Just 10% of U.S. plastic gets recycled. A new kind of plastic could change that

Re:Just 10% of U.S. plastic gets recycled. A new kind of pla... by smackay on Tuesday April 23, 2019 @10:29AM (#19728933)

Anecdata: I rarely counter Coca Cola bottles on the few times during August when I clean a small section of beach here in Portugal. What does occur in large quantities are the plastic stems of cotton buds (which I think are banned in the USA) and liquid yogurt bottles. So Nestlé would be a better target - at least in Europe.

Also eat less fish - the seas will be healthier and there will be a lot fewer nets, ropes, hooks and floats washing up and fewer birds tangled up in them too.

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Re:Just 10% of U.S. plastic gets recycled. A new kind of pla... by goda90 on Tuesday April 23, 2019 @10:35AM (#19729013)

I think most cotton buds(which we call cotton swabs) in the US use rolled paper for the stem, but I'm not aware of any ban on plastic ones.

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Re:Just 10% of U.S. plastic gets recycled. A new kind of pla... by OrgNet on Tuesday April 23, 2019 @10:40AM (#19729053)

I just looked at two brands that i have around and one has paper stems (Equate) while the other uses plastic tubing (Assured).

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Re:Just 10% of U.S. plastic gets recycled. A new kind of pla... by Thlom on Tuesday April 23, 2019 @10:47AM (#19729133)

There’s huge “ghost nets” lost from fishing vessels floating around the worlds ocean and constantly catching fish.

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Re:Just 10% of U.S. plastic gets recycled. A new kind of pla... by telesilla on Tuesday April 23, 2019 @01:25PM (#19730804)

I've spent time beach cleaning in the Mediterranean and fishing nets are absolutely the worst. Those blue thing plastic threads that disintegrate and get everywhere: the beaches are bleached with it.

I'm not one for sharing Facebook videos but if you want to see impact: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1727552737379394

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