Slashdot Mirror
US States Banned From Exporting Trash To China Are Drowning In Plastic
hackingbear writes "Not only we depend on Chinese labor for the imports but we also depend on them to clean up our mess. Being green is getting a lot harder for eco-friendly states in the U.S., thanks to the country's dependency on overrun Chinese recycling facilities since the start of China's Green Fence policy this year. Recycling centers in Oregon and Washington recently stopped accepting clear plastic "clamshell" containers used for berries, plastic hospital gowns and plastic bags, while California's farmers are grappling with what to do with the 50,000 to 75,000 tons of plastic they use each year. The Green Fence initiative bans bales of plastic that haven't been cleaned or thoroughly sorted. That type of recyclable material, which costs more to recycle, often it ends up in China's landfills, which have become a source of recent unrest in the country's south. For every ton of reusable plastic, China has received many more tons of random trash, some of it toxic. That has helped build 'trash mountains' so high they sometimes bury people alive. For a country facing environmental crisis after environmental crisis, it is no longer tenable to accept US waste exports."
Guys, lots of other countries use incinerators for non-recyclable stuff. You get rid of it, and get electricity and heat as a bonus. Modern incinerators are so clean, they rarely even emit visible steam.
Why is the US so allergic to incinerators?
Enjoy life! This is not a dress rehearsal.
Perhaps there's an even better way of dealing with the problem...
Ezekiel 23:20
Isn't it all hydrocarbons anyways? Why not just burn it in coal power plants?
That's basically what the Dutch do, and they're the golden child of recycling. They found that burning plastic is more economical than recycling it. They also recycle all sorts of metals, but after incineration.
http://www.triplepundit.com/2010/06/a-tour-of-amsterdam%E2%80%99s-waste-to-energy-plant/
Most people do actually pay for their garbage removal. The cost is just usually lumped in with some other bill and isn't variable depending on how much they generate. I know my waste disposal fee is lumped in with the sewage and water. The annoying thing where I live is that we don't have curb side recycling at all. We have to sort it and then go find a municipal container that we can cram it into. So as a community our recycling is even less efficient because each individual has to drive to the silly containers.
Handy map: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antipodes
Tiller's Rule: Never use a word in written form that you've only heard and never read. You will end up looking foolish.