Plastic recycling remains a 'myth': Greenpeace study

Re:Plastic recycling remains a 'myth': Greenpeace study by Workaccount2 on Monday October 24, 2022 @10:17AM (#33316925)

Here in NJ we have a pretty strict plastic bag ban.

It's all gone pretty smooth except for grocery delivery services. Instead of using one time use thin plastic bags, they now have to use reusable bags. That they never reuse. So places like our company that get office foodstuffs delivered weekly, end up throwing away stacks of thick plastic bags.

Apparently though the legislature is working on a fix for this.

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Re:Plastic recycling remains a 'myth': Greenpeace study by _glass on Monday October 24, 2022 @10:47AM (#33317373)

In Germany we switched to paper bags. And I really use tote bags, as most people I see in the shops. But why not just use paper bags?

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Re:Plastic recycling remains a 'myth': Greenpeace study by zdragnar on Monday October 24, 2022 @11:11AM (#33317750)

Paper bags available around here don't always have handles. As a result, you either can't carry as many (one hand holds a bag from the bottom) or you crumple or tear the bag at the top accidentally. Also, they tend to not hold as much weight as plastic bags.

What's worse is that they're harder to reuse. Since they aren't resistant to water, there are fewer other uses that they are good for.

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Re:Plastic recycling remains a 'myth': Greenpeace study by thenewthotness on Monday October 24, 2022 @01:51PM (#33319967)

Paper manufacturing and recycling isn’t carbon neutral either

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Re:Plastic recycling remains a 'myth': Greenpeace study by brewdad on Monday October 24, 2022 @02:15PM (#33320271)

My paper bags get reused primarily as a place to keep my cans and bottles (we have a refundable deposit where I live) until I have time to take them to the redemption center or give them to one of the local non-profits that collects them. I've found the paper bags allow any residue to evaporate rather than leaving the cans a sticky and, eventually, moldy mess like plastic bags do.

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Re:Plastic recycling remains a 'myth': Greenpeace study by jhasse on Monday October 24, 2022 @11:08AM (#33317709)

rain

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Re:Plastic recycling remains a 'myth': Greenpeace study by _glass on Monday October 24, 2022 @12:55PM (#33319196)

I am living in rainy Hamburg, and it's okay, right?

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Re:Plastic recycling remains a 'myth': Greenpeace study by cnasc on Monday October 24, 2022 @04:41PM (#33322422)

New Jersey actually specifically banned paper bags. The only option is reusable plastic bags. I would much prefer paper.

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Re:Plastic recycling remains a 'myth': Greenpeace study by cptskippy on Monday October 24, 2022 @11:32AM (#33318042)

> So places like our company that get office foodstuffs delivered weekly, end up throwing away stacks of thick plastic bags.

Businesses are far and away the biggest offenders when it comes to waste in general and particularly plastic waste. Getting individuals using reusable bags is fine but really doesn't address the biggest offenders.

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Re:Plastic recycling remains a 'myth': Greenpeace study by williamscales on Monday October 24, 2022 @11:48AM (#33318279)

In the delivery-company-on-a-recurring-basis case, they could bring fully re-usable packaging (crates or something I guess) and then just recover it when they come back next week.

When I’ve been in Europe I’ve often seen that there are no bags except for fully re-usable tote bags that you have to pay 1-2€ for. It really only takes one instance of forgetting your own bags to teach the lesson.

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Re:Plastic recycling remains a 'myth': Greenpeace study by philliphaydon on Monday October 24, 2022 @12:53PM (#33319177)

In Singapore it’s delivered in cardboard boxes which they request you give them when they next deliver. Used to give them back each time if they didn’t get damaged or daughter didn’t use it as a car.

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Re:Plastic recycling remains a 'myth': Greenpeace study by valarauko on Monday October 24, 2022 @02:20PM (#33320339)

Same here, but it depends on the delivery service and the store. For example, Aldi puts out used cardboard boxes in which they received produce for delivery services like Instacart to reuse. With warehouse based delivery services like from StopandShop they're using the thick reusable plastic totes. Unfortunately they're so small that you end up getting a dozen of them in a single delivery, and you have no hope of using them all, so they end up getting tossed.

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Re:Plastic recycling remains a 'myth': Greenpeace study by Consultant32452 on Monday October 24, 2022 @01:44PM (#33319864)

I forget the stat but you have to reuse those "reusable" bags like a thousand times before it becomes a net benefit. Even if you do reuse them, you are almost certainly not going to reuse it a thousand times before it wears out or whatever and you dispose of it.

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Re:Plastic recycling remains a 'myth': Greenpeace study by Tagbert on Monday October 24, 2022 @02:04PM (#33320148)

Only in terms of energy. Even then 1000 seems like a suspiciously large amount.

In terms of plastic use the reusable bags are much better. It doesn’t take too many reuses before a reusable bag is a net benefit. Compared to other energy uses the plastic bags are a tiny amount so I don’t worry too much about that.

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Re:Plastic recycling remains a 'myth': Greenpeace study by Consultant32452 on Monday October 24, 2022 @03:42PM (#33321514)

https://www2.mst.dk/Udgiv/publications/2018/02/978-87-93614-...

According to this Danish study a cotton bag has to be reused over 7k times.

Most of the reusable bags in grocery stores are polypropylene, and those you only have to reuse 37 times. So that is better.

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