Information Is BeautifulNov 29, 2024
Guess what % of plastics have been #recycled? No prizes :(
Show threadSerge 🔻Nov 30, 2024

@infobeautiful Until we (i.e. scientists) can develop plastics that can actually easily and efficiently be recycled, the best solution is to burn as much as possible of that waste stream, and turn it into electricity and heat.

The reason that’s not happening is because oil and gas (and lately solar and wind) are just way too cheap. It’s just not economical. Just like recycling of polymers isn’t.

Show threadesanikerruzegibat
@xerge @infobeautiful Asking from almost complete ignorance: what about dioxines and PFCs? Burning it all to turn it into energy sounds great... but.
Dec 1, 2024 at 6:36pmWeb
Show threadSerge 🔻Dec 2, 2024
@bixardune @infobeautiful for almost all polymers that really isn’t a concern. That only means you can’t indiscriminately throw everything into a furnace. There has to be some sorting, removing things like PVC or PTFE. Luckily they are generally used in specific products. For most commodity polymers (PE, PP, PS, PET, PC), unless they have weird additives used in specific applications, burning should be fine.