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A comment on Scientists create artificial protein that can degrade microplastics in bottles. Parent comment

Re:Scientists create artificial protein that can degrade mic... by HideousKojima on Monday November 06, 2023 @10:16AM (#38163697)
The reason is simple: despite their many problems, plastics are a modern day miracle material. The alternatives I see proposed may match or beat it on one or two factors, but not everything.

A viable general replacement for plastic needs to beat plastic on price, weight, durability, sanitation, strength, and so much more.

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Re:Scientists create artificial protein that can degrade mic... by convolvatron on Monday November 06, 2023 @11:00AM (#38164304)
or we could be willing to trade off some of these factors in order not to befoul our home
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Re:Scientists create artificial protein that can degrade mic... by blooalien on Monday November 06, 2023 @11:31AM (#38164741)
^^^ So very much this! ^^^ It's a shame I cannot upvote this more than once.
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Re:Scientists create artificial protein that can degrade mic... by bee_rider on Monday November 06, 2023 @12:08PM (#38165307)
It is sort of weird because people around the world are staving, while we have tons of food waste in the west. So there is in some sense a crisis and plastics are a tool that could be used to help solve it.

But we don’t, instead we peel oranges and then sell them in plastic containers at the grocery store.

If we were talking about making hard trade-offs between preservation required to save lives and reducing pollution that would be one thing. Instead we use it to enable greater waste.

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Re:Scientists create artificial protein that can degrade mic... by yakubin on Monday November 06, 2023 @02:45PM (#38167847)
> But we don’t, instead we peel oranges and then sell them in plastic containers at the grocery store.

Someone is selling peeled oranges? O.o

How long until they sell peeled apples?

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Re:Scientists create artificial protein that can degrade mic... by bee_rider on Monday November 06, 2023 @03:29PM (#38168514)
Maybe not anymore, but Wholefoods gave it a try, there was a bit of mockery. In general I think the idea that our food is over-processed and over-packaged is not a new complaint, haha.
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Re:Scientists create artificial protein that can degrade mic... by permo-w on Tuesday November 07, 2023 @03:37PM (#38182466)
in the UK in the "meal deal" section of supermarkets, you can find peeled anything in a little plastic box
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Re:Scientists create artificial protein that can degrade mic... by HideousKojima on Monday November 06, 2023 @12:14PM (#38165382)
Ok, you first. And don't be shocked when people (especially the lower classes) get upset when your efforts to ban plastics lead to meat and produce spoiling much faster and/or costing much more, or lead to shipping costs on common goods increasing significantly, etc.
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Re:Scientists create artificial protein that can degrade mic... by asow92 on Monday November 06, 2023 @12:41PM (#38165824)
Have you seen that there is an allowed amount of plastic mixed into animal feed? https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/dec/15/legal-pl...

This is about more than sanitary wrapping.

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Re:Scientists create artificial protein that can degrade mic... by permo-w on Monday November 06, 2023 @12:26PM (#38165594)
the issue here isn't the wrapping on vital foods. no one is asking for that to be banned. or no one should be anyway. the issue is the wrapping on literally everything else
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Re:Scientists create artificial protein that can degrade mic... by slt2021 on Monday November 06, 2023 @01:11PM (#38166313)
who is going to pay for that?
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