[Savage Beast]

Couldn’t plastic be degraded into harmless chemicals, in treatment plants, before it is dumped into the oceans, just as human waste is rendered harmless?

[Boogieman]

Sure, but that would take energy to feed the reactions, and money to collect, sort, and transport all the plastic. Plus I think most of the plastic ending up on the ocean is not being dumped in the ocean intentionally by responsible parties who care about the environment.

A simpler solution is just to burn plastic and use the heat from that to generate electricity to offset the costs of collecting it. Fat chance the green crowd would let us do that though.

[LesbianThespianGymnasticMidget]

95% or some ridiculous amount of plastic ocean waste dumps out of the Yellow and Yangtze Rivers and the Ganges. China and India respectively with almost all the rest dumped out of Africa. The civilized world does not dump plastic in the oceans.

Get those places to clean up their acts and problem solved.

It is not rocket surgery nor brain science. It is them. No need to treat our plastics. We don’t dump them.

[wbarmy]

http://www.plastic2oil.com/site/home

Wish I had money to invest.

[mwilli20]

Why, pray tell, are we DUMPING plastics in the ocean?

[GOPJ]

Couldn’t plastic be degraded into harmless chemicals, in treatment plants, before it is dumped into the oceans, just as human waste is rendered harmless?

That would take all the fun out of the liberal drama queen's rant...

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

The majority of plastic in the oceans, something like 90% IIRC, is swept out by five rivers in China and two in Africa.

Good luck getting them to do anything about it.

[Hot Tabasco]

Couldn’t plastic be degraded into harmless chemicals, in treatment plants, before it is dumped into the oceans,

Plastic is recycled in treatment plants and not dumped anywhere.

The plastics they are referring to is all the debris that ends up in the ocean, 85% of which comes from the Asian continent with China and Indonesia being the top two countries in pollution.