Posted on 02/15/2024 2:21:22 PM PST by ChicagoConservative27
Plastics producers have promoted recycling their products as an environmental solution for decades despite firsthand knowledge that it was not feasible, according to a report published Thursday.
More than 99 percent of plastics are produced using fossil fuels, and of these, the vast majority cannot be “recycled” in the sense of being processed and turned into entirely new products, according to the report from the Center for Climate Integrity. Viable end markets, or businesses that buy recyclables to make new products, only exist for polyethylene terephthalate and high-density polyethylene plastic containers, according to the report. Environmental Protection Agency materials have documented this since for at least 30 years.
Moreover, while some local and city recycling programs collect other categories of plastics, they do not fully recycle them. Those other plastics are burned or deposited in landfills, instead. In many cases, chemical additives or coloring make it impossible to recycle the same types of plastic together, while even plastic products that can be legitimately repurposed degrade in quality over time, and the cost of the process is more than that of producing entirely new plastic.
(Excerpt) Read more at thehill.com ...
The facility can handle up to 800 tons of municipal solid waste a day and can generate 22 megawatts of electricity, enough to power 13,000 homes. We sell the power to Spokane's Avista Utilities and earn about $5 million in power sales annually.
The process burns the solid waste at 2500 degrees and reduces the solid waste by 90 percent by volume and 70 percent by weight. The resulting ash is biologically inert and is sent to a landfill in Klickitat County for final disposal. The plant is operated by the City of Spokane's Solid Waste Disposal Department. The City took over operations of the plant in November 2014 to reduce costs and ensure ongoing efficient operations. The change in operations coincided with other changes in how the Spokane community's solid waste is managed. Previously, the plant was operated by a private company under contract with the City.
The facility is regulated by Spokane Regional Clean Air Agency, the Washington State Department of Ecology, and the Spokane Regional Health District. The Waste to Energy Facility went on line in late 1991, as part of an overall solution to handle the community's solid waste, replacing non-compliant, leaking landfills.
We selected waste to energy over landfilling because of its waste reduction capacity and because Spokane sits on top of the region's sole-source aquifer. The State of Washington joined us in this effort with a $60 million investment, recognizing our facility as a preferred alternative to aging landfills.
Fascinating info. Thanks.
I wonder how improved food packaging has reduced mild and serious illness, too. Less spoilage means improved health.
I think your first post about this was how difficult to open some of the packages. Years ago when trying to open some of those packages I would say “Just think of the elderly!”
And now I am one!
The hardest ones to open now are the small electronics or whatever inside of the huge stiff plastic packaging. Too tough for scissors so I need to use a knife - and even then it is difficult. Still have all my fingers though.
7. Need much more information on CCI, especially who runs it and funds it
Soros was deeply involved in the Open Society Foundation.
Old leftists were involved including Morton Haperin and possibly Vann Jones.
I had a bunch of chickens a few years ago and they laid more eggs than I could ever eat, so I gave them away to folks at church - aas long as they provided me a foam egg carton.
Those things are insanely expensive if you don’t buy a skid or so of them.
Same thing with the recycled paper ones.
That’s why I refer to coal, natural gas, and oil as hydrocarbons. That they are, regardless of one’s beliefs regarding the “big bang,” evolution, and the earth being “billions” of years old...
We’ve all known for a long time, recycling is a scam for many materials. For things like aluminum, glass, and large volumes of sorted materials, such as cardboard from a big box store, recycling makes sense. Separating out that Amazon cardboard box at your house from the rest of the trash, not so much.
“We’ve all known for a long time, recycling is a scam for many materials.”
I remember hearing, years ago, that at least some of the WWII recycling drives were fake, just to get people involved in the war effort on the home front.
I recall that same thing about the WWII metal drives. Just think - even back then they had psycholical experts on staff figuring out ways to direct people to a desired way of thinking. Although in the sense of WWII, perhaps it was a way of boosting morale or whatever, giving the people the idea that they were helping their husbands and sons fighting overseas. And not such a terrible thing.
I read somewhere where some school board (mine?) wanted the teachers to not deal with the facts of climate change, but to focus on the emotions and feelings of climate change!
As kids we were fascinated throwing styrofoam cups into the campfire and watching the black smoke curl up. We were easily amused back then.
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