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The haste of creating composable plastics has come full circle. Many waste processing facilities are asking residential customer to reconsider purchasing products that use compostable plastics as containers.
It seems compostable plastics can't be recycled because when mixed with recyclable plastics, they contaminate those plastics and render them unusable for recycling. The problem is that not all compostable plastics decompose at the same rate and not all waste facilities that have composting processes harvest the compost at the same time.
The different composting times for those plastics interfere with the harvest of compost because the facilities can't use the compost where the materials in it haven't been properly composted. Since there is no way to determine the length of time it takes for the plastic to compost, the facilities are dealing with many different composting times which often exceed the rate at which they need to harvest the compost.
The end result? All plastics at various waste management facilities are being sent to the landfill. While the compostable plastics eventually do compost, the recycleable plastics just remain in the landfill.
With the volume of waste materials to sort, it is impractical to distinguish between recycleable plastics and compostable plastics and since they can't be mixed for their intended purpose in the process, all plastics get sent to the landfill.
So if you buy products contained in compostable plastics, think about what the best of intentions are really doing. If your waste processing facility is one of those which can extend its composting times to account for the longest probable time it takes for all compostable plastics to complete their cycle they are contaminating their compost, contaminating their recycled plastics or just dumping all plastic into the landfill. Check with your waste disposal company and ask about their process because most such facilities aren't actively informing their customers, its just a dirty little secret.
In the rush to green, in this case haste did little more than create yet another problem.
The end result? All plastics at various waste management facilities are being sent to the landfill. While the compostable plastics eventually do compost, the recycleable plastics just remain in the landfill.
With the volume of waste materials to sort, it is impractical to distinguish between recycleable plastics and compostable plastics and since they can't be mixed for their intended purpose in the process, all plastics get sent to the landfill.
Without references to reliable sources for the information, this is a meaningless claim.
In trying to find published standards it seems they are all over the place, some say within a certain number of days, others say different. If there was some agreed upon standard that would seem to solve the problem no?
That wouldn't fix it. For example, lets say the standard was 180 days maximum to decomposition. Good so far, all compostable plastics get made to that standard.
Unfortunately not all or even most composting facilities in the US use the same length of time to compost before cycling it. Very busy centers might not have the luxury of longer timeframes while others might have the time.
You could say it doesn't matter because the plastics would continue to compost one cycled but it doesn't work that way. While the plastics would continue to decompose slowly they would already be in the environment where they pose a threat to wildlife and the intended uses.
There aren't a single set of standards so it makes some sense to avoid decompostable plastics or if you need to use them, throw them away along with regular trash, not in the recycle waste.
It is just a good idea that didn't get the benefit of thinking it through. The result is that a lot of recyclable plastics are going to landfill because the sorting facilities that also compost can't distinguish between compostable and recyclable plastics, it is too labor intensive.
Told you how to find the info. If you are unable or just don't want to , not my problem.Some advice for others to consider and how to find out if it applies to them. You can chose not to participate. Thanks
Nope. This is just empty rhetoric. If you are going to make a claim like this, especially when making an outrageous claim like this, it is up to you to provide proof of your claim.
This is such a basic ground level principle of debate, and of logical thinking... I learned all this stuff by Freshman year of high school, and the principles of logic had been worked out by the Greeks thousands of years ago... that it is not even worthy of argument.
You made the claim that Waste Reclamation facilities are not really recycling plastics, while providing absolutely no evidence that this claim is the truth. And my straightforward challenge to you is... PROVE IT!
Here's the big claim, which I challenged the OP to prove. ALL plastics get sent to the landfill?
Quote:
The end result? All plastics at various waste management facilities are being sent to the landfill. While the compostable plastics eventually do compost, the recycleable plastics just remain in the landfill.
With the volume of waste materials to sort, it is impractical to distinguish between recycleable plastics and compostable plastics and since they can't be mixed for their intended purpose in the process, all plastics get sent to the landfill.
ALL plastics? Really? ALL plastics? Sorry, not in my community!
Here's the big claim, which I challenged the OP to prove. ALL plastics get sent to the landfill?
ALL plastics? Really? ALL plastics? Sorry, not in my community!
Hate to be the obvious a**hole here, but do you have a link to that?
Because without references to reliable sources for the information, this is a meaningless claim.
And I believe the original quote was "all plastic at various waste management facilities"..
Not all plastic at all facilities.
Sorry but the constant bickering gets old.
Having to provide a link or proof of every statement made just reduces the conversation.
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.
And, no I can not provide a link to prove that.
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.
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