4 ms·

If you live in a well run democratic society, then your plastic packaging waste has a good chance of being recycled or incenerated with energy recovery: https:

• londons_explore 3y ago
  > incinerated with energy recovery Turns out the amount of energy recovered pays for the whole process.
• layer8 3y ago
  There’s quite a lot of non-packaging plastic being thrown away though.
  • ZeroGravitas 3y ago
    Packaging is a big chunk though (30-50% depending on how you count it) and the obvious place to start. https://ourworldindata.org/plastic-pollution#plastic-waste-by-sector https://ourworldindata.org/plastic-pollution#plastic-waste-b... It's also what most people think of when they hear "plastic recycling", not plastic lawn chairs or deep sea fishing equipment or textiles (though there's programs to reduce impacts of those things too)
• chpatrick 3y ago
  Is putting it in the air better than putting it in the ground?
  • ZeroGravitas 3y ago
    Yes, especially while fossil fuels are being burned on the same energy grid. Over time as more, cheaper renewable energy enters the grid this tilts the balance towards recycling and away from incineration, but it's unlikely that incineration with energy recovery will ever get worse than landfill, which is generally considered lower on the waste hierarchy, and cheap energy lets you invest more in treating the emissions. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waste_hierarchy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waste_hierarchy
    • chpatrick 3y ago
      So the argument is if we need to release X tonnes of CO2 just for energy we might as well get rid of some rubbish while we're at it?
• 1234letshaveatw 3y ago
  lol, comment is so smug and cringeworthy