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>> wash your dirty plastics I've thought about this a lot. Is it worth wasting water, derergent and energy to clean a yogurt cup, for instance? Does the plasti

by mngnt 3y ago

>> wash your dirty plastics I've thought about this a lot. Is it worth wasting water, derergent and energy to clean a yogurt cup, for instance? Does the plastic-waste-recycled outweigh the water-wasted? I never found an answer, maybe this is a really tough comparison? Too apple vs. orange? (Edited for spelling)

hn_user2 3y ago
Especially if my clean plastics will get mixed in with a bunch of dirty plastics and then rewashed in with that batch. I don’t know the answer either but would love to find out so I can be a better citizen about it.
abdullahkhalids 3y ago
The CO2 impact of potable residential water in most places is minimal, about 0.22g/liter [1]. [1] https://www.danfoss.com/en/about-danfoss/articles/dhs/the-carbon-footprint-of-potable-water/ https://www.danfoss.com/en/about-danfoss/articles/dhs/the-ca...
- j-bos 3y ago
  If CO2 is the concern, wouldn't sending that plastic (carbon) to a landfill (sequestering) be even better?
  - ZeroGravitas 3y ago
    No, basically all Lifetime Cost Analysis of plastic recycling suggest it saves carbon/GHG to recycle. (And further that incinerating it with energy recovery is more GHG friendly than landfill) The people who believe otherwise seem to get their information from fossil fuel funded "libertarian" sources, that seem to magically always conclude that selling more fossil fuels is the best possible answer to every question.
kurthr 3y ago
Your yogurt cup is almost always PP (Polyproylene) Type 5 to maintain stiffness at large size. In that case the answer is throw it in the garbage, they're going to burn it or send it to China/Africa anyway. The one that blows my mind is washing aluminum cans (or steel). How do you think they're going to get the plastic coating off the cans and remelt it? I mean don't recycle a full can, but they have washers for recycled materials too.
- tivert 3y ago
  > The one that blows my mind is washing aluminum cans (or steel). How do you think they're going to get the plastic coating off the cans and remelt it? > I mean don't recycle a full can, but they have washers for recycled materials too. I'm sure they have washers, too, but how well will they work for sticky, dried on stuff? Also washing helps prevent the bin from getting smelly.
  - was_a_dev 3y ago
    It all ends up as slag when smelted
Sankozi 3y ago
You should never wash any trash. Either it is recycled properly and it is washed in highly efficient manner or it isn't and washing doesn't matter. Looking at it from the other perspective - the trash is rarely worth even the few seconds of the time you spend washing it.

by mngnt 3y ago

hn_user2 3y ago

Especially if my clean plastics will get mixed in with a bunch of dirty plastics and then rewashed in with that batch. I don’t know the answer either but would love to find out so I can be a better citizen about it.

abdullahkhalids 3y ago

The CO2 impact of potable residential water in most places is minimal, about 0.22g/liter [1]. [1] https://www.danfoss.com/en/about-danfoss/articles/dhs/the-carbon-footprint-of-potable-water/ https://www.danfoss.com/en/about-danfoss/articles/dhs/the-ca...

j-bos 3y ago
If CO2 is the concern, wouldn't sending that plastic (carbon) to a landfill (sequestering) be even better?
- ZeroGravitas 3y ago
  No, basically all Lifetime Cost Analysis of plastic recycling suggest it saves carbon/GHG to recycle. (And further that incinerating it with energy recovery is more GHG friendly than landfill) The people who believe otherwise seem to get their information from fossil fuel funded "libertarian" sources, that seem to magically always conclude that selling more fossil fuels is the best possible answer to every question.

kurthr 3y ago

Your yogurt cup is almost always PP (Polyproylene) Type 5 to maintain stiffness at large size. In that case the answer is throw it in the garbage, they're going to burn it or send it to China/Africa anyway. The one that blows my mind is washing aluminum cans (or steel). How do you think they're going to get the plastic coating off the cans and remelt it? I mean don't recycle a full can, but they have washers for recycled materials too.

tivert 3y ago
> The one that blows my mind is washing aluminum cans (or steel). How do you think they're going to get the plastic coating off the cans and remelt it? > I mean don't recycle a full can, but they have washers for recycled materials too. I'm sure they have washers, too, but how well will they work for sticky, dried on stuff? Also washing helps prevent the bin from getting smelly.
- was_a_dev 3y ago
  It all ends up as slag when smelted

Sankozi 3y ago

You should never wash any trash. Either it is recycled properly and it is washed in highly efficient manner or it isn't and washing doesn't matter. Looking at it from the other perspective - the trash is rarely worth even the few seconds of the time you spend washing it.