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Re:University of Alabama Engineer Pioneers New Process for R... by mkoubaa on Saturday January 04, 2025 @11:39PM (#42599815)
I'd be happy if we just put recyclable materials in their own corner of the landfills marked "TODO"
Re:University of Alabama Engineer Pioneers New Process for R... by userbinator on Sunday January 05, 2025 @12:08AM (#42599915)
Everything is recyclable.

What do you think oil and coal come from...?

Re:University of Alabama Engineer Pioneers New Process for R... by metalman on Sunday January 05, 2025 @04:51AM (#42600760)
not bad, not bad at all, except for the whoh!man! that a bit too real, but it is actualy implimentable on a very short time frame and exceptionaly low budget, so I will be including that (your?) idea, into my own ,not infrequent rants
Re:University of Alabama Engineer Pioneers New Process for R... by bastawhiz on Sunday January 05, 2025 @09:37AM (#42602012)
Unfortunately it seems that in many places, that's pretty much what they're doing instead of doing any actual recycling. If you collect more than you're capable of processing, you inevitably just end up with an ever growing TO-DO pile.

The sad thing is, if you pretend to recycle instead of actually recycling, you're just a landfill operator. And landfills can be run profitably.

Re:University of Alabama Engineer Pioneers New Process for R... by AtlasBarfed on Sunday January 05, 2025 @02:10PM (#42604129)
Isn't the entire landfill really a huge TODO anyway?

"We'll let some magic future AI figure this out. Meanwhile, we'll put dirt on it"

Re:University of Alabama Engineer Pioneers New Process for R... by mkoubaa on Sunday January 05, 2025 @02:20PM (#42604216)
Not all TODOs are created equal. Example:

//TODO: Collisions are too common here. Implement a custom hashing function to improve the performance of this algorithm

//TODO: This class is 60k lines and has no tests. Replace it

Re:University of Alabama Engineer Pioneers New Process for R... by giarc on Sunday January 05, 2025 @12:01PM (#42603112)
In my city, there is a GIANT pile of glass sitting on a slab near a landfill. The commodity price of glass is so low it's not worth selling, so they just store it in hopes of maybe one day selling it. I doubt that will happen and I suspect it's just been put into the landfill by now.
Re:University of Alabama Engineer Pioneers New Process for R... by adrianN on Sunday January 05, 2025 @12:54PM (#42603517)
Glass recycling generally makes little sense because the raw materials are abundant and recycling glass takes a lot of energy.
Re:University of Alabama Engineer Pioneers New Process for R... by unwind on Sunday January 05, 2025 @01:58PM (#42604040)
In Sweden, where the main glass recycler claims we're world-leading glass recyclers, the claim is that recycling saves 20% of the energy. That is not nothing ...
Re:University of Alabama Engineer Pioneers New Process for R... by adrianN on Sunday January 05, 2025 @02:58PM (#42604531)
20% Energy savings probably have a hard time paying for the wages and the infrastructure needed.
Re:University of Alabama Engineer Pioneers New Process for R... by mkoubaa on Sunday January 05, 2025 @02:21PM (#42604225)
If you price externalities it can make more sense
Re:University of Alabama Engineer Pioneers New Process for R... by BizarroLand on Tuesday January 07, 2025 @06:19PM (#42628928)
Alabama had a glass recycling option and people were proud of it.

Turns out they were just burning the glass.

https://www.al.com/breaking/2010/05/huntsville_residents_you...

Re:University of Alabama Engineer Pioneers New Process for R... by crawftv on Sunday January 05, 2025 @01:01PM (#42603575)
The glass recycling in my area is hauling my glass to a container and it gets turned into fiberglass.