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My impression is that plastic bags do not last that long. I have found old (perhaps 20 years old) plastic bags in sunless lofts, and others that had been burie
by verisimi 2y ago
My impression is that plastic bags do not last that long. I have found old (perhaps 20 years old) plastic bags in sunless lofts, and others that had been buried (ie varied conditions) and both were very badly degraded. I cannot imagine that these things will last billions of years.
- svilen_dobrev 2y agoMechanically, most plastics are not that durable. Chemically though - once into microscopic sizes.. close to eternal
- userbinator 2y agoSome were manufactured to be "oxo-degradable" with specific additives. I suspect that's what you've found. I have some plastic bags which are definitely at least 30 years old and they're still like new. Pure polyethylene is very inert and can last many decades. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Plastic_(LDPE)_bowl,_by_GEECO,_Made_in_England,_c1950.jpg https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Plastic_(LDPE)_bowl,_by_G...
- nativeit 2y agoThe future portended here won’t be our leaving mountains of Solo cups and garbage bags, but rather untold generations worth of disrupted hormones, preventable deaths and disease, and ecological destruction on unprecedented scales. Plastic will degrade, but the large chained polymers it’s made of will persist in the environment effectively forever. At least, that’s how I understand this particular apocalyptic scenario.