I hate to be the wet blanket, but policies to reduce plastics won’t happen as long as our lawmakers are in the pockets of big corporations.

@jacquiejeanconway7541

2 ай бұрын

You are not wrong. We will more than likely see this in Europe quicker than it will happen here, but it is a wonderful first of many steps.

@danfg7215

2 ай бұрын

It's an overblown concern. Even if humanity buried all its trash (including plastic) instead of recycling it for 1000 years, it wouldn't occupy even 0.5% of all the territory available on Earth. Recycling only saves a bit of money for certain industries, it also makes no difference to the environment. Trash only ruins an ecosystem if it isn't properly buried, if it's thrown in the ocean, forests, etc.

@dorongrossman-naples9207

2 ай бұрын

​@@danfg7215Even if what you say is true, .5% is A LOT. Moreover, we continue to see landfills building up to such an extent that they have started putting them in human neighborhoods. Poor neighborhoods, naturally, since those people don't have the resources and political power to fight it.

@markedis5902

2 ай бұрын

In addition the plastics issue will never be sorted until the disposal of plastic waste becomes the manufacturers problem

@angel_ethereal

2 ай бұрын

@@markedis5902exactly. gaslighting the consumer to believe it is our fault only allows them to remain unaccountable it is quite literally impossible for us to do as much damage as them even if we tried.. it needs to start with THEM and we need to not fall for the trap of blaming ourselves for not doing enough as consumers when most of us are just trying to *survive*

I feel like plastic is the ultimate example of how we created something so useful with no actual plan or knowledge of how to deal with it. Wood can be burned or reused, metals can often be resmelted or used in other ways, etc., but plastic is bad. It's everywhere (I'm typing on a plastic keyboard! My meds come in plastic trays! I build plastic model kits!) and we only now seem to be realising how much of an issue it is. There has to be an issue, but I'm worried the solution may come too late.

@Observant_Truth

2 ай бұрын

If hemp could be grown, im pretty sure it could outperform fossil fuel plastic in everything.

@XERXESDOE

2 ай бұрын

@@Observant_Truth oml You’re just a pothead Hemp is not a magic plant. Like I’ve said CORN PLASTIC.

@Observant_Truth

2 ай бұрын

I actually don't smoke marijuana. 😏 There's some interesting science related to hemp, what it does for the the soil, what can be made from the fibers of the plant! I definitely don't think we should overlook it as an option to reduce our dependency on fossil fuels.

@spicychad55

2 ай бұрын

@@XERXESDOE hemp has nothing to with weed, dummy

@spicychad55

2 ай бұрын

the plastic issue has been an issue since the 80s at least.

I used to work at a landfill, our managers only wanted us to pick out that plastic that would jam up the sorter machines other than that it went in the ground with the rest of the trash.

@zanewalsh1812

2 ай бұрын

It's been trash since it came along

@jnzkngs

2 ай бұрын

What we need is plant based plastics, so when we bury it, it's carbon capture.

@zanewalsh1812

2 ай бұрын

@@jnzkngs agree 💯

@AngryAmericanWizard

2 ай бұрын

@@jnzkngs Landfills ruin any organic material that go into it, it's why we need smarter waste management as well. Organic matter should be in it's own category and fines should be enforced.

@jnzkngs

2 ай бұрын

@@AngryAmericanWizardplant based plastics are no more organic than petroleum based plastics which is really old plant-based plastics. You want to separate lawn clippings? Great. Go for it. But plastic is plastic. It's all made from highly refined hydrocarbons. The only difference is whether or not the source of those hydrocarbons was the atmosphere or underground.

If we want to actually fix this problem governments need to legislate so that companies are only allowed to make packaging out of a very limited number of easily recyclable plastic types and colours. That way recycling centres would know that the vast majority of what they receive would go into one of 3 or 4 different hoppers and there would be minimal risk of contamination. Which would make even current commercial recycling technology profitable. But that would require governments that care more about the future habitability of our planet than short term corporate profits. And that seems like an unachievable pipe dream atm

@coagulantLegume

2 ай бұрын

we also need way more funding put into recycling plants. in my area, i can't recycle flat lids, clamshell containers, or can lids because they all end up in paper bales. they sort by shape, so anything but tubs and bottles is trash and if it ends up in the recycling then the entire bin is thrown in the trash.

@sandal_thong8631

2 ай бұрын

That would have been good 30 or 40 years ago to only have one plastic for consumer goods. But we're made so much trash since then, and the way of life is so established, that I can't see that happening. Better to just ban all single use plastic (that isn't medical or hygiene) and plastic that isn't designed to last at least a year.

@stuffinsthegreat

2 ай бұрын

​@@coagulantLegume Definitely true! We also could presort our recycling before they pick it up, which I remember doing as a kid, and really isn't all that awful

@zyxw2000

2 ай бұрын

@@stuffinsthegreat And only #1 and #2 get recycled anyway. In Japan, they collect only #1 and #2, and burn the rest with the trash to make energy. They don't pretend that all 7 types are recyclable.

@K03sport

19 күн бұрын

in Japan, they set out 5-6 different bins of different materials. each bin is picked up separately on different days...

I'm old enough to remember glass returnables.

@danf1862

2 ай бұрын

Glass doesn't scale as well as plastics.

@bingosunnoon9341

2 ай бұрын

Glass is still returned but now it's crushed and sold as an aggregate for road building or buried in the landfill.

@phild8095

2 ай бұрын

@@bingosunnoon9341 They used to wash and reuse bottles in America. Milk, coke, pepsi. Major cost savings, but that is all gone now.

@borkwoof696

2 ай бұрын

@@phild8095still do in Germany

@johnshafer7214

2 ай бұрын

I feel like we can go back to that with having plastic in middle of the glass to make it shatter resistant.

If we reverted to the packaging solutions of 50 years ago, glass, metal and waxed paper, we could drastically reduce single use plastic consumption. However, the additional energy consumption for the production and transportation of those materials would need to be considered in the trade.

@Observant_Truth

2 ай бұрын

We could also utilize hemp based plastics...but you know ... The devil's lettuce.

@XERXESDOE

2 ай бұрын

@@Observant_Truthbruh hemp is not the save all just because you wanna smoke. The land needed, nutrients, water, equipment does not make growing hemp for everything the most appealing. Not to mention it’s extremely more expensive to process to begin with. Instead of being a pot head go cheer on corn plastic maybe??Really any plant can be a plastic, we do not need more weed.

@Observant_Truth

2 ай бұрын

@@XERXESDOE haha first of all, hemp is not the same as marijuana. Marijuana is the female plant that produces the buds which contain THC. Then there is hemp, which is the male counterpart, that doesn't produce THC at all. Hemp is used to clean up metals, pesticides, solvents, explosives, crude oil, polyaromatic hydrocarbon and other contaminates from soil. Currently, our methods eliminate these harmful substances from the ground are expensive and counter productive (using acids to clean up other chemicals causes a wide range of reactions, none are good.) And finally hemp is a sustainable option that we shouldn't discount as hemp fibers can be used in sustainable polymer matrix composites because they are renewable. Maybe like read a book brah! And learn about the advantages and uses plants have in organic chemistry.

@Observant_Truth

2 ай бұрын

@@XERXESDOE and I actually have a farm that rotates corn and soy beans brah. I never dismissed you're corn plastic idea. I think we should utilize all options and do regular assessments on yields, benefits, costs and risks. A lot of corn is GMO these days , I'm not sure how that would fracture into the process of making plastics with it. But I'll look into it, in-between my non smoking smoke breaks. Hemp is called weed for a reason you know. It extremely practical to grow. Again you keep mixing up the plants that I'm talking about. I'm not talking about the female plants, just the male plants.

@oldmandoinghighkicksonlyin1368

2 ай бұрын

Glass and metal weigh a lot and takes up more volume. That means more fuel being expended to ship just as much cargo. That's probably a net zero benefit. Plus, the energy needed in glass/metal manufacture and recycling has its own carbon footprint.

Even with enzyme recycling, single stream recycling won’t work. Why not just start requiring the manufacturers of the plastic to make a change on their end?

@sandal_thong8631

2 ай бұрын

And of course it's not just the number on the plastic that made fools of us. Those trying to recycle plastic only wanted it in the form of bottles and jugs with necks, so butter containers and the like weren't wanted, despite the latest Progressive "Don't become your parents" ad.

@rossdanielart

2 ай бұрын

What would be the alternative? Will the alternative be as cheap to produce? It all comes down to cost, demand and supply.

@kapilchhabria1727

2 ай бұрын

@@rossdanielart the alternate is at times as trivial as paper based, or even better, no packaging. but as an immediate fix, stop single stream recycling and have folks separate their recyclable goods into no. 5 plastic, hdpe plastic, glass, and metal.

@w1-em4nq

2 ай бұрын

@@rossdanielart yes, a lot of single use plastics for food can be replaced with cardboard. not everything, but a penny more is worthwhile. i see so much plastic shit used once. And it litering my streets disgust me.

@Imbatmn57

2 ай бұрын

You can drop off printer cartridges to send to be recycled and receive points, places like Germany are already doing that with plastic stuffs and at 67%, compared to the us which is 5%. Id say its effective.

I’ve held the idea for a long time that single use plastics need to be made out of compostable material & durable plastic products be recyclable, as a foundation principle. This provides for a loop lifecycle rather than linear.

@kittimcconnell2633

2 ай бұрын

Agreed. No more single use plastics!

If the oil industry is gearing up to make even more plastic, restrictions need to be in place. The industry has caused considerable harm to our entire planet in every way, and they are not being held to account. Plus It's obvious they don't intend to be responsible for this crisis they've created. The convenience of using plastic is not worth the cost.

@zanewalsh1812

2 ай бұрын

I'm with you 💯

@marim0y

2 ай бұрын

These corporations really need to be held accountable.

@richardtheweaver4891

2 ай бұрын

I don’t see the problem. Plastic is a grand fuel.

@stevenmitchell1

Ай бұрын

The Saudis bought their major plastics manufacturer, SABIC, from General Electric in 2007 and have continually expanded its business. They certainly are an example of a company and nation, that have no intention of reducing the plastics footprint in the industrialization of the Earth. It's their future.

@mari-kt1kb

Ай бұрын

They are also responsible for, latex paint, vinyl flooring, paraffin wax, just to name a few. We even eat their crap, BHA and BHT are Petro chemical products and are banned every where except here in the land owned by big oil 😢.

I worked in the recycling industry in Oregon. Taxpayers are paying a tremendous amount to collect cans and bottles, more than a dollar a piece. Plastic gets collected, sorted and buried in the landfill. Not only is it not recycled, it creates more pollutants than just sending it to the dump right away.

@naturalnashuan

2 ай бұрын

Thank you. I have a neighbor who worked in a city Public Works Division. He doesn't recycle plastic, he says there's no point in participating in the lie....it ends up in the trash. I was really hoping that he was lying to get a rise out of me ( I'm easy to provoke into a speech😅."

Underlying problem is always money and greed.

@sunseekers6422

2 ай бұрын

Amen sistah!

@austinhernandez2716

2 ай бұрын

It's called capitalism.

If only our legislators weren’t corporate lapdogs and could pass legislation to make /them/ responsible for the entirety of the process. Recycling facilities and their costs should be subsidized wholly by big plastic.

@marim0y

2 ай бұрын

Agreed

@sandal_thong8631

2 ай бұрын

I was thinking of the lobbyists who promote plastics as a product, so lawmakers don't see it as trash and pollution.

@borisjoffe

2 ай бұрын

Legislation is not a magic wand. Companies sell plastic because it's an effective and cheap material that consumers like you buy. Don't like it? Then stop buying plastic or invent an alternative

@sandal_thong8631

2 ай бұрын

@@borisjoffe It's a myth that some individuals with their preferences can change the world. A few people trying to avoid plastic (it's impossible at the grocery store) or even going vegetarian doesn't change the economy. It involves at least collective action and knowing how economics (supply and demand) works to modify such curves by pricing plastic higher through taxes. Carbon taxes would also likely work to change energy production, but industry propaganda and campaign contributions have won out to stop that idea before it can be implemented even as a test project.

@borisjoffe

2 ай бұрын

​@@sandal_thong8631Individual preferences are literally how the entire free market operates. If people don't buy stuff, companies stop selling it. If people buy it, companies make more. People also talk about their buying decisions via word of mouth and online - those preferences propagate and change what products companies sell (i.e. "collective action"). Many people aren't as privileged as you to be able to afford higher prices for non-plastic goods or non-carbon energy sources. The solution to that is NOT forcing through legislation that bans cheaper products. The solution is to invent cheaper environmentally-friendly materials and fuels. Do the work yourself to improve the technology (or at least invest in companies working on that) instead of banning cheaper products for poor people.

When you ask voters "Do you want policies that limit plastic waste?" 80% say yes. But when you ask a more balanced question like "Do you want single use plastic bottles, straws, and bags banned?" 20% say yes. Solutions are needed for the plastic problem, not just policies that shift the plastic straw problem to the paper straw problem.

@AngryAmericanWizard

2 ай бұрын

Yeah did you watch the video that's the point of it. Also I would GLADLY support banning single use plastics, PERIOD with an exception for the medical industry and military. They'd get a more finesse ban where practical. You want a solution for the paper straw problem? Simple we had this technology for the the entire time our species has been here it's that simple. Don't use a straw. I mean I could say bioplastic straws, but let's be real here. If the cup wasn't washed well enough that you're willing to drink from the cup like an adult (not knocking you just saying straws are more a childs toy imo) then you've got bigger concerns anyway. Paper combined with wax, glass, and aluminum can do nearly if not everything plastic can do when it comes to the single use stuff. Bring back the deposit on glass and cans and you'll get reuse out of them. Doesn't even need to be a ton of money $0.25-0.50 cents is plenty. But I really cannot stress how much we as a species got along just fine for our entire history up until the 20th century without single use plastics. I would just love to hear a convincing argument for them remaining mainstream at all is all I'm saying. One that doesn't involve profit margins for the company's and "convenience" for the short sighted consumer who cares not for the future.

@rsaunders57

2 ай бұрын

@@AngryAmericanWizard Yes, I did watch the video, to the end. Straws keep the cola from staining your teeth. When you have a better solution to a problem, you don't need to force people to do it, they choose to adopt it. The fact that mandates and laws are being considered to force compliance is evidence of a bad policy.

@SleepyMatt-zzz

2 ай бұрын

​@@rsaunders57Why not? The province I live in has banned single use plastic bags in retail/grocery stores and single use plastic straws from fast food restaurants, and people seem to be doing fine without them, despite the manufactured backlash exhibited by conservatives. Either manufacturers will use other materials, or consumers will have to adjust their buying habits. For example, I got into the habit of bringing my backpack everywhere I go, the irony being that it actually made my life even more convenient. If single use cups were to also disappear, then I'll just bring a cup or a jar everywhere I go more often. Humans are already predisposed to doing things they have no choice in, and many of us hardly even think about it. Regulation is really the only way out of our garbage problem, because consumers can't be relied on to "choose" their way out of a system they are already trapped in. Plastic waste is a systemic problem that needs systemic solutions. Our everyday lives are enveloped in plastic. Even if you wanted to, you can't escape it. As for the Plastic straw bit relating to teeth, there's another solution for that for those concerned... Just don't drink soda.

@michasosnowski5918

2 ай бұрын

If we find that some chemical is harmfull and dangerous - we ban it. We dont wait for alternative to come. Alternative comes after. Look at baby formulas and bottles - it is so controlled. The thing is that we dont care about the environment. Its not readily visible, we can deny it, put a blind eye. It is causing massive problem, but somhwere out there, on the landfill, maybe 3rd world country, not here.

@stellangios

2 ай бұрын

@@SleepyMatt-zzz They banned plastic bags in my area, so people stole all the shopping baskets from the supermarket 😅 Now everyone has to use carts in the store…and I’m seeing more stray carts 🛒 because people are taking them too. Are paper bags really better for the environment anyway? People go through a lot. They won’t carry reusable. Some, sure, but not enough… And for those of us who grabbed the occasional plastic shopping bag to use for chemical cleaners and then reuse to keeping bones out of the garbage until garbage day are now going to eventually have to BUY bags, thicker plastic and more expensive. Some areas where plastic bags were banned end up consuming more plastic than before because of this. It’s keeping plastic out of the environment but still being overproduced.

I feel so hopeless about recycling. My roommates only recycle cans. And getting the stickers off of prescription bottles is futile, even after soaking them in hot water. Don't get me started on the catch-22 of recycling vs how much water is being used just to clean containers. I called Republic Services and spoke to a very nice woman. She looked and looked and couldn't find anything stating one way or the other about recycling plastics with the labels still on.

@naturalnashuan

2 ай бұрын

The labels should be fine. If you bring prescription bottles back to a pharmacy, like CVS, for "recycling", the bottles get melted down and thrown away. They are too small for single-stream recycling. I throw them away know. It's all so sad that yet another lie has been revealed.

@williamburdett9867

2 ай бұрын

I remove labels with Goo Gone. I spray it on, throw the bottles in a sealed container, wait a few hours, and they peel off as a single piece.

@FatLittleOldLady

2 ай бұрын

I process all the plastics I reuse by putting Goo gone on the labels or where I peeled the labels up. My medicine bottle labels from the pharmacy come off in one piece just by pulling them up without Goo Gone or anything.

@sunseekers6422

2 ай бұрын

Add to your long list the fact that not all recyclable plastics can be recycled in all geographic areas. For example, prescription bottles cannot be recycled where I live. So into the landfill they go! It's criminal the way that companies get away with polluting the entire planet without any consequences whatsoever, while those of us who can and care, continue to recycle as best we can.

@DarkGob

Ай бұрын

Most prescription bottles are resin code 5 which can't really be recycled, so you're just wasting your time. I still try to remove the labels though because I don't want my health information out there -- unfortunately the pharmacy has started using labels with stronger adhesive which makes removal 1000x harder.

Sure it would be great to have efficient enzymes for all plastics, but even this for PET is potentially a huge achievement. It's like how we still have diseases but we eradicated smallpox, that's huge!

In hindsight industries should have been much more heavily regulated to require proven plans for environmentally friendly disposal or destruction of any product they make at the end of its life span. But it’s going to be prohibitively difficult to implement such regulations now that industries have gone hog-wild at producing things without any consideration for what happens after consumption.

I have encountered many people who won't recycle anything, not paper, not glass, not metals, because they keep seeing headlines that say things like "Recycling is a Myth."

@ooooneeee

2 ай бұрын

IKR, this video title is irresponsible.

@r00pea

2 ай бұрын

I've been hearing this a lot about plastic in the last couple of years, but it always seems to be emotionally driven and I've never seen proper sources to back it up - even in this video, which would be better if it chose to focus on either the enzyme technology being developed OR the state of plastics recycling. I genuinely would really like to know, if our plastic recycling is going straight to the landfill, why do thousands of waste management departments collect plastics in our single-stream recycling? Why do they have restrictions on the types of plastic they will allow? If they were putting it in the landfill or incinerating it, why do they care if we separate out polystyrene containers? Is my local government in on this supposed conspiracy? I don't adhere to any dogma here, I just would like to have facts so we can be properly informed.

@eugenetswong

2 ай бұрын

Everybody, thank you for chiming in. I was frustrated, because this video portrayed a much more dismal picture than necessary. What they say is true in general for the vast majority of people, it doesn't have to be the way that they portray.

@sandal_thong8631

2 ай бұрын

I suspect that single-collection recycling is a myth and just goes to a landfill. People who have followed some recycling trucks in some towns say that's the case. If you do have a glass-maker in town, then having a separate container for recycling glass, might actually get the glass to the plant that breaks it down, then sends it to the glass-making plant.

@eugenetswong

2 ай бұрын

@@r00pea Much of it will go to the landfill, because they don't have a buyer, and because it is labour intensive. However, small efficiencies can be gained if we find a way to reduce product offerings, and encourage people to reuse plastic, where it is logical [e.g.: shopping bags be used as small garbage bags] We can also incinerate the plastic at high temperatures. This creates a different chemical reaction than "room temperature" burning. This option is the best, because we would be using oil to make plastic, and then using it again as fuel to do more stuff, like heating homes, or powering machinery. Also, those women are probably lying about the life cycle of plastic recycling. Brothers Make KZread channel tested out actual melting and hardening plastic, and it lasted 30 times without any signs of wear and tear. It just doesn't quit. They and the comment section speculated that it was the UV light outside that caused plastic to fall apart. Society can also make a push to encourage refilling more jugs of liquids, like detergent.

Most corporations lie period. Very depressing.

@naturalnashuan

2 ай бұрын

And wealthy religions and political parties. Wherever there is money and power there are lying opportunists buzzing around. The older I get and the more I learn, the more disturbing it is to me.

so recycling aluminum and glass is NOT a lie, can the video title be changed to not mislead people

@eklectiktoni

2 ай бұрын

Yeah, it should be PLASTIC recycling is a lie. Many other items are widely recycled because it's just cheaper to recycle than produce from unprocessed feedstock.

@Brian-gx3rj

2 ай бұрын

Recycling plastic is not a lie. All plastic ever made has not been designed for recycling. Most plastic containers and bottles are highly recyclable. Durable plastic items that we may overlook each day are not i.e. toys, car parts, decorations and these are the items that overwhelm the misleading 9%.

@thangri-la

2 ай бұрын

You really can't claim that something is recyclable when there is no practical way to do it. The point is that manufacturers make people believe that this is something easy just use it can toss it in the bin. Actually, even aluminum cans have plastic lining inside as well. Plastic waste is a problem because it is already detectable in many organisms blood

@r00pea

2 ай бұрын

@@Brian-gx3rj Yes, I dislike the overabundance of plastic and waste in general in our lives, but I really wish we had more factual information about plastic recycling. I searched around on Google and YT a year or two ago and found a lot of claims, none of them backed up by statistics. I'm sure we could be doing better with plastics recycling, and I'm also sure it's not a "myth" as so many are saying. Misinformation doesn't get problems solved!

@_winston_smith_

2 ай бұрын

@@Brian-gx3rj It is a lie. The guys from the plastic manufacturing association who cooked up the scam are on video here on KZread explaining it! In short, they took the recycling symbol, added a resin number and then went around various local authorities proposing to make it compulsory to put on plastic. This was a trick, everyone agreed that it was a good idea without stopping to ask if plastic can actually be recycled. They did this to sell more plastic after their own scientists came back in the late 1970s and said that plastic cannot be recycled, only reused a few times to make lower grade plastic. Reuse is not the same thing as recycling. Metal and glass can be recycled thousands of times.

A lot of things are packaged in plastic that could be packaged in glass or paper.

@naturalnashuan

2 ай бұрын

That's the way it was done until around the 70's. The problem was the amount of broken glass. There were several overhead speaker calls for "clean up in aisle___" per grocery shopping trip. People were constantly breaking jars. Glass is heavier and uses more fuel for transportation. We need a new material and to reduce consumption.

I'm glad you emphasized how complex the problem is, such as one plastic degradation solution tends to be limited to one type of plastic. Though the breakdown products may be a monomer often their are other breakdown products as well. To fully recycle the plastic from the breakdown products a purification process must be considered as well. These are factors that also need to be addressed. I'm also glad you mentioned how the fossil fuel industries are trying to shift to produce more plastic products. Trying to keep up with such shifts is a daunting process.

If these organisms eat the plastic, won't the plastic be carried up the food chain by the animals that ate the organisms that ate the plastic?

@dorongrossman-naples9207

2 ай бұрын

That's why this is being done in the context of recycling. They break down the plastic so it can be reused. Though it is possible that in the future, plastic could be broken down into something different, like how our bodies break down complex carbohydrates into glucose.

@paytonpryor

2 ай бұрын

@@dorongrossman-naples9207 Thanks for clarifying.

@sandal_thong8631

2 ай бұрын

Microplastics in the food chain and blood are a concern these days. What are they turning these plastics into, and how healthy are the animals eating styrofoam?

@willythemailboy2

2 ай бұрын

@@paytonpryor Above poster is entirely incorrect. You're both thinking in terms of the plastic being mechanically broken into micro plastics, when the video is covering the enzymatic reversal of the polymerization process. It's quite literally the same as breaking down starch into sugar only breaking the polymer chains back down into the monomers used to create it. The difference is that the worms and bacteria that can do this consume the monomers as a food source, which is less than helpful in terms of us reusing those monomers to make polymers again. Thus the need to separate the enzymatic breakdown of the polymer to monomers from the organisms eating the monomers.

@chow-chihuang4903

2 ай бұрын

I ate some rice cake that didn’t taste like rice, but did smell like it contained polystyrene. I felt sick for a few days. Threw out the cake. Can’t trust some processed food manufacturers- they’ll toss in any cheap filler they can get away with.

I so look forward to the day when doing the right thing doesn't have to be profitable to happen.

i had no clue you needed virgin plastics to recycle into new plastics; i was already disillusioned with the idea od recycling but that is infinitely more depressing

@childesinthev.761

2 ай бұрын

It's like paper, there's a weakening over re-uses, so depending on intended use you might need to introduce some amount of new material to keep it from going too brittle/fragile. Still vastly better than using all virgin resources and trashing them after just one use.

My experience with recycling in my home, an apartment building with others who may or may not recycle correctly. But ultimately it only takes one a*hole to throw food garbage in the paper recycle bin and it is ruined. Recycle company won’t take. Building management reminds us, again, recycle properly. A minimal number of no-goods wreck for the rest of us trying to do the right thing. (It’s like those who won’t where covid masks and so potentially give the rest of us the virus)

@stuffinsthegreat

2 ай бұрын

That's definitely frustrating, but at least there's still the opportunity to recycle. Maybe the A*hole doesn't accidentally throw their food in one week, for example, and then that load does get recycled. Plenty of places don't even have recycling service at all

@naturalnashuan

2 ай бұрын

The delusion created by the packaging industry about plastic recycling is worse than the truth. There's ALWAYS an A hole ruining the load. There are people I just can't get through to with the message - empty the bottle! They think someone hand prepares a capped bottle of water or that it's magically recyclable. I had a moron ( truly) neighbor who put cheeseburgers, wood boards, pizza, dirty paper towels....everything in her recycling bin. I used to pull stuff like that out of peoples's bins. She managed to be dead ( totally her fault), she's not doing this anymore and I'm not doing that anymore.

(future edit: the title was changed later. So my comment is moot :) ) Can we be more specific in the title and the wording? Recycling metals works great! %80 of aluminum used today is coming from recycling. Perhaps being more specific and replacing "recycling" with "recycling plastic" would be better.

@zyxw2000

2 ай бұрын

Title was changed.

We can legislate on which types of single use plastic can be used, that would reduce most of the plastic pollution that we currently have, and as new technology comes we can let the plastics that can be reused be used as single use plastic.

Great story ! I want more plastic enzymes to be discovered .

@naturalnashuan

2 ай бұрын

It was discovered fairly recently that there are clothes moths that can digest plastic.

I like how you presented the topic. There needs to be a shift in people consuming plastic. More awareness about it. I stopped buying plastic bottles a while ago. I buy glass wherever I can. I take my own cup if I can. I try to put the plastic I use into recycling bin, but as is showed in this video, I doesnt make much sense. The only solution is to use alternatives - I bought bags that are made from starch - what a great solution! They can be composted after use. There should be big campain about it, and then slowly prepare people for a change, and then finally ban it. It should take no more than few years. But the lobbying is so massive that nothing changes!!!

@zyxw2000

2 ай бұрын

Only #1 and #2 are recyclable anyway.

@naturalnashuan

2 ай бұрын

For trash and dog poop scooping I take used plastic shopping bags out of the "recycling" bins at stores, they don't mind at all. It keeps me from buying trash bags. I use reusable ones for my own shopping. We were told decades ago that the grocery stores don't really recycle them. People stuff stupid things in those bins with them, like paper towels and plastic wrap.

@zyxw2000

2 ай бұрын

@@naturalnashuan Polyethylene has never been recyclable anyway. Only #1 and #2 plastics are recyclable. The supermarkets that collect them are mistaken, and who knows what they do with them. Good that you're reusing them. :-)

@stevenmitchell1

Ай бұрын

I think a lot of states in the US have banned the use of plastic bags. At least 12 US states and over 500 municipalities have some form of plastic bag bans. And many are learning to curtail the loopholes in the bans, promoted by the plastics lobby, to make them more efficient and effective in their elimination of plastic from household trash.

All companies that use plastic in their products or packaging should be required (taxed) to help fund the research needed to recycle it. If your product needs to use plastic, you should be required to help pay for it's (eventual) disposal. Even in cases where plastic is actually recycled, the economics of recycling plastics has yet to be made profitable in most, if not all cases. Someone has to pay for it. Even if the cost does filter down to the consumer, which I'm sure it will, it should still start with the companies that use it. This way, it effects their bottom line, which will foster better decisions about how, when, and how much plastic should be used. As we develop methods to truly recycle certain plastics, those plastics can have their taxes lessened to simply cover the cost of the recycling process and not the research.

@tirusew

2 ай бұрын

You can’t tax your way out of this. Only technology and human ability to comprehend the damage we’re causing and minimizing it would go along ways. Unfortunately most humans struggling to survive day to day oblivious to what is going on or care

It would be unimaginable to produce better paper or celluloid packaging instead of reducing/preventing further plastic production.

Just the FACT that life has already evolved to breakdown plastic really lends credence to me that we're living in, at least, a level 3 multiverse and i hate that.

I understand you are trying to keep this segment focused and short but plastic isn't the only thing we recycle. You say recycling is a myth. Does that mean we should stop recycling everything? What about paper, cardboard, glass and metal?

@eklectiktoni

2 ай бұрын

Pretty much every other material has a high recycle rate. In the US (where I live) 66% of paper products are recycled, 70% of steel cans, 50% of aluminum cans, etc. Glass is not too great at only 30% (because it's heavy and cost a lot to transport). But in many countries the glass recycle rate is over 50% (over 90% in some EU countries). Plastic is the one outlier that isn't recycled anywhere in the world. It always just gets thrown away.

@zyxw2000

2 ай бұрын

Title was changed.

@zyxw2000

2 ай бұрын

@@eklectiktoni #1 and #2 plastic are recycled in Japan. Find the video.

@eklectiktoni

2 ай бұрын

@@zyxw2000 Yes, I know technically Japan recycles plastic. Technically so does the US. Technically so does Germany. And so on... But at the end of the day even countries that do recycle plastic only actually reuse a tiny fraction of how much is produced annually. The overwhelming majority ends up as waste - even in countries like Japan that do recycle plastic. _"Although the country has been lauded for its plastics' recycling rate of more than 85%, the figure paints a deceptively rosy picture of the situation._ _According to the Tokyo-based Plastic Waste Management Institute, in 2020, only 21% of plastic waste underwent material recycling, which reuses plastic...63% of plastic waste was processed as "thermal recycling," which involves using the plastic as an ingredient for solid fuel and burning it for energy._ _'That means that two-thirds of plastic waste is, in fact, incinerated....Japan is the largest exporter of plastic waste. The recycling rate only applies to what remains in Japan.'_ _In 2020, Japan exported 820,000 tonnes of plastic waste to South East Asian countries such as Malaysia, Thailand, and Taiwan - roughly 46% of the total."_ - *Quitting single-use plastic in Japan* BBC article *edited for clarity*

A law should be brought to force the plastic industry to pay for this enzyme production and use. As this market grows and costs the industry more and more, they will find ways to make their plastic products easier to recycle, i'm sure!

This is a crucial topic! A video on practical ways to reduce plastic usage would be interesting and helpful.

I'd like to ask the recycling experts at the EPA quite a few questions about proper disposal of many different things, but they don't answer, they just tell. There are many different types of plastic. Only a few of which can be recycled. It should NOT be up to consumers to triage the plastics. Either discontinue the non-recyclable stuff, or separate it downstream. Getting consumers to separate all recyclables away from non- is success enough.

Reason why these enzymes are slow is not because of the strong carbon carbon bond, everything in nature is carbon carbon bonded there is absolutely no issue with biology breaking and reforming these bonds as needed. It's more because this type of chemical is new to the environment and even though nature has had millions of cycles to evolve since introduction of plastics into the environment it hasn't been long enough time yet to evolve better mechanisms. If there is energy in these materials and there is eventually nature we'll figure out how to consume it

Plastics are not inherently bad. It's single use plastics (SUP) that we should avoid. Many places have stopped giving bags and you need to bring your own reusable bags. There are great produce bags that are nylon mesh, that help the produce keep from going bad (compared to SUP bags).

@zyxw2000

2 ай бұрын

But cosmetics, toothpaste, shampoo etc still come in plastic, and are very difficult to recycle because of the contamination. There's a video about the disaster of trying to recycle personal products packed in plastic.

In principle, waste plastic can be a fuel or a bulking material. If plastic eating bugs or bacteria exist, three cheers to micro-evolution for making it possible, it should also be possible to reap or synthesize the enzymes and do the breakdown in batches.

Thank You for letting us know that there Are People working on this out-of-control problem!!!

wax worms eating my microplastic filled body after i die

Yes and we need to move faster and also eliminate our dependency

It's so crazy that plastic companies have been pushing recycling for decades, and just now I'm seeing commercials about how their bottles are actually recyclable (for real, we promise)

I really like this series but it feels like it's in its early days and slightly rough around the edges. High production quality, though, and I only see it getting better!

Thank you for this video. Educating the public in this area is most important.

If dairies delivered again, I could reduce my plastic use by about half. (:

@coagulantLegume

2 ай бұрын

check your dairy aisle and ask the cashier about bottle returns. a surprising number of bigger chain grocery stores actually carry dairy in glass bottles. in addition to being recyclable, many dairies have a deal with grocery stores where they'll buy back the empty bottles since they can be sterilized and reused.

@ardiris2715

2 ай бұрын

Not in my town.

@zyxw2000

2 ай бұрын

Do you use cosmetics, deodorant, toothpaste, shampoo in plastic bottles?

@ardiris2715

2 ай бұрын

I don't drink a gallon of them every week. (:

@naturalnashuan

2 ай бұрын

In New Hampshire we have dairies that do reuse glass bottles. Some specialty and upscale food stores and co-ops have them. It isn't as likely if you live in a part of the country that doesn't have dairy farms.

We should make more of a distinction between single-use plastics (used to wrap products) and long-use plastic (such as furniture that is used for years). It's mostly the single-use plastic that has to go away *immidiately*

Endow a college with a biochemistry shop. Already heard the suggestion. Still need to franchise after the bugs are worked out.

i agree with this perspective about recycling plastics....it is a nightmare to nip this in the bud except by reducing the need for plastics meaning reducing the manufacturing of some goods and services and people needing these products

Great video! Helped remind me abt the issues and solutions to the plastic problem in a light-hearted and quick way :)

Great program - keep up the great work!

as with everything, the answer will have many nuanced parts, which in our polarized "either/or" society will probably be screwed up.

@naturalnashuan

2 ай бұрын

Absolutely! There are already people saying we shouldn't bother with any recycling, some people polarize issues as an excuse to do whatever they want to do instead of the moderate solution.

Process of refining a barrel of oil produces the chemicals needed to make some plastics. If it's not used it becomes hazardous waste.

It's exciting to hear about enzymes being the leading method of breaking down plastic. I've had this recurring thought lately about living organisms that can break down plastic getting out of control and becoming a global plague blighting the modern world as we know it, and it fills me with fear every time I think about it knowing just how reliant we are on plastic.

This is a hopeful technology. I also think it’s important to make different choices at the supermarket. I look for products in cardboard cartons, glass jars and bottles, and steel and aluminum cans. Not always easy to find, though

The solution is incredibly simple and never going to happen sadly. I wasn't alive in the 1930's but neither did plastic exist so... if we've had this junk for less then a century I'd love to hear someone explain to me why we can't just go back to not making single use plastic items. I'm all for plastic as a long term product that's one thing we could standardize and make recycling that stuff simple enough (include a deposit per gram/ounce of plastic). Bread? Layered wax paper, beverages? National Standardized by a consortium of beverage corporations sized glass bottles (deposit required) or unique glass bottles for those who prefer to (higher expense is the only real downside so let them do their own thing if they prefer but I bet coke and pepsi and big beer will all agree to a standard for profits sake). Aluminum containers, etc. There's also some futuristic stuff being worked on like fungi based alternatives (they bake the fungi to sterilize and kill it I do believe) but eh I don't see it being that practical anytime soon. You don't need a single use straw, if you're so damn determined to have a straw get a washable plastic one and require a deposit on them, make them strong $0.15 per as a deposit or something (the price to produce). Or just drink from the cup like a big boy/girl.

Thanks for your hopeful ideas!

The main thing that sticks out to me, is even if we use these enzymes to recycle, is it still cost effective to use their byproducts to create more plastics? Until that happens, the oil industry will continue to create more plastics instead of recycled ones.

I keep hearing "this science is revolutionary but it's in its earliest phases of development" and "policies are being proposed to change the law to tackle climate change" for all my life ever since I was in primary school but its 2024 now and no changes happen and we're running out of time. Where are those changes I was promised by scientists? Why am I still blamed for global warming as an individual by fossil fuel companies? The whole system is unsustainable, capitalism cannot solve the climate crisis

4:40 companies do a lot of greenwash tactics just so they don't responsible for what they produce (as it's expensive to care)

@zyxw2000

2 ай бұрын

Like the coffee manufacturer that just announced their coffee pods are now cardboard. Now the company is "green."

Well done! 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻 Great, concise, educational and encouraging video! 😊

We need to ban fossil-fuel derived plastics in favor of bio-plastic alternatives. They exist and they are reasonably priced. Since America has a HUGE surplus of corn every year, why not use that to produce more corn-based bioplastics which I've personally used at the restaurant complex where I used to work and they held up as long as any other plastic cup or straw!

We need to regulate how plastics are used and the actual price of plastic polymers. There is no reason that the plastic in most bottles and ither products can't be made of 100% the same material. We also need to make the producers responsible for the plastic they produce. Thus they should pay the cost of collecting and recycling it. Their partnerships with all the members of the production and distribution chain make them the best candidates for creating efficient systems of collection and transportation.

Packaging is also single use. Look at all that packaging on store shelves. We're doomed.

My policy; don't buy a plastic item when you can purchase a wooden, metal, glass or ceramic item that works out just as well. Whether that be Clothes Pegs, Chopping Boards, Storage Containers (e.g. Biscuit / Cookie Jars, Pasta Containers, Food Storage), Small Bottles of Minerals / Soft Drinks & Water, etc, etc. - all those items, and more, have perfectly decent alternatives to the Plastic options. .

That's why I repurpose almost all of the plastics from the food and drink products we use. My boyfriend says I'm probably the most prolific upcycler he has ever seen. Protein shake containers hold coffee beans, You name it. The heavier big water bottles get labels removed with Goo gone and I put dry rice or dry beans inn them and keep them in a plastic storage tub. The only thing usually in our recycle bin is cardboard boxes. What I don't use immediately goes in the garage until I figure out a use for it. I have 3 or 4 tall kitchen bags worth in the 10 years I've lived here. The rest is in use. Also, our food scraps get blended up at least once a day and tossed onto the ground to give food to the earth. The soil will be rich if I decide to make a garden.

When I first saw a clip about this I was amazed. Really needs to become mandatory in U.S.

I saw the thumbnail image and now I got that Thompson Twins song in my head

Companies should be forced to buy their packaging back and fund recycling efforts. It will make their products more expensive at the POS and the companies that figure out plastic alternatives will be cheaper to consumers and have a competitive advantage. Unless you're selling goods which are 100% consumable, the onus should be on the company selling the product to clean up the mess. This problem will go away real quick once it starts cutting into profits.

I bring my class container when I buy takeaway hot beverages and my own takeaway container when I buy cooked food. It’s not perfect, it’s inconvenient but I reduce plastic use as much as I can.

I've got boxes upon boxes of discarded PLA and PETG 3D prints just sitting in my storage, waiting for better recycling options to emerge.

Glass used to be recycled regularly in most cities, that has stopped. Glass is clean, recyclable, and should be used in those bottles and jars.

Thank you 🙏

How do government grants get authorized for programs/projects that seem to be failing in the realm of plastic recycling? What justifications do municipalities, counties, and organizations provide for such expenses, especially if the outcomes are not as successful as hoped? Is the US military actively participating in recycling programs, and if so, is it facing similar challenges and setbacks? 🤔

"Recycling PLASTIC is a myth" - fixed that title for you. Recycling paper, cardboard, and aluminum works great. Still don't understand why my county won't recycle glass though ...

What about plant based plastics like the ones made out of avocado seed? I was waiting for that part but it never came, which is disappointing.

love this. everyone needs to see this

1st we need to halt the production of any new plastic that does not have a proven method to recycle it. 2nd, producers who use recycled plastic (that is again recyclable) need to be given monetary incentives. 3rd, recycling must be mandatory with huge fines to be paid by communities that do not efficiently recycle. 4th, we, as consumers need to stop purchasing items made of unrecyclable plastics. That would include large prices for plastic bags or plastic-covered produce at the grocers. We need to make it not only economical but "cool" to bring our own cloth or paper bags when we shop.

Generally a good video, I do, however, disagree with the person that said the petroleum industry is losing market share to renewables, and EV’s, both of which are slow to adapt due to inefficiencies.

As others have pointed out the technology is coming whether it comes next year or in 100 years will make no difference. The amount of space required to simply store the existing trash until said trash can be profitably recycled is inconsequential compared to the cost of forcefully altering or abandoning the technologies that make the trash.

WHAT ABOUT the containers made from CORN? and why are we not doing more with this?

I wonder if we as common folks can have plastic “compost” containers with plastic eating creatures in them. I don’t think it would solve the problem as a whole if it works but maybe it can bite a chunk of it

Yes too little too late might be an issue plus we have not even implemented solutions we know work - like zero waste grocery stores even in most progressive states like California. I think dependency on non-essential plastic use should be eliminated as priority example soap bars instead of soap bottles. Medical and other sectors where plastic use is critical and a replacement hasn’t been found yet should be given priority. Again even as we find solutions to plastic waste; adopting lifestyle and cleaning up markets to not produce non-essential or luxury waste items should be the policy. With so many other essential issues that need attention- reducing waste can certainly help divert things towards more productive work.

I've been wondering if all the stuff I put into the recycling bin is even recyclable.I'll keep doing Aluminum cans and Cardboard. But the rest is going into the trash from now on.

I’d really like for the EPA & any other regulatory agencies to restrict the production & use of new plastics to those that have a proven & economical loop lifecycle (at least 10 cycles for recyclable) before being allowed to be produced and used.

What about glass? I imagine containers would go that way but it also has a similar problem. And it’s finite, too.

@zyxw2000

2 ай бұрын

Glass isn't finite. It can be crushed and melted indefinitely without losing its integrity.

@chow-chihuang4903

2 ай бұрын

It’s the sand used in concrete that is running out. Right size, right amount of coarseness. Desert and beach sand are too fine and too smooth, but any silica sand works for glass.

Recycling works *great* for aluminum cans. It works pretty efficiently for clean glass and "tin" (steel) cans. It breaks about even for cardboard and even some paper depending upon how well sorted and how dry it is. Plastic almost breaks even if it is only #1 and #2 clean bottles and jugs. Harsh truth at this time.

I forsee a problem if these organisms become common in the world, that non-disposable plastic components spontaneously get degraded from accidental exposure, and then a lot of products would need to be manufactured (creating pollution and waste) to replace older ones that shouldn't have to be replaced.

Thank You !! Encouraging news !!

Nature ALWAYS finds a way to make use of waste in the environment. This process that humans are still apart of the environment, no matter how separate we feel. Nature found a way to make use of our waste. The environment and nature are evolving with us~

What is failed to be acknowledged here or omitted is that tire dust contributes to 70%+ of micro plastics found out there, especially in the ocean. Car dependency is killing us in countless ways. Electric cars only exacerbate the issue, since they are heavier and destroy their tires more quickly.

I have to ask, what are these enzymes breaking plastic down into? We've just heard about microplastics getting into everything including in the food chain and our blood.

@naturalnashuan

2 ай бұрын

They are broken into simpler molecules. They aren't chopped up like plastic in the ocean into smaller bits of plastic. Breaking the chemical bonds by enzymes releases energy which can be heat or possibly used by organisms for energy. There are microbes that digest ocean oil spills and some that digest steel (found on the Titanic wreck, I think).

As a professional scrapper trash picker dumpster diver, I can confirm sadly.

PBS Terra has some beautiful hosts!

Finally, some truth. All the recycling efforts I have made is just a total waste!

Thank you

Ive said this before and oll ssy it again we need to go back to glass. Glass is ACTUALLY recyclable. Yes its more expensive to produce but we can truly recycle glass bottles and they have so many uses too.

It's almost like we call it plastic because it has undergone plastic deformation, an irreversible change in form and often, composition.

Thanks 👍 ❤

We already have technology to break down all plastics: burning. But the products of this breakdown are concerning. What are the products of enzymatic plastic breakdown? What are the costs and risks of enzyme production and use?

@oldmandoinghighkicksonlyin1368

2 ай бұрын

High efficiency incinerators are great, they even produce electricity. But there has to be a rather large volume of material to burn in order to make it economically viable. In communities under a million people, you'd have to truck in garbage from elsewhere and that has such a huge cost and carbon footprint that it defeats the purpose.