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A comment on Bugs are evolving to eat plastic, study finds. Parent comment

Re:Bugs are evolving to eat plastic, study finds by chaorace on Tuesday May 24, 2022 @03:42PM (#31496666)
It would be great in some ways, but it would also have enormous consequences. There is so much infrastructure that would need to be prematurely replaced -- so many consumer durables which will fail years or even decades ahead of their expected shelf lives.

I wouldn't be surprised at all if we were to start concocting additives with antimicrobial properties, which would probably be even worse for the environment while also preventing the beneficial function of post-use decomposition.

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Re:Bugs are evolving to eat plastic, study finds by ars on Tuesday May 24, 2022 @04:05PM (#31496931)
Most outdoor plastic is PVC which is not susceptible to this.

> with antimicrobial properties

The Chlorine in PVC does that.

In general PVC is used where you want the plastic permanently, and HDPE is used for disposable plastic (and is edible to microbes).

So basically we are fine, and no need to change anything.

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Re:Bugs are evolving to eat plastic, study finds by hosh on Tuesday May 24, 2022 @04:03PM (#31496907)
Or perhaps, our way of life changes and we live without a durable, non-biodegradable, lightweight, apparently-cheap material that enables a disposable, consumerist lifestyle.
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Re:Bugs are evolving to eat plastic, study finds by MichaelZuo on Wednesday May 25, 2022 @10:36AM (#31505167)
You want to reduce the living standards of most of the human population?
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