God forbid it should be shredded and mixed into paving projects God forbid it should be shredded and mixed into paving projectsThey can burn the plastic along with some paper, generate electricity from the energy released, use the electricity to power smokeless burning technology that captures the CO2 and other pollutants before they are released released into the atmosphere. But you are right. If you are going to collect all that plastic, it is more economical to simply mix it with asphalt and use it as paving material. Fact is recycling plastic is a fool’s errand.
They've been doing that with used car tires for decades. They found the rubber in the asphalt allows better braking on off ramps leading to fewer accidents. After that they started using it in a lot more asphalt. I don't think they've ever been able to keep up with all the used tires though. There are separate used tire dumps adjacent to most landfills these days waiting to be recycled.
I suppose if plastic was shredded to a small enough size it could be used as filler in asphat or better yet; concrete. One trick they use to make concrete stronger is small pieces of fishing line shaped plastics mixed in with the concrete. By adding it to the concrete the rebar doesn't need to be laid in first for smaller projects like driveways and pads for garages where excessive weight like a car or truck will be driven or parked on.
Again; there will always be more plastic than is needed so disposal will still mean ending up in landfills. Plastic is a wonder product with a dirty downside. Perhaps it's time to get back to paper cartons and straws instead of using plastic all the time.
There's a reason there's a Texas-sized island of floating plastic in the oceans.
Where does your plastic go? Global investigation reveals America's dirty secret