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mac
Joined: 07 Mar 1999 Posts: 17747 Location: Berkeley, California
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Posted: Sun Nov 01, 2020 2:17 pm Post subject: Plastics and the ocean |
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Quote: | By Veronica Penney
Oct. 30, 2020
The United States contribution to coastal plastic pollution worldwide is significantly larger than previously thought, possibly by as much as five times, according to a study published Friday.
The research, published in Science Advances, is the sequel to a 2015 paper by the same authors. Two factors contributed to the sharp increase: Americans are using more plastic than ever and the current study included pollution generated by United States exports of plastic waste, while the earlier one did not.
The United States, which does not have sufficient infrastructure to handle its recycling demands at home, exports about half of its recyclable waste. Of the total exported, about 88 percent ends up in countries considered to have inadequate waste management.
“When you consider how much of our plastic waste isn’t actually recyclable because it is low-value, contaminated or difficult to process, it’s not surprising that a lot of it ends up polluting the environment,” said the study’s lead author, Kara Lavender Law, research professor of oceanography at Sea Education Association, in a statement.
The study estimates that in 2016, the United States contributed between 1.1 and 2.2 million metric tons of plastic waste to the oceans through a combination of littering, dumping and mismanaged exports.
At a minimum, that’s almost double the total estimated waste in the team’s previous study. At the high end, it would be a fivefold increase over the earlier estimate. |
Big oil at work. Helped by trump deregulation. They use the same tactics on plastic waste that they do on climate change. Lie, cheat and buy politicians. |
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techno900
Joined: 28 Mar 2001 Posts: 4161
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Posted: Sun Nov 01, 2020 3:32 pm Post subject: |
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From Mac's article: Quote: | The research, published in Science Advances, is the sequel to a 2015 paper by the same authors. Two factors contributed to the sharp increase: Americans are using more plastic than ever and the current study included pollution generated by United States exports of plastic waste, while the earlier one did not. |
So, let me get this straight. Big oil and Trump are responsible for the negligence of foreign countries mismanaging the plastic waste disposal/recycling sent to them under contract.
Maybe all packing could go back to paper, there are plenty of trees available in the west, if they start thinning the forests to limit fires. |
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mac
Joined: 07 Mar 1999 Posts: 17747 Location: Berkeley, California
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Posted: Sun Nov 01, 2020 6:36 pm Post subject: |
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techno900 wrote: | From Mac's article: Quote: | The research, published in Science Advances, is the sequel to a 2015 paper by the same authors. Two factors contributed to the sharp increase: Americans are using more plastic than ever and the current study included pollution generated by United States exports of plastic waste, while the earlier one did not. |
So, let me get this straight. Big oil and Trump are responsible for the negligence of foreign countries mismanaging the plastic waste disposal/recycling sent to them under contract.
Maybe all packing could go back to paper, there are plenty of trees available in the west, if they start thinning the forests to limit fires. |
Let me get this straight. I post an article about American generation of plastic waste and Techno diverts to "negligence of foreign countries." Diversion, or reading comprehension issues? |
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swchandler
Joined: 08 Nov 1993 Posts: 10588
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Posted: Sun Nov 01, 2020 9:00 pm Post subject: |
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There are a lot reasons for moving offshore. It's far cheaper and there are very little rules and regulations in the way, especially when you can turn your back on it after it's gone.
That's food for thought as we move into a fateful future. |
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isobars
Joined: 12 Dec 1999 Posts: 20935
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Posted: Sun Nov 01, 2020 10:27 pm Post subject: |
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If the following is what you're yapping about, good on ya for a change.
PBS and NPR reported that recycling plastics was "costly -- difficult -- infeasible" ... in the 1970s" . The plastic industry lobby (the PPI, now known as the PIA), still spends millions of dollars falsely claiming that plastics are recycled, all for PR so the public won't blame them for its final resting place: dumps in our country. Six times more plastic is burned in the U.S. alone than is actually repurposed, spewing more than 850 metric tons of greenhouse gases into our atmosphere every year. That equates to the emissions from 189 500 megawatt coal power plants, according to the Plastic Pollution Coalition. We got LOOOOOTS of room in the western U.S to bury our crap conscientiously for a LOOOOONG time; why not put it to good use?
Besides, we'll all be dead in 10 years, according to Biden's brilliant climate czar, AOC, so why not just bulldoze it into the nearest internal combustion engine factory? |
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wsurfer
Joined: 17 Aug 2000 Posts: 1635
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Posted: Mon Nov 02, 2020 7:03 am Post subject: |
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isobars wrote: | If the following is what you're yapping about, good on ya for a change.
PBS and NPR reported that recycling plastics was "costly -- difficult -- infeasible" ... in the 1970s" . The plastic industry lobby (the PPI, now known as the PIA), still spends millions of dollars falsely claiming that plastics are recycled, all for PR so the public won't blame them for its final resting place: dumps in our country. Six times more plastic is burned in the U.S. alone than is actually repurposed, spewing more than 850 metric tons of greenhouse gases into our atmosphere every year. That equates to the emissions from 189 500 megawatt coal power plants, according to the Plastic Pollution Coalition. We got LOOOOOTS of room in the western U.S to bury our crap conscientiously for a LOOOOONG time; why not put it to good use?
Besides, we'll all be dead in 10 years, according to Biden's brilliant climate czar, AOC, so why not just bulldoze it into the nearest internal combustion engine factory? |
With all of that you failed to mention the portion that lands up in our waterways and oceans. |
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techno900
Joined: 28 Mar 2001 Posts: 4161
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Posted: Mon Nov 02, 2020 8:10 am Post subject: |
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mac wrote: | techno900 wrote: | From Mac's article: Quote: | The research, published in Science Advances, is the sequel to a 2015 paper by the same authors. Two factors contributed to the sharp increase: Americans are using more plastic than ever and the current study included pollution generated by United States exports of plastic waste, while the earlier one did not. |
So, let me get this straight. Big oil and Trump are responsible for the negligence of foreign countries mismanaging the plastic waste disposal/recycling sent to them under contract.
Maybe all packing could go back to paper, there are plenty of trees available in the west, if they start thinning the forests to limit fires. |
Let me get this straight. I post an article about American generation of plastic waste and Techno diverts to "negligence of foreign countries." Diversion, or reading comprehension issues? |
So what part of "pollution generated by United States exports of plastic waste," do you not understand? Do a little research and you will find the answer. Critical thinking still lacking, I see. |
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