Plastic Recycling is Broken. So Why Does Big Plastic Want $1 Billion to Fix It'

This is the state of capitalism now? We let them break their own supply chain, then pay them to help them fix it?

Why not just legislate that plastic must be recyclable before it's allowed in the market (as packaging)?

Yeah, now we can't use our own re-usable bags at the supermarket. Store provided plastic bags only.

Yeah, now we can't use our own re-usable bags at the supermarket. Store provided plastic bags only.

I still do. I'm not good at following instructions.

Plus, mine are cotton, so they don't usually hassle me.

It's a requirement in BC:

https://www.rcbc.ca/recycling-programs/epr

But each region enforces their own rules...

Why not bring back easily recyclable paper bags and glass bottles and stop fucking around with the drama over plastics?

Glass bottles and jars equal higher fuel costs for trucking due to the increased weight of the glass compared to plastic. And there's a much higher amount of product lost due to breakage during shipping. Plastic was brought in as the standard for valid reasons, even if that choice came with numerous new nightmares of it's own.

Regardless of all that, I'll say what I've been convinced of for a long time now. The only answer to excess plastic pollution is incineration. Recycling is a scam that should have been restricted to metals, electronics, digital storage devices, and paper products only. For plastics it's been an utter disaster that's effectively destroying the world's oceans altogether, in a manner that makes any air pollution from incineration look inconsequential in comparison. Unused, excess, and garbage plastics need to be either landfilled or destroyed by incineration. All the other options for them are bogus.

The cost savings of plastics in the near term are passed to future generations in the long term.

Paper and glass don't fuck up the oceans. This is where my practical environmentalism kicks in.

I'll pay more now so we have measurably cleaner oceans.

Glass isn't that easy to recycle. It is easy to re-use though, as it doesn't have to be sorted by colour. Many closets in my home are stacked high with canning jars.

Plastic can be easily re-cycled if they leave certain chemicals out of it that give it flexibility or heat resistance.

But I do agree, short term pain for long term gain.

You're starting to sound like some sort of environmentalist hippie Bart, guess all this chatting with us Canuckistanians is rubbing off on you!

Seriously though, I heartily agree, glass and paper can be re-used and/or recycled easier than plastic can, even if it means a bit more energy use. and because recycling it doesn't have tp be set to a schedule, you can use renewable energy like biomass, wind, or solar to do it.

Plus, unlike plastic which just chokes sea life, glass dropped in the ocean (accidently or on purpose) can eventually become beautiful sea glass.

You're starting to sound like some sort of environmentalist hippie Bart, guess all this chatting with us Canuckistanians is rubbing off on you!

Seriously though, I heartily agree, glass and paper can be re-used and/or recycled easier than plastic can, even if it means a bit more energy use. and because recycling it doesn't have tp be set to a schedule, you can use renewable energy like biomass, wind, or solar to do it.

Plus, unlike plastic which just chokes sea life, glass dropped in the ocean (accidently or on purpose) can eventually become beautiful sea glass.



Ask Dr. Caleb, I've always been this way. I like clean air and clean water and have no objection to rational measures which improve quality of life for everyone. Going to paper and (per Dr. C) glass containers makes a shit load of sense plus like you point out wasted glass doesn't detract from the environment and in some cases it's pretty!

^^ Bart has been the model of why you don't pigeon hole people based on a couple comments.

And I have no objection to recyclable plastic, just that most of the plastic I see on store shelves can't be recycled - by design. The plastic pouches that seem to contain everything from soup to pet food, anything black, anything that is coated with silver for heat resistance - all of those are not recyclable.

Clear plastic, like bread and pastries come in - those should be the standard.

^^^