Canada aims to ban single-use plastics by 2021

Re:Canada aims to ban single-use plastics by 2021 by catalogia on Sunday July 12, 2020 @04:29PM (#23814497)

> 2) Landfills are on scarce land which will run out oneday, making waste disposal more expensive.

Case 2 is an interesting case, it's a startlingly widespread fear yet seems ridiculous when you think about it for more than a few seconds. Slate Star Codex concluded it's alarmism sparked in the 80s by the media's coverage of the Mobro 4000 trash barge.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobro_4000

Point 5 ("5. More And More Trash Piling Up Until The Whole World Is Just A Giant Mountain Of Trash"): https://web.archive.org/web/20190102054648/https://slatestar...

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Re:Canada aims to ban single-use plastics by 2021 by lopmotr on Sunday July 12, 2020 @09:42PM (#23816373)

Oh, I've never heard of drowning in rubbish! With 5) I'm referring to geological effects causing landfill land to collapse and get washed away. That happened recently in New Zealand and a river ended up full of rubbish from a disused landfill.

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Re:Canada aims to ban single-use plastics by 2021 by catalogia on Monday July 13, 2020 @12:59AM (#23817324)

Sorry, I mean Slate Star Codex's point 5 addresses your point 2. I communicated that poorly.

Incidentally a nice (rather amusing) example from pop culture of the "landfills are filling up and we'll soon drown in trash" meme is Futurama episode 'A Big Piece of Garbage'* (S01E08) It's essentially a parody of that NYC trash barge incident and the movie Armageddon.

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Re:Canada aims to ban single-use plastics by 2021 by lopmotr on Sunday July 12, 2020 @04:45PM (#23814600)

Which part of your point 5 link should I be looking at? Doesn't seem to be related.

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