4 ms·

Probably better to just burn the trash? You get some energy, no (lingering, at least) methane leaks and you can capture and bury the really nasty stuff which is

• mschuster91 3y ago
  And you'll permanently lose whatever compounds are in that garbage by burning it - everything disintegrates into co2, water, nitrous oxide and a few other basic elements. On top of that, burning anything will always result in particulate matter emissions and solid residue, which is highly toxic as it concentrates everything that doesn't burn. Now imagine in 20 years we find some way of cheaply separating plastic polymers into raw precursors, say by designing some bacteria or fungus that selectively targets a specific polymer. Had we just burned all of the old trash, we'd be out of luck - but assuming we find such a process, old landfills just became gold mines.
  • petre 3y ago
    > cheaply separating plastic polymers into raw precursors You do realize that vinyl is far more worse than PVC?
• bradly 3y ago
  When I started woodworking I was surprised to learn that burning wood releases far less carbon than putting it in a landfill.
• Spooky23 3y ago
  The problem is that carbon focus is one dimensional. There are lots of emissions harmful to the environment and human life.