recycling goes to the landfill in US instead of playing hot potato.
    • dendrite9 4y ago
      Speaking of playing hot potato, the Khian Sea saga is one of the more egregious cases of trying to dump waste on the next sucker until finally they dumped it in the ocean. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khian_Sea_waste_disposal_incident https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khian_Sea_waste_disposal_incid...