3 ms·

Consumers can't make decisions? Somehow the consumers of lead acid batteries recycle 99% of them.

ToucanLoucan 3y ago
Yes, because they're incentivized to (or depending how you look at it, penalized if they don't) by way of the core charge you pay that is refunded when you return the old battery. It seems we have a solution to this problem but we're not using it. Imagine if you had to pay a "plastics charge" when you bought a 6-pack of soda, that would be refunded upon turning in the bottles? I have to figure that would prompt a lot more recycling. However even beyond that, the cost to recycle plastic is also higher than that of just producing virgin plastic, partially because of the substantial subsidies given to the oil and gas industry. As such, it's pretty understandable why even the best recycling outfits in the United States don't see a ton of business, when recycle-ready plastic is more expensive than virgin plastic and takes more energy and effort to convert into new plastic products[1], you'd be stupid to do that. Hence we really only see it in niche industries where they can market their products as being "made from recycled bottles" or something and charge higher prices to Eco-conscious consumers. And to be clear, that's a good thing, unambiguously. But instead of relying on people who are willing to spend more to do a good thing, it seems to be to be far more effective to for starters, mandate businesses that make plastic products to at the very least, pay what oil is actually worth, especially given that we still rely on it for energy for tons of applications to which EV alternatives aren't yet ready for. 1: This is of course presuming your plastic product can be made from recycled plastic at all which is not a given. Many "recyclable" plastics cannot be used to make certain plastic products. Still other plastics are indeed single use unless your secondary use is MUCH DIFFERENT to the first, in which case even calling it recyclable seems dubious at best. Car bodies can technically be recycled to produce coral reefs, but few people would call that recycling. And hell, we still have areas of the country where recycling service isn't even a given. I have a friend in Indiana who doesn't recycle because the city he lives in charges a non-insubstantial fee for recycling pickup, and while he would like to, he just can't afford it. So he drops his bottles and things in public recycling bins when able, but the majority of his goes in the trash because the city doesn't provide the service with regular garbage pickup.
jonhohle 3y ago
I put a plastic container into the recycling bin. The recycling truck picks it up, takes it to the recycling facility, who sorts it into waste plastic that they can’t process. Previous purchasers of waste plastic no longer purchase it, because it is not economically viable to recycle. The recycling facility puts it on another truck which goes to the landfill. Instead of telling us this, however, the city pretends they still recycle all the plastics they accept. It would be more environmentally friendly to put the junk plastic in the trash to begin with to avoid the extra trip and sorting. If we knew what plastics couldn’t be processed, we could avoid buying them as well (as much as you can avoid buying blister wrapped products).

Yes, because they're incentivized to (or depending how you look at it, penalized if they don't) by way of the core charge you pay that is refunded when you return the old battery. It seems we have a solution to this problem but we're not using it. Imagine if you had to pay a "plastics charge" when you bought a 6-pack of soda, that would be refunded upon turning in the bottles? I have to figure that would prompt a lot more recycling. However even beyond that, the cost to recycle plastic is also higher than that of just producing virgin plastic, partially because of the substantial subsidies given to the oil and gas industry. As such, it's pretty understandable why even the best recycling outfits in the United States don't see a ton of business, when recycle-ready plastic is more expensive than virgin plastic and takes more energy and effort to convert into new plastic products[1], you'd be stupid to do that. Hence we really only see it in niche industries where they can market their products as being "made from recycled bottles" or something and charge higher prices to Eco-conscious consumers. And to be clear, that's a good thing, unambiguously. But instead of relying on people who are willing to spend more to do a good thing, it seems to be to be far more effective to for starters, mandate businesses that make plastic products to at the very least, pay what oil is actually worth, especially given that we still rely on it for energy for tons of applications to which EV alternatives aren't yet ready for. 1: This is of course presuming your plastic product can be made from recycled plastic at all which is not a given. Many "recyclable" plastics cannot be used to make certain plastic products. Still other plastics are indeed single use unless your secondary use is MUCH DIFFERENT to the first, in which case even calling it recyclable seems dubious at best. Car bodies can technically be recycled to produce coral reefs, but few people would call that recycling. And hell, we still have areas of the country where recycling service isn't even a given. I have a friend in Indiana who doesn't recycle because the city he lives in charges a non-insubstantial fee for recycling pickup, and while he would like to, he just can't afford it. So he drops his bottles and things in public recycling bins when able, but the majority of his goes in the trash because the city doesn't provide the service with regular garbage pickup.

jonhohle 3y ago

I put a plastic container into the recycling bin. The recycling truck picks it up, takes it to the recycling facility, who sorts it into waste plastic that they can’t process. Previous purchasers of waste plastic no longer purchase it, because it is not economically viable to recycle. The recycling facility puts it on another truck which goes to the landfill. Instead of telling us this, however, the city pretends they still recycle all the plastics they accept. It would be more environmentally friendly to put the junk plastic in the trash to begin with to avoid the extra trip and sorting. If we knew what plastics couldn’t be processed, we could avoid buying them as well (as much as you can avoid buying blister wrapped products).