In The News Today...

Quote: AZDuffman

Is This The End of Recycling?
Appears the dirty little secret is we were sending lots of trash to China.

Quote: Evenbob

I've never understood the horror of
of putting plastic bottles in a landfill.
We take the oil out of the ground,
make plastic out of it, but if we put
it back in the ground when we're
done, that's an offense against god.

Quote: AZDuffman

But there has to be other ways to get rid of it. Grind it up for fill or something.

Quote: The Guardian

Jambulingam Street, Chennai, is a local legend. The tar road in the bustling Nungambakkam area has weathered a major flood, several monsoons, recurring heat waves and a steady stream of cars, trucks and auto rickshaws without showing the usual signs of wear and tear. Built in 2002, it has not developed the mosaic of cracks, potholes or craters that typically make their appearance after it rains. Holding the road together is an unremarkable material: a cheap, polymer glue made from shredded waste plastic.

Jambulingam Street was one of India’s first plastic roads . The environmentally conscious approach to road construction was developed in India around 15 years ago in response to the growing problem of plastic litter. As time wore on, polymer roads proved to be surprisingly durable, winning support among scientists and policymakers in India as well as neighboring countries like Bhutan. “The plastic tar roads have not developed any potholes, rutting, raveling or edge flaw, even though these roads are more than four years of age,” observed an early performance report by India’s Central Pollution Control Board. Today, there are more than 21,000 miles of plastic road in India, and roughly half are in the southern state of Tamil Nadu. Most are rural roads, but a small number have also been built in cities such as Chennai and Mumbai.

Quote: reno

They're using plastic waste in India to build roads:

Quote: The Guardian

Jambulingam Street, Chennai, is a local legend. The tar road in the bustling Nungambakkam area has weathered a major flood, several monsoons, recurring heat waves and a steady stream of cars, trucks and auto rickshaws without showing the usual signs of wear and tear. Built in 2002, it has not developed the mosaic of cracks, potholes or craters that typically make their appearance after it rains. Holding the road together is an unremarkable material: a cheap, polymer glue made from shredded waste plastic.

Jambulingam Street was one of India’s first plastic roads . The environmentally conscious approach to road construction was developed in India around 15 years ago in response to the growing problem of plastic litter. As time wore on, polymer roads proved to be surprisingly durable, winning support among scientists and policymakers in India as well as neighboring countries like Bhutan. “The plastic tar roads have not developed any potholes, rutting, raveling or edge flaw, even though these roads are more than four years of age,” observed an early performance report by India’s Central Pollution Control Board. Today, there are more than 21,000 miles of plastic road in India, and roughly half are in the southern state of Tamil Nadu. Most are rural roads, but a small number have also been built in cities such as Chennai and Mumbai.

United Airlines is already purchasing jet fuel from Fulcrum Bioenergy's Reno Nevada facility which makes the jet fuel from municipal solid waste... ie, household trash. Fulcrum needs a feedstock composed of paper, cardboard, plastic, food, and yard waste. Their facility under construction in Gary, Indiana will take 700,000 tons of Chicago trash and convert it to 33 million gallons of jet fuel annually.

Quote: kenarman

Though I support such innovative solutions they actually make no difference in the long term. The roads will eventually breakdown (whether it is 5 years or 20 years makes no difference) and spread the microplastics everywhere unless the roads can be recycled and laid down again as asphalt roads can be.

Quote: rxwine

Sun breaks down plastic. Probably should have roof dumps. Basically if you built buildings the right way, no one would see it.

Floating in the ocean sun breaks it up, but you still need to contain it. Plenty of space.

Quote: rxwine

Sun breaks down plastic. Probably should have roof dumps. Basically if you built buildings the right way, no one would see it.

Floating in the ocean sun breaks it up, but you still need to contain it. Plenty of space.