Afaik the ideal is glass bottles that get cleaned and refilled locally. That gets rid of a lot of plastic waste
Comment on "We're all in this together"
neuroneiro@lemmy.world 1 week ago
Recycling plastic is & always was a scam.
In their 2024 paper, The Fraud of Plastic Recycling, The Center for Climate Integrity discovered that only 9-10% of all plastic has been & can be recycled.
Current U.S. plastic recycling is “only 5-6%”.
Overall paper recycling is estimated at <69% & glass at <32%. Not great numbers in general but far greater than plastic.
While glass, aluminum, paper, & obviously recycled plastics like six-pack rings should still be separated, others like those that are solid-colored, should be avoided if possible.
Unfortunately, trying to eliminate plastic seems to be nearly impossible if you buy almost anything today.
Lest we forget, this is the same industry that gifted us microplastics & forever chemicals so profits are clearly elevated over people.
Zwiebel@feddit.org 1 week ago
neuroneiro@lemmy.world 1 week ago
That could be a solution for plastic bottles but what about other things like, say, a bucket or parts of an umbrella?
Plastic is so much cheaper. Switching to alternatives might destroy economies since so many can barely afford it as it is.
I like the idea of reuse but it seems unlikely that alternate materials would become the norm. Also, aside from growlers, filling bottles is not something I’ve seen in California.
Zwiebel@feddit.org 1 week ago
The bottle thing is quite established in Germany. We just need to expand it to more stuff like milk and juice.
I know plastic can’t be fully replaced. But buckets were made of galvanized sheet metal before, it works just fine. The grip of an umbrella can be cork instead of rubber etc
ExLisper@lemmy.curiana.net 1 week ago
Recycling is also not a big deal. Complaining about small things like recycling is meant to stop policies that would actually address climate change. People bitch and bitch about small things like paper straws, imagine what will happen if you try to limit how much they can fly, drive or how much meat they can eat.
starlinguk@lemmy.world 1 week ago
Used plastic can be used to make other things. Over here a lot of benches that have to sit outside all day are made of recycled plastic. I’ve also seen it used to make footpaths across swampy areas because it takes less maintenance than wood.
PlexSheep@infosec.pub 1 week ago
It’s really simply. Would you rather sort through trash to get second hand materials for your product that you can’t even use for things like food packaging, or buy the clean plastic that is a byproduct from oil refining that they have so much of they pay you to take away from them?
neuroneiro@lemmy.world 1 week ago
Yes, as long as consumers continue to pick the shiny new plastics that corporations, focus groups, & marketers expect or convince them to pick.