Scientists have discovered way to recycle ALL plastic

Researchers at UC Berkeley have developed a new catalytic process that can vaporize the polyethylene (single-use bags) and polypropylene (hard plastics) that dominate trash piles, converting them into propylene and other hydrocarbon gases. Those gases can then be used as feedstocks to manufacture virgin plastics again, enabling a truly circular economy.

Not the bee

A little good news to start the day.

Now if we could just get it out of our brains and our ….

a reply to: pianopraze

That's cool but let me know when deposit is added to all bottled beverages and not merely the carbonated kind.

originally posted by: pianopraze

Now if we could just get it out of our brains and our ….

Balls??

Teflon testicles sounds pretty manly. Lol

originally posted by: TzarChasm
a reply to: pianopraze

That's cool but let me know when deposit is added to all bottled beverages and not merely the carbonated kind.

Where are you that only carbonated beverage containers are recycled? You don't recycle water bottles??

Let’s hope that they can make the process manageable for all over the world. And that some idiotic corporations don’t try to bury it for whatever reason.

originally posted by: VariedcodeSole

originally posted by: TzarChasm
a reply to: pianopraze

That's cool but let me know when deposit is added to all bottled beverages and not merely the carbonated kind.

Where are you that only carbonated beverage containers are recycled? You don't recycle water bottles??

Rural America. Check into it.

Ask a trans person, they could probably tell ya all about that!

a reply to: VariedcodeSole

a reply to: pianopraze

It will work if the process is no expensive, that will be counterproductive.

Is a reason why recycle still does not work very well, from all the trash that is collected as recyclables only a small portion of it is ever recycle at all.

a reply to: pianopraze

Now if we could just get it out of our brains and our ….

A new process thst makes the meal and removes any plastics found within and adds it as packaging!!

soylent green
Coming to a store near you!!

originally posted by: VariedcodeSole

originally posted by: TzarChasm
a reply to: pianopraze

That's cool but let me know when deposit is added to all bottled beverages and not merely the carbonated kind.

Where are you that only carbonated beverage containers are recycled? You don't recycle water bottles??

All I'm saying is there would be more incentive to make sure every bottle gets recycled if they were all worth 10 cents.

originally posted by: TzarChasm

originally posted by: VariedcodeSole

originally posted by: TzarChasm
a reply to: pianopraze

That's cool but let me know when deposit is added to all bottled beverages and not merely the carbonated kind.

Where are you that only carbonated beverage containers are recycled? You don't recycle water bottles??

All I'm saying is there would be more incentive to make sure every bottle gets recycled if they were all worth 10 cents.

I could get behind that. Here in sunny CA, they used to have recycling centers behind or along side grocery stores or shopping outlets. Not anymore.

This was well before COVID, but COVID solidified a lot of changes. They closed the recycling centers that entire communities used to hedge a little extra each month, and some, to actually survive.

Something about the copper market at the time. I guess it never recovered because they haven't reopened anywhere.

People, being the drones that they are, will just GIVE their recycling away to waste management conglomerates that are taking in millions each year in freebie waste.

My recycling center was right in the middle of town but now it's either 5 miles north, 10 miles south or 15+ miles east just to freaking recycle!

They forced out the locals and the sheep barely bleeped a bleet about it. COVID shutdown recycling period, but when things reopened, they got rid of the recycling centers at the dump! All you can do is drop it off, no redemption services.

It's all a big scam to funnel the redemption to the waste companies.

a reply to: pianopraze

Lets hope they don't recycle Kate Price and many other Celebs who are filled with plastic.

a reply to: VariedcodeSole

Somehow I'm very skeptical that california residents are lining up to deliver truckloads of waste to be recycled. There's guys who get paid to do the bare minimum of retrieval and disposal, beyond that....

a reply to: TzarChasm

When it was made widely available at the centers of commerce, it made sense for a lot of people and I saw larger lines than there are now for the sporadic locations that exist now.

To be fair though, I suppose giving the recycling to the waste management company is worth not having the hassles of sorting, bagging and transporting it.

Thing is, there was never any announcement or adjustments to anyone's bills. Matter of fact, in a lot of places around this state, you can be fined for not recycling! Kind of extortive if you ask me.

a reply to: VariedcodeSole
You burn them without burning, man of steel

originally posted by: pianopraze
A little good news to start the day.

Now if we could just get it out of our brains and our ….

I see more hype, than good news.

Until someone can show me otherwise, I'm putting this in the same file as "Scientists extract gold from seawater".

Sounds great because seawater is cheap and plentiful and gold is valuable, so good news, right. No, because the gold obtained from seawater costs far more than just buying gold at existing market prices. So why would anybody do this except to make a little experiment and write a paper?

From the article:
"Researchers at UC Berkeley have developed a new catalytic process that can vaporize the polyethylene (single-use bags) and polypropylene (hard plastics) that dominate trash piles."

Vaporizing something typically is energy intensive, which is why I strongly suspect the process will be costly and the materials which result will cost far more than existing materials made with existing methods.

So like extracting gold from seawater, vaporizing plastics can be done, but that doesn't mean it's economically viable to do either.