Comment on Costco changed the bag to plastic!!
ObtuseDoorFrame@lemmy.zip 3 weeks agoInto what? Scotch tape? 2 by 4’s for decking material? One can only make so much of those things before the low demand is met.
Like I said, almost none of it gets recycled because the resulting products are too weak. Not only that, but plastic “recycling” is one of the primary ways that micro plastics get into our bodies.
altphoto@lemmy.today 3 weeks ago
They should use it as filler for potholes. Fibers would composite into stronger flexible quieter roads…or sobI dare to guess.
ObtuseDoorFrame@lemmy.zip 3 weeks ago
I would think that could work from a structural point of view, but they would have to seal it somehow to prevent more microplastics from being created. Plastics aren’t often used as a building material because of toxic off-gassing, but of course this would be outside which would mitigate the issue.
Asphalt is one of the most recyclable materials in existence, when they tear up an asphalt road they just melt it down and pour it back on. If there was plastic involved it would probably interrupt this process.
But I’m not expert. Maybe it would work.
altphoto@lemmy.today 3 weeks ago
Literally asphalt is junk plastic/petroleum. It dissolves or mixes with plastic at melting temp. Or even if there was no thermal action, the plastic in fiber form would just get incorporated into the melt.
GreenKnight23@lemmy.world 3 weeks ago
although there are ongoing experiments for this, results aren’t promising.
standard road asphalt contains recycled tires for their elasticity and longevity. there have been cases where plastics have been used in the formation of walking/bike paths, but recent investigations have discovered an inordinate amount of microplastics have found their way into watersheds in the vicinity of these paths.
sometimes a bad product is a bad product. due to the hubris of oil companies they continue to market and sell these products as “recyclable” when in reality the process of recycling them is a costly and complicated solution that has been proven within the confines of a lab test.
it took the US 70 years to identify and stop using lead based paints in home construction. it was replaced with…you guessed it, oil based paints that contain plastics. we’re currently running up to 60 years on that. I wonder what the next big thing will be?