this post was submitted on 28 Sep 2025
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Science Memes

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[–] SaveTheTuaHawk@lemmy.ca 8 points 1 week ago (3 children)

Manufacturers have no responsibility or regulation in packaging. Buy some items made of metal, and you still generate immediate plastic packaging waste. Some of that plastic has recycling symbols on them, but they can be fake, and again, no regulation.

So all we really recycle is clear PETG. 90% of recycling plastics are landfill. We put stuff in blue bins to remove consumer guilt.

[–] Swedneck@discuss.tchncs.de 1 points 1 day ago

i mean here in sweden we do regulate producers to be responsible for their products being recyclable, maybe the rest of the world should catch up?

99% of packaging can be very very easily recycled at home, with it specifically saying which bin it goes in, and other products are brought to a recycling centre where you can just ask staff where it goes. Most electronics can be taken to the store that sold it and they'll handle it for you.

And individuals are legally required to recycle whatever they can, too. Not that it's enforced obviously, but technically you aren't allowed to just toss things in the general trash if it can be recycled.

[–] sip@programming.dev 1 points 1 week ago (1 children)

idk man, in Rome, Italy you get fined if you don't separate yo things.

[–] Tyrq@lemmy.dbzer0.com 7 points 1 week ago

Just because they fine you doesn't make separating them any more or less recyclable

[–] BussyCat@lemmy.world 0 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Should just follow japans lead and incinerate the plastic for energy

[–] SaveTheTuaHawk@lemmy.ca 0 points 1 week ago (1 children)

And just blow those toxins into the air.

[–] BussyCat@lemmy.world 3 points 1 week ago

Filters and stripping columns. It’s not that hard to do and if you have a clean source of plastics (not mixed with garbage) then it’s basically all just hydrocarbons with a little bit of nitrogen. Carbon + oxygen + hydrogen = CO2 and H2O which while we don’t need more CO2 it’s significantly better then generating that same energy from oil as it is cleaning up our waste vs extracting more from the ground.

Its a lot harder when you do trash incineration as that has a lot more nasty stuff in it but plastics are easy