When haste makes waste - literally

[Cyberguy1950]

For me, the point of this thread is that something that should be an environmental plus has turned into a negative and what can be done to resolve that issue.

Exactly.

[OpenD]

Originally Posted by Eddyline

Having to provide a link or proof of every statement made just reduces the conversation.

Not at all. OP made a major claim, with no evidence and no references, and it was unbelievable without them. That's why I called it out. And after doing some fact checking, I found that the claim had been misstated.

Obviously the entire plastics recycling business did not come screeching to a halt without anyone knowing about it. ALL the plastic is not going to the landfills. That was a ludicrous claim to make... obviously untrue... and if OP had provided his references it would have been short work to find out where the misunderstanding came from.

I worked in the recycling industry years ago and was surprised how often a whole truckload had to be sent to the landfill because of contamination. It is just too labor intensive to sort out and clean up.

But what was in the truck? Years ago it was probably not plastics. Glass perhaps, or paper. And in any case, what was it contaminated with? Not biodegradable plastics, which haven't been a factor for very long.

Paper is the most common recyclable that can be spoiled by a very small amount of contaminant, and the most common contaminant is food or grease. One greasy pizza box can ruin a whole truckload of newsprint and clean cardboard.

In plastics recycling the most common issue is food. That's why communities that do recycle plastic want the plastics for recycling separated from the trash (rubbish, basura) which is headed for the landfill. Many communities provide separate containers for recycling pick up of plastic types #1-7, and the guidelines specify that no plastics marked PLA or compostable, or bags, foamed plastics, or #7 beverage bottle should go in the trash. See here for typical guidelines... Plastics

Contaminated plastics, like fast food containers and bags and wrappers are sent to the landfill as a matter of course. Then the idea was was promoted that biodegradable plastics for food service would allow them to break down in the landfill. Later the idea evolved to try to compost bioplastics along with food waste and other green waste, but this is not widely practiced, nor is generally considered to be highly successful.

[quote)For me, the point of this thread is that something that should be an environmental plus has turned into a negative and what can be done to resolve that issue.[/quote]

Yes, that's fine, but the inference that this is a major issue that is causing plastics recycling to fail seems not to be true. I'd say it's minor, as problems with recycling go, since there's no evidence readily available that it's a big problem.

[my54ford]

Doesn't matter if you believe me or not but these plastic products that do go to the landfill add more siloxanes to landfill gas which causes an increased cost in the maintenance of landfill gas engines used to generate electricity. While the pros may outweigh the bad, there are often unseen costs people do not take into account...

[Year2525]

I inferred that the OP made an observation and opened it up for discussion. So far everyone is doing just that except for you OpenD. I provided some info from NY that says it is a problem too. How about being part of the discussion instead of mudslinging? Seriously!

[Mack Knife]

We recycle everything possible, putting as little into waste containers as possible. It saves us money because we can use the really small containers that the waste management company provides and there is some satisfaction when taking out just a really small baggie to the trash.

We get three types of containers, green ones for yard waste but they allow some other things to go in there as well; a black one for plain trash and a blue one for recyclables. To date we've been putting the plastics into the blue one as requested by the waste company.

The other day we got a notice that compostable plastics aren't allowed in the recycle container because it contaminates the recycle process and renders the batches (for lack of better term) useless and it gets returned as waste from the processor of the plastics.

So I started reading up and found that it was true, compostable or bioplastics contaminate recycle plastics and make them unfit for use in other products. I thought how could only a few compostable plastic items make a significant difference so I called the waste company (like I suggested others do if they need more info) and was told that it took only a very small amount to render the recyclable plastics unusable for recycling. What happens is that the compostable plastics break continue to break down and whatever is made with that batch of recyclable plastic just doesn't hold up to use. The end manufacturer that uses the plastics rejects the materials and there is a waste of not only the plastic but the energy that went into the process so far because everything gets sent to the landfill.

Like I said, it happens at various waste processors so you have to check to see how yours operates. Some have the problem, others do not. The problem though, stems from the lack of standards across the waste management process.

For our situation, we're taking out the compostable or bioplastics and trying to see if out own composts will do the job. We have several so one can sit longer to allow for at least 6 months to see if it breaks down by then. If it doesn't we'll just put the compostable plastics in the regular trash as the waste management company asks.

I dislike sorting if someone else is going to make money from my labor so that is the reason for composting it myself or at least trying to.

I think the reason this isn't a headline is because when the batches are rejected they just go to landfill. Maybe it is just taking some time before this gets more attention but it seems that is already starting.

My method of dealing with this is just to avoid compostable or bioplastics if I can and when I can't, throw it into our compost heap designated for plastics to see if it works.

All the sources I've read say the same thing, that bioplastics aren't a very good solution to the plastics waste problem because of so many variables in the manufacturing processes and reliance on self testing which may or may not yield accurate results.

Overall though, I still think there was a rush to do something and instead of solving a problem, many more were created. That why I bring up end to end planning because each time something like this happens, no real progress is made and in facts things get worse.

Like the guy down the street who was all smiles because he ditched his gas powered leaf blower for a battery operated one, I mentioned that on the dry summer days, the amount of dust and other things he blows into the air probably cause his downwind neighbors a lot of breathing issues and covers the cars and everything else with grit. So then those people are out using precious water to clean up and in the end so save some fumes he keeps creating dust, grit and the use of extra water. Right now, we need water badly so dumping the gas powered leaf blower is anything but a win-win. Sure he eliminates the fumes but now he just figured he could use the thing more often and every time he needed to move some dirt around so the result was anything but good. Not to mention that he spent hundreds to buy enough batteries to run the thing because it isn't as powerful as the gas model and it seems like he runs it a whole lot more to get the job done.

I used the above to illustrate that good intentions without good planning often don't get the result you really want.

[randomparent]

Yep, it's a problem here, too, which is why I avoid non-reusable packaging as much as possible. I take my own containers to the store and buy from bulk. I admire the good intentions of companies using compostable plastic, but there are still significant kinks to be worked out in its implementation.