Posted on 05/25/2023 9:34:14 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
Here’s something many of you probably suspected, but now there’s even more scientific data to back it up. A new study from the University of Strathclyde in Scotland has determined that recycling is not only failing to “save the planet” as we’ve long been promised, but it’s arguably producing a net harmful effect on both the environment and human health. In case that still comes as a surprise to you, the primary culprit in all of this is our old friend plastic. The ubiquitous use of various types of plastics in nearly everything humans manufacture or use is producing cumulative negative effects. And recycling really doesn’t work as advertised to begin with. (Free Beacon)
Contrary to what climate activists have claimed for years, plastic recycling is polluting the water and air, a new study has found.
The peer-reviewed study led by Erina Brown, a plastics scientist at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, Scotland, found that up to 13 percent of recycled plastics become microplastics, tiny particles smaller than five millimeters that pollute air and water, if wash water from recycling plants is not filtered. Brown and her team studied wastewater at a mixed plastics recycling facility in the United Kingdom and found it could produce up to 6.5 million pounds of microplastic per year.
This has been a pet peeve of mine for a while now and there are several layers to this onion. While the government at all levels insists on mandatory recycling programs for both private and business dwellings, it simply doesn’t work for the most part. Shockingly, on average, less than 10% of the plastic material you put in your recycling bin winds up being recycled. It’s really just the larger soda and other beverage bottles that can be reused. The rest goes into landfills and plastic takes a ludicrously long time to decompose.
The plastic that doesn’t go into the landfills largely winds up making its way into the water and eventually the oceans. There are literally massive islands of plastic trash in the oceans, some the size of continents. Look no further than the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. It stretches from California to Japan. And it’s killing off wildlife in horrific numbers.
And then there is the question addressed in the study I linked to above. The more we learn, the more we find that we’re breaking down plastic waste into tiny “microplastic” particles. They’re everywhere. They get into the water and the food supply and eventually into your body and the bodies of all the animals. The medical dangers of this are well established. Plastic in the body can cause cancer, changes in hormonal activity, reproductive failure, or growth and cognitive impairment.
But what can we do about it at this late stage in the game? I sometimes recount a story of when some friends of ours were playing a party game where everyone had to pick what they would do if they were given a time machine and could travel to any time in the past. Rather than visiting dinosaurs or watching the pyramids being built, I considered saying that I would go back in time and kill the people who invented plastic. But that’s a dumb idea because someone would have simply come along the next month and invented it anyway. It was seemingly inevitable.
But we’re not doing ourselves any favors. Plastic is a disaster, but we still don’t seem to be making any concrete progress in finding something less toxic to replace it. I wish I had some brilliant answers to offer, but I simply don’t see any.
Whenever I call up pictures of the great pacific garbage patch, they never seem to be very large or they are artists renderings. Their is also a lot of natural waste in most pictures, trees and bamboo
“Recycling is Actually Bad for the Environment”
Any conservative who actually ‘recycled’ was never a conservative, since we’ve always known that ‘recycling’ was a liberal construct.
And the state-county get to tax it!
” There are literally massive islands of plastic trash in the oceans, some the size of continents.”
I rate this statement as FALSE. An island is something you can walk on. There is no continent in the Pacific Ocean you can walk on. This statement actually says there are multiple continents of plastic in the Pacific. It is more likely that Bigfoot will take over the world than that there are multiple continents of plastic in the Pacific. The plastic in the Pacific is dispersed so that it amounts to a few grams for every cubic mile of water.
In particular I hate the misuse of the word “literally”.
Wood. Aluminum. Steel.
I remember wooden knobs on radios.
And if it’s true that plastic is not degradable, well, the planet will simply incorporate plastic into a new paradigm: The Earth Plus Plastic. The Earth doesn’t share our prejudice toward plastic. Plastic came out of the Earth. The Earth probably sees plastic as just another one of its children. Could be the only reason the Earth allowed us to be spawned from it in the first place. It wanted plastic for itself. Didn’t know how to make it. Needed us. Could be the answer to our age-old egocentric philosophical question, “Why are we here?”
Plastic… a_____e.
-George Carlin
The costs of recycling far, far outweigh any potential benefit. There is virtually no use for the vast majority of stuff you so dutifully wash, separate and put in the bin.
Since China quit taking it to dump in their own rivers, much of the “recycled” stuff just goes into the regular landfill.
Here’s a great article about the fallacy of the recycling religion.
I’ve been saying for decades that if recycling made economic sense, there would be people bidding to buy my garbage. It’s always been nothing but virtue-signaling.
When Covid started & the KNOW-IT-ALLS in Washington dc decided which businesses were ‘essential’-—Some idiot shut down the molding facilities that made milk jugs. Gallon & 1/2 gallon jugs.
Dairy farmers were dumping their milk—2 times a day.
Finally-—2 multi-generation family dairies near where I live sent their entire herds to the livestock auction === 630 grown, producing dairy cows were auctioned off in one day.
Both families incomes were wiped out.
They were NOT alone.
Bananas-—PLUS spiders & snakes——:)
“This has been a pet peeve of mine for a while now “
Obviously, then, this is an impartial article.
I have been recycling since I was 8 years old. I’m almost 68 now. I despise eco-nuts and Democrats.
I’m a cheap guy that hates to see things go to waste that can be used and re used.
Use it up, wear it out, and then make do.
My newest car is 20 years old.
But I can drive where I damn well please.
God bless us all.
Glass depends greatly on the type of glass and the intended application of the recycled product. It is difficult to produce clear glass output with anything but clear glass input. Toss in one opaque beer bottle in the batch, and the results aren't pretty.
Paper is generally a loser. There are some specific papers that recycle fairly well. You can make cardboard out of just about any paper that hasn't already been recycled once. Recycling recycled cardboard doesn't work all that well though.
Iron/Steel, is not really a winner when you are talking about things like steel cans and such because the processing requirements pretty much remove any profit from it, because iron is pretty cheap per pound.
That really is the only way to recycle plastic. Turn it into fuel, and burn it. This, however, is not what the environazis consider 'recycling'.
People have no idea of the scale of oil seepage under the ocean. Lots of folks who visit Galveston beaches think all the tar on the beaches is from the oil rigs out in the Gulf. Not so! Jean Lafette reported the tar on the beaches of Galveston something like 200 years ago.
I disagree. As I said upthread, some things make sense to recycle, especially aluminum, but to a lesser extent, other things depending upon the application of the recycled material. Plastics should just be burned.
From The Graduate >>
Mr. McGuire: I want to say one word to you. Just one word.
Benjamin: Yes, sir.
Mr. McGuire: Are you listening?
Benjamin: Yes, I am.
Mr. McGuire: Plastics.
Benjamin: Exactly how do you mean?
Mr. McGuire: There’s a great future in plastics. Think about it. Will you think about it?
I know that they grow certain trees for paper pulp that grow fast and can be harvested relatively quickly. I suppose with OSB they can do similar? And not have to wait 30 years or whatever it is for a fir tree.
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