135 sats \ 1 reply \ @endothermicdev 1 Mar \ on: Recycling Doesn’t Work—and the Plastics Industry Knew It conspiracy
What's worse is a lot of it just ends up bundled up and stacked on container ships bound for SE Asia. When weather picks up, it gets swept overboard all the time, making a contribution to the great Pacific garbage patch. I think running it through an incinerator and recouping some energy may be the least worst option.
It's amazing how many problems originate from incentive misalignment. This is just one more example. I like how the milk industry used to reuse glass milk bottles - I wish more companies had a cradle-to-grave approach, but it's cheaper to abandon responsibility for your product as soon as it's off the shelf.
it's cheaper to abandon responsibility for your product as soon as it's off the shelf.
Absolutely true, where there is no accountability for externalities. Major manufacturers, chemical plants, factories, all have incentive to retain conditions where there is a total lack of accountability, which means more captured regulatory agencies, more complex legal structures, more difficult lawsuits, less environmental testing, and even a culture that doesn't understand science. RFK has a lot to say about this.
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