re: “Long after we are extinct and long after nuclear waste has decayed to a harmless level, plastic waste will still be there.”
I may be way off here on this, but it has been my personal experience that plastic does not last as long as many experts say.
Maybe it has to do with the thickness or some other quality, but it has been my observation that plastic, when exposed to the elements and long periods of sunlight, basically dissolves to dust.
I’m an avid large scale garden railroad enthusiast and the plastic railroad “ties” that is used with the track begin to decay and turn to dust within a few months of exposure outdoors.
The same is true with styrofoam cups I’ve seen in random trash that has blown into ditches or against fences. When I went to pick these up for clean-up and removal, often these break up in my hand or again, dissolve into “dust” before I can get them into the trash can.
Speaking of trash cans - the plastic ones - these too after a few years of exposure begin to become brittle and cracked in the open sunlight.
I think sunlight tears plastic down quickly. Like I said, I could be wrong on this, but it looks to me that plastic breaks down rather quickly. Maybe the “dust” it turns into is still plastic and merely changes appearance, but it does not seem to hang around as long as everyone says.
I’m not criticizing, just giving an observation.
Plastics are made from organic molecules. They are quite susceptible to heat and light. Since the damage goes all the way down to the level of molecular bonding, I would surmise that the smaller decomposition products are susceptible to bacterial metabolism.
I wonder what the soil analysis on samples taken near areas where plastics are decaying would reveal.
the ultraviolet radiation is harmful to the plasticizers. Once damaged the plastic deteriorates. That will not happen when buried in a land fill.
The ban accomplishes nothing but make some prissy women feel good for having made a difference