3 ms·

yet another "crazy uncle conspiracy theory" proves out, another popular gospel shown false. many plastics are good fuel; but it's been difficult to say so for

yet another "crazy uncle conspiracy theory" proves out, another popular gospel shown false. many plastics are good fuel; but it's been difficult to say so for years because the "science was settled" that recycling was The Way.

bell-cot 3y ago
"Recycling" plastics, or at least pretending to, maximizes the feel-good. And when it comes to recycling, marketing, and consumer behavior - for the 99%, feel-good is by far the most important metric.
- blueflow 3y ago
  This is some dystopian shit.
  - bell-cot 3y ago
    Yeah..."dystopian sh*t" is an all-too-accurate description of our world.
sosodev 3y ago
Hasn't there been critical discussion of the efficacy of single source recycling for a long time?
- yashap 3y ago
  By “single source” do you mean “single stream”? With “single stream recycling” meaning consumers put all recyclable products into a single bin, vs. multi stream, where consumers are expected to separate recycled goods into multiple categories. If so, then yeah, multi stream is generally considered more efficient. Obviously some central sorting/filtering is still needed, but much less. As for recycling in general, it’s considered a decent win for plenty of materials. Making cans from recycled aluminum takes only a tiny fraction of the energy of producing new aluminum cans, paper recycling does reduce the need for forestry, most recycling reduces the need for landfills, etc. It’s mostly plastic recycling that is useless, and just there to make ppl feel better about their plastic consumption.
  - deleted 3y ago
    [deleted]
0xfeba 3y ago
It wasn't so much "science was settled" as much as the plastic industry lobbying to improve their image and put the burden on consumers to "recycle" plastics, despite knowing it wasn't going to help things. And unlike conspiracy theories -- we have evidence. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/feb/15/recycling-plastics-producers-report https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/feb/15/recycling-pl...

bell-cot 3y ago

"Recycling" plastics, or at least pretending to, maximizes the feel-good. And when it comes to recycling, marketing, and consumer behavior - for the 99%, feel-good is by far the most important metric.

blueflow 3y ago
This is some dystopian shit.
- bell-cot 3y ago
  Yeah..."dystopian sh*t" is an all-too-accurate description of our world.

sosodev 3y ago

Hasn't there been critical discussion of the efficacy of single source recycling for a long time?

yashap 3y ago
By “single source” do you mean “single stream”? With “single stream recycling” meaning consumers put all recyclable products into a single bin, vs. multi stream, where consumers are expected to separate recycled goods into multiple categories. If so, then yeah, multi stream is generally considered more efficient. Obviously some central sorting/filtering is still needed, but much less. As for recycling in general, it’s considered a decent win for plenty of materials. Making cans from recycled aluminum takes only a tiny fraction of the energy of producing new aluminum cans, paper recycling does reduce the need for forestry, most recycling reduces the need for landfills, etc. It’s mostly plastic recycling that is useless, and just there to make ppl feel better about their plastic consumption.
- deleted 3y ago
  [deleted]

0xfeba 3y ago

It wasn't so much "science was settled" as much as the plastic industry lobbying to improve their image and put the burden on consumers to "recycle" plastics, despite knowing it wasn't going to help things. And unlike conspiracy theories -- we have evidence. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/feb/15/recycling-plastics-producers-report https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/feb/15/recycling-pl...