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This is awesome but given all the recent talk about microplastics I can't help but think the most environmentally conscious way to employ this plastic is for po
by uoaei 3y ago
This is awesome but given all the recent talk about microplastics I can't help but think the most environmentally conscious way to employ this plastic is for power generation via incineration.
- toss1 3y agoYes, but this does make a product that is genuinely useful potentially for years, getting away from the single-use scourge, and can still generate power by incineration at EOL.
- duncan_idaho 3y agoReduce, REUSE, Recycle
- rainbowzootsuit 3y agoI don't have an authoritative answer or enough information to form a complete opinion, but getting BTU/h or kW (depending on if your country went to the Moon) out of the petroleum byproduct may be a better way to reuse than the green wash of the fantasy of recycled plastic. The mining/drilling energy overhead is already embodied in the material, so it may be better not to waste that by burying it instead of getting some useful energy out. The plastic container diverted for the bicycle pannier market isn't likely going to do anything to dent the flood of plastic waste.
- nayuki 3y agoBTU/h and kW are measures of power, or the rate at which energy is delivered. BTU and kJ are units of energy.
- rainbowzootsuit 3y agoPower plants are rated in power so I chose that, but maybe energy content is better.
- rtkwe 3y agoThis doesn't need to solve the issue of plastic to be a good way of diverting some away from landfill or reusing them. It's a type of reply/thinking I see on HN a lot, along the lines of "well this doesn't solve the entire issue", incremental progress and partial solutions are good, trying to come up with the uber solution to solve the entirety of the climate and waste issues just leads to analysis paralysis and solutions too large to effectively implement.
- rainbowzootsuit 3y agoI didn't mean to dismiss the reuse aspect of the panniers, and I may have misunderstood the intent of "reduce, REUSE, recycle" higher comment but I interpreted it to be saying that burning the plastic wasn't a reuse. My assertion is that burning it is also a form of reuse and possibly better than putting the balance, after containers and so forth that can be readily used, into a recycling system that significantly ends up in a landfill. For example, my municipality only actually accepts 1 and 2 plastic in a recycling bin, but if it was being used for power generation maybe all of the numbers could be in there excessive 1&2 and all of the 3-7 go to the power plant? I'm not sure. Right now if 3-7 are in there they just have to be landfilled.
- robotresearcher 3y agoThe person doing this needs a bicycle pannier. If you account for the pannier that did not get made from scratch, surely reusing these cans/buckets has to be a win.
- uoaei 3y agoTrue, I just figured a move back toward natural biodegradable materials (canvas, wax) was going to be better overall but with the other comments (LDPE facts especially) I am more comfortable with this out in the world.
- chubbnix 3y agoIt would probably be better to incinerate the waste plastic after a chance at reuse. LDPE bottles wont be releasing much aside from that cut across the top to form the lid if not cut with a hot knife. Any reuse could prevent someone from buying a bag that most likely would be made from polyester that sheds incredible amounts of microplastics. Reduce, Reuse and finally Recycle. I am much more concerned about all the rubber particles on the roadways from tires, especially with the new Japanese research that suggests the microplastics in clouds are a rubber product.
- NegativeLatency 3y agoIf you compare this to a car wearing through tires it's still much better, you're not actively abrading the plastic containers, they'll last for years.
- fsckboy 3y ago>employ this plastic is for power generation via incineration if we're concerned with trying to figure out ways to do efficient carbon capture, why is it a good idea to do carbon release?
- getwiththeprog 3y agoNice thought, but just as microplastics leech slowly, incineration spreads into the air very quickly. And no, the filters do not work.