We have a lot of options for materials that completely decompose. The challenge is materials that only decompose when you want them to, and not while theyre sitting on store shelves
That doesn’t sound like a problem but a feature. We love new shiny things and wasting things.
I think if we find materials that breakdown in a useful way, it creates an incentive to make use of those products that have a shelf life. But more importantly creating a waste product that is beneficial.
I didn’t know if the material science is there yet. But we need to figure out the best way to use these new materials to change industries.
If we can make something profitable, other people will do the hard part of adopting it and getting it out there.
My work produces sooo much waste. More than all of the staff combined will ever produce. And thats just my branch. We have hundreds of branches and being where we are in canada, we put some of the most amount of effort into recycling. Because its law, not because the company is willing to sacrifice profit by spending resources on anything that doesnt produce value in dollars.
We are small fry, and we arent in a monopoly
I think if we find materials that breakdown in a useful way, it creates an incentive to make use of those products that have a shelf life. But more importantly creating a waste product that is beneficial.
Cardboard. It composts well.
I go through more cardboard than garbage. It’s not useful for many packaging or shipping solutions
Right, generally whenever fluids or outdoor exposure is a concern. Because it decomposes.
In not sure what point you are making. But ill clarify that i was only trying to show that i did take the use of cardboard into consideration when i have the opinion i did.
That may not help or already be understood.
I dont know what happening
We have cardboard and paper for when you want packaging to eventually decompose. And plastic for when you dont want it to. Which is why no decomposable alternative for plastic has caught on, plastic is mainly used in those situations we dont want it decomposing. A lot of people have developed plant based, biodegradable plastics, its actually not that hard. Theyre just all prone to decomposing
Almost all of the plastic I use at work so ship orders, is used for less than a day. Tape, plastic bags, wrap, strapping.
We use so much of it to just contain things for extrememly short periods of time, its all disposable plastic that isnt needed for more than a day usually, often hours.
Nothing about does anyone think even once we dont want it to decompose too soon
We we are one industry, and just one branch of one player in it. And we are one of the few areas that has rules about recycling.
Industry can change if they want but they dont.
We could easily switch to paper tape and start there at least eliminating one entire product line from waste. But if we can just straight up swap oil-plastic tape for biodegradable-plastic tape it would be one example of something we can do right now that we won’t until we are forced to
All it would take is the product be available and the cost not more than what we are using. So subsidize the cost of using the product we want to lower its price and get people using it. When they do scaling and maturing of this new product will also bring the cost down which will reduce the need of subsidizing it, over time or sudden advances, and make the bad product less appealing because of cost.
But you have to make that transition as easy as simply ordering a different part number when ordering supplies.
Its never going to be industry that makes this happen unless it costs less. So it will likely need to come from government whether it be economic policy or legislative policy
The problem with cardboard isnt that it decomposes, but that its made of paper, which absorbs fluids. Its also not really possible to make air-proof packaging with cardboard.
There are already compostable alternatives to plastic bags being sold in stores like Target. I heard one of the issues is that people/companies refuse to pay more for them.
Sounds like something laws should fix
Exactly… We need heavy focus on packaging… plastic bags are barely a problem. I don’t care if my food packaging is flashy… I shouldn’t be in the hook if this stuff doesn’t decompose naturally. Meat is the most agriegious example why do we use heavy styrene?
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Do you have a citation for that? That sounds like disinformation. Compostable bags are made from plants not plastic. https://www.makeitmatter.com/faq
Again?
I kid of course. The durable bioplastics from the 50s were made from plant cellulose.
They still are.
I have a lot to say when reading a headline like this, but it boils down to: I really hope advances like this and EV’s topple the fossil fuel industry that’s hurting our planet.
I agree, although, the pessimist in me says the Oil companies will find a way to kill it somehow.
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Is it price-competitive with the oil-plastic? What usecases?
I want to be optimistic, but…
However, cost is currently a prohibitive issue to widespread use, the researchers said. While petroleum is readily available to siphon from the ground, widespread infrastructure for algae farming will be needed for plastics made of the bio-based polymer to become used en masse, Burkart said.
However, the process the researchers devised can also be applied to other plant-based material, Burkart said.
The researchers hope their new process can eventually be implemented widely for food packaging, Pomeroy said.
“But if you’re going to ask me, ‘Could we do this with anything?’ I’m pretty sure we could do this with most anything,” he said.
Sounds like an economy of scales problem, and the scale isn’t there. Fixable, but not great.
No he said that in the video. It’s a moot point. We are looking at doing something new. Will it be price competitive once it matures? Thats what we need to be asking.
Because if yes, immediately shift ALL subsidies from petroleum to whatever CAN effectively replace oil-plastic.
Whatever we do, it has to actually be effective regardless of cost. Cost come down as economies of scale sort themselves out.
Plastic is killing us anyway, what cost matters if we are all dead?
This is a problem NOW. Paying for it is a problem LATER.
Oh, nice… techno-solution No. 456927493923990003038. You know… the same ole’ techno-solutions they’ve been promising us will solve all the capitalism-instigated problems (ie, problems that aren’t technological in nature) since at least the 80s?
I’ll just go ahead and file this with the rest.
since at least the 80s
People have been reliant on “ole’ techno-solutions” since the dawn of humanity 2 million years ago on the African savannah, long before capitalism was even a thing. Just sayin’.
I think in this case it’s a matter of definition what constitutes a “techno-solution”, specifically the “techno” part. Just saying.
People have been reliant on “ole’ techno-solutions” since the dawn of humanity
Soooo… according to you people have been relying on “techno-solutions” to fix the problems caused by capitalism long before capitalism was even invented.
Yeah… that makes total sense.
Damn right, many techno-solutions already exist and have for a while but don’t get used, usually due to bribery by the purveyors of the problem.
No, usually because of the same reason most of these innovations don’t work. They don’t scale for one of 1000 reasons.
Not everything is a conspiracy.
Oil company says “no”
Yes and they can make paper from kudzu. So - wrapped in paper then bioplastic and voilá. No more eternal waste.
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