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A comment on Stomach of Dead Whale Contained 'Nothing but Nonstop Plastic'. Parent comment

Re:Stomach of Dead Whale Contained 'Nothing but Nonstop Plas... by nhebb on Tuesday March 19, 2019 @02:52AM (#19428642)
Considering the current state of recycling, it may be better to just throw our plastics away instead of putting them in recycling bins. With China turning away our recycling, some cities have started burning them (according to recent headlines - I don't have a source). I would think that would be worse for our environment that putting them in landfills.

According to the study by the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research [1], 90% of ocean waste comes from 10 rivers - 8 in Asia and 2 in Africa. I'm not sure if what we do in the U.S. and Europe will have much impact on the oceans.

[1] https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2018/06/90-of-plastic-polluti...

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Re:Stomach of Dead Whale Contained 'Nothing but Nonstop Plas... by gdfasfklshg4 on Tuesday March 19, 2019 @03:32AM (#19428800)
I think that how bad burning is depends upon the temperature. The level of control of the temperature and the sortedness of the plastic. Also whether the generated heat is actually used.
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Re:Stomach of Dead Whale Contained 'Nothing but Nonstop Plas... by koheripbal on Tuesday March 19, 2019 @09:37AM (#19430651)
The old strategy of burying garbage is looking better and better. We're literally sequestering CO2 by doing so.
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Re:Stomach of Dead Whale Contained 'Nothing but Nonstop Plas... by Dirlewanger on Tuesday March 19, 2019 @12:09PM (#19432166)
And the problem with this is that things like batteries and other similar chemicals eventually seep into groundwater...
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Re:Stomach of Dead Whale Contained 'Nothing but Nonstop Plas... by the6threplicant on Tuesday March 19, 2019 @03:32AM (#19428804)
> I'm not sure if what we do in the U.S. and Europe will have much impact

It's not like all of that plastic is just domestic consumption. Right? We just exported our negative externalities. We don't really have a moral high-ground here. Even if you are a Jedi master.

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