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A comment on Recycling was a lie to sell more plastic, recycling industry veteran says. Parent comment

Re:Recycling was a lie to sell more plastic, recycling indus... by PaulKeeble on Thursday October 08, 2020 @12:29AM (#24715802)
It is going to break down into small microplastics and potentially leak out into the water supply and then the wider food chain. What happened in the oceans is mostly about dumped fishing gear and all the "ask no questions recycling" sent to asia to be processed finding its way into the oceans rather than the landfilled material but it is still breaking down in a similar way and needs to be dealt with properly
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Re:Recycling was a lie to sell more plastic, recycling indus... by sergeykish on Thursday October 08, 2020 @01:49AM (#24716243)
> direct release of microplastics from road runoff during rain and storm events equates to 44% of global release of microplastics into our oceans [1].

> Car tires and synthetic clothing are major sources of plastic pollution [2].

Check out nice infographics [3]

[1] https://www.celticwater.co.uk/bloghow-does-plastic-get-into-...

[2] https://resourcelab.dk/plastics/pollution/oceans/2018/10/11/...

[3] https://www.google.com/search?q=microplastics+source&tbm=isc...

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Re:Recycling was a lie to sell more plastic, recycling indus... by FooHentai on Thursday October 08, 2020 @02:19AM (#24716401)
There are ways to re-sequester plastic in landfills that won't lead to that - Generally even poorly managed landfull will be a better option than the same amount of plastic sitting around in the general environment breaking down rapidly in the presence of UV and heat, not to mention the damage it does to wildlife.

Landfill isn't a perfect solution for plastic waste, especially if it isn't well managed. But it is, on the balance of factors, one of the better options available to us currently.

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Re:Recycling was a lie to sell more plastic, recycling indus... by mytailorisrich on Thursday October 08, 2020 @08:09AM (#24718346)
I believe that modern landfills are not permitted to have run-offs (i think the term is 'leachate') into the environment. There is a water-tight lining between the ground and the actual landfill.

So I suspect that in practice plastics sent to landfills are effectively sealed from the environment, at least in most Western countries.

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Re:Recycling was a lie to sell more plastic, recycling indus... by xadhominemx on Thursday October 08, 2020 @09:24AM (#24718871)
If a landfill is leaking into the water supply, micro plastic particles are the very least of your concerns.
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