Plastic problem ?

[asperity]

The problem is that there are many countries in the world where the idea of waste collection doesn't exist, people just throw their garbage into the streets and rivers. But of course the "environmentalists" won't preach their sermons where the problems exist, instead they get on our backs instead.

[Davy51]

I think the problem there Asp is that these people you mentioned can't be charged for their sins whereas us Brits are ideally in the firing line to stump up £millions towards company & government profits & taxes.

[Observer II]

Based on some of the reporting, I get the opinion that it's already too late.  They'e found plastic waste in the Marianas Trench, 7 miles down and as it degrades into fine particles, it's consumed by the bottom feeders and enters the food chain, so something to think on when your next eating fish !   Thought this would be something for the snowflakes to protest about; after all, it's their future that's being stolen, the grumpies won't be around !.  

[P J]

5 hours ago, Observer II said:

it's their future that's being stolen, the grumpies won't be around !.  

So not all bad news then, crack on 😄

[asperity]

For once I agree with you PJ, let de yoof sort it!

[Confused52]

19 hours ago, asperity said:

For once I agree with you PJ, let de yoof sort it!

I haven't seen anything they can sort out yet, still crack on ..  and keep on banging the rocks together guys

[Bill]

I can't see any easy solution to this one other than to keep pushing the subject in the media in the hope that changing people's attitued might bring about change from the suppliers.

I'd hate to think that some form of taxation might be used if only because it's the poorer folk that would be most affected.

As for the unseen micro-plastics, well I see companies removing them from products such as toothpaste and body scrubs but in the longer term, the huge amount of general plastic rubbish that's already out there will eventually break down into micro bits and that may be an even bigger problem if it kills off all the algae.

We're all doooooomed!

Bill
 

[asperity]

We're all doomed anyway so let's party!

[algy]

The most dangerous situation to evolve on this planet was giving Homo Sapiens intelligence more advanced than other species on it (allegedly), we have been destroying the ecology of this planet slowly for probably the last two hundred years the rate of destruction is now accelerating rapidly to such an extent that in my opinion that it is doubtful that if there will be  any living organism remaining in 200 years time, and it is all down to man (and woman's) greed. 

[asperity]

2 hours ago, algy said:

The most dangerous situation to evolve on this planet was giving Homo Sapiens intelligence more advanced than other species on it (allegedly), we have been destroying the ecology of this planet slowly for probably the last two hundred years the rate of destruction is now accelerating rapidly to such an extent that in my opinion that it is doubtful that if there will be  any living organism remaining in 200 years time, and it is all down to man (and woman's) greed. 

Wow! Aren't you the cheerful one on a Saturday morning Algy . I think you've been watching too much BBC and David Attenborough .

[Davy51]

How true Algy, the plastics & petrochemical industry has been around  for barely a hundred years & is quickly destroying an eco system that would have survived probably for eternity  if only the human race had not evolved. I wonder at times if humans were ever meant to happen within nature or is our existence a tragic accident.

[algy]

The first recorded event of mass pollution of the earth's atmosphere were the Spanish when they conquered South America in the 16th century they took over the Incas’ mines and soon began to pump clouds of lead dust over the Andes. The silver the conquistadors sent back home made them wealthy. It also made them the world’s first industrial-scale toxic metal air polluters – perhaps causing us to rethink the timing of the moment when humans truly began to change the environment. (Extract from 'The World Economic Forum').

[Bill]

Looking slightly more on the bright side, I'm sure there will be an answer to this problem but it'll probably get a whole lot worse before any serious efforts get made to solve it.

The problem seems to be that we've become totally reliant on plastic packaging but there dosn't seem to be any altenative material (as yet) that will do the same job. The current stuff is cheap as chips to produce and widley accepted by the public so the suppliers wont want to change this winning formula. Keep up the media barage though and the public will start demanding change, then the first producers of an enviromentally friendly plastic alternative could clean up.

In the shorter term, I'd like to see some form of pressure put onto suppliers of products where the plastic packaging is totally unnecessary or purely for decorative purposes. I think we've all seen the can opener that comes in an impossible to open plastic cover where you need a pair of scissors to get in there. Wait, the scissors are packed the same way. Stuff like this ought to be banned, taxed or whatever.

Enough ranting for now

Bill
 

[Bill]

Just been doing a bit of reading up on the developments within the plastics industry and it seems that a fair bit of what we now see as ordinary plastic may actually be biodegradable rather than recyclable.

Fantastic I thought but it seems because both compostable and recyclable look identical, they end up in the same recycling bin. This mixing often means that they can't be recycled and all end up going into landfill which sort of defeats the object of creating a compostable plastic.

Food for thought.

Bill
 

[Evil Sid]

somebody mentioned the other day that they are thinking of giving a refund on plastic bottles returned and recycled. Like they used to do years ago with your beer bottles.

have also seen an article where a train station or bus station was giving a ticket for recycling plastic bottles. so many bottles per ticket.

there is also a company that use recycled ground up plastic to make roads. (McRebur)

[Bill]

On the news this morning they said that in the UK there are over 30 different schemes for collecting plastics so is it any wonder that people get confused over what is and isn't recyclable?. I was amazed to see that Manchester only accepts plastic drinks bottles and nothing else and yet so much of our other stuff like yogurt pots say widely recycled. They said that they're going to take a year to come up with ideas to get a unified policy but even doing this doesn't address the problem as I see it.

I thought that all plastics had to have a 1 to 7 type marker to indicate what they're made from but I've just looked at a range of plastic containers in my kitchen and only a couple had these marks the rest just said to check with the local council. Most people want to recycle but nobody wants to mess about like this so why can't they just use something simple like 7 different colours that would make automatic sorting a lot easier.

Bill

 

[Confused52]

I suspect that this is down to the selling price of recycled plastics. Each council does its own deal with re-cycling companies and there is no national require about what to process. I know that there is a market for recycled bottles which turn up in fleeces and other plastic recycling but other types effectively cost the council money to recycle. Councils don't provide services to the public other than the minimum possible with the lowest cost. So we get what doesn't require too much subsidy, Warrington probably subsidise the uneconomic plastics  from the green bin subs!

[Bill]

I think it's like the old saying goes where there's muck there's money it's just some is worth more than others. There was some firm who said recently they could take all the bottom end plastics they could get and turn it into a super efficient road material but the local councils were sending it into landfill.

We need a proper plan to get this right once and for all if we're ever going to reduce the plastics problem. If it's all down to costs and everyone is forced to use the same rules then some councils may end up actually recycling less than they do now, which to me is bonkers.

The problem is national and it should be dealt with on a national basis rather than letting local councils decide what they're prepared or can afford to do. 

 

Bill