The Delusion of “Advanced” Plastic #Recycling

The #plastics industry has heralded a type of chemical recycling it claims could replace new shopping bags and candy wrappers with old ones — but not much is being recycled at all, and this method won’t curb the crisis.

#News #Pyrolysis #Chemicals #Evironment #Plastic #Pollution #Science

https://www.propublica.org/article/delusion-advanced-chemical-plastic-recycling-pyrolysis

The Delusion of “Advanced” Plastic Recycling

The plastics industry has heralded a type of chemical recycling it claims could replace new shopping bags and candy wrappers with old ones — but not much is being recycled at all, and this method won’t curb the crisis.

ProPublica
@ProPublica
They've been saying this for fifty years and it has not improved yet.
@ProPublica
I think the reason they get to keep saying this is that is never works and then everyone forgets

@RnDanger @ProPublica we REALLY need a way to price in ecological costs.

1 oz new plastic = ¢1 tax

Give the money directly to the EPA.

@PeterBronez @ProPublica
We need to ban most virgin plastic manufacturing and limit it to PET and maybe some specific applications like underground power cables.
@PeterBronez @ProPublica
What i really hate is this thing now where grocery stores are told not to use "single use" plastic bags so now the bags use ten times as much plastic.

@RnDanger @ProPublica interesting. I don’t know much about this, so… questions!

Do you mean the standard reusable bags have high plastic content?

How does the plastic use compare over the bag lifetime? (Even at 10x plastic use you come out ahead if you use it 11+ times)

How do alternative materials compare? I got some heavy duty paper bags from Trader Joe’s but the handles ripped out pretty fast.

Cloth seems under-utilized, any idea why?

@PeterBronez @ProPublica
I'm doing curbside pickup and single use plastic bags are banned here so they give me "reusable" bags that they claim can be used hundreds of times

Except that my only use case is picking up my groceries and they won't take them to use again for that so they all go to the recycle to become fence posts