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Not sure what's up with all the "plastics aren't recyclable" posts in this thread. Recycling plants have been ramping up here in .au for a while and I'm pretty

Not sure what's up with all the "plastics aren't recyclable" posts in this thread. Recycling plants have been ramping up here in .au for a while and I'm pretty sure we're lagging way behind the rest of the world: https://circularplasticsaustralia.com/ https://circularplasticsaustralia.com/

lm28469 2y ago
It's recyclable in very limited ways. Most plastics can't be recycled and reused for the same purpose it was initially intended, it degrades every time it's recycled which means you're just delaying the inevitable It's a miracle solution on paper but when you dig into it it just doesn't work, a bit like electric cars
ZeroGravitas 2y ago
Recycling almost always involves regulation. The people who don't like regulation are particularly annoyed by popular regulations like recycling. So there's been a decades long propaganda campaign against recycling from people connected to libertarianism and funded by fossil fuel producers (the main input source for plastic currently). A few years back they switched from taking money from fossil fuels to publicly say recycling doesn't work (falling back to plastic recycling doesn't work when challenged on the absurdity of that broad statement) to saying that fossil fuels pushed recycling while secretly claiming it wouldn't work and that's why we should not recycle. If we stopped using plastic entirely then that would be bad for fossil fuels, but that's not going to happen in most cases, so plastic without recycling is best for fossil fuels. Notably, when any kind of plastic ban seems likely to be implemented say on single use items, the libertarians that have fought recycling for decades suddenly start claiming it works. https://reason.com/2022/05/31/environmentalists-ban-single-use-plastics/ https://reason.com/2022/05/31/environmentalists-ban-single-u... "These Environmentalists Want To Ban Single-Use Plastics Because Recycling Them 'Will Never Work' And yet infinitely recyclable plastics are on the horizon.” This propaganda worked particularly well in the US and people in the US are only vaguely aware that other countries exist, and wild tales of them having better recycling, healthcare, EVs or gun policy are obviously just myths as the US is the best of all possible worlds.
- Viliam1234 2y ago
  Most people's opinions are better evidence of what they want to be true, instead of what actually is true.

lm28469 2y ago

It's recyclable in very limited ways. Most plastics can't be recycled and reused for the same purpose it was initially intended, it degrades every time it's recycled which means you're just delaying the inevitable It's a miracle solution on paper but when you dig into it it just doesn't work, a bit like electric cars

ZeroGravitas 2y ago

Recycling almost always involves regulation. The people who don't like regulation are particularly annoyed by popular regulations like recycling. So there's been a decades long propaganda campaign against recycling from people connected to libertarianism and funded by fossil fuel producers (the main input source for plastic currently). A few years back they switched from taking money from fossil fuels to publicly say recycling doesn't work (falling back to plastic recycling doesn't work when challenged on the absurdity of that broad statement) to saying that fossil fuels pushed recycling while secretly claiming it wouldn't work and that's why we should not recycle. If we stopped using plastic entirely then that would be bad for fossil fuels, but that's not going to happen in most cases, so plastic without recycling is best for fossil fuels. Notably, when any kind of plastic ban seems likely to be implemented say on single use items, the libertarians that have fought recycling for decades suddenly start claiming it works. https://reason.com/2022/05/31/environmentalists-ban-single-use-plastics/ https://reason.com/2022/05/31/environmentalists-ban-single-u... "These Environmentalists Want To Ban Single-Use Plastics Because Recycling Them 'Will Never Work' And yet infinitely recyclable plastics are on the horizon.” This propaganda worked particularly well in the US and people in the US are only vaguely aware that other countries exist, and wild tales of them having better recycling, healthcare, EVs or gun policy are obviously just myths as the US is the best of all possible worlds.

Viliam1234 2y ago
Most people's opinions are better evidence of what they want to be true, instead of what actually is true.