r/science • u/mvea Professor | Medicine • Feb 20 '21

Chemistry Chemists developed two sustainable plastic alternatives to polyethylene, derived from plants, that can be recycled with a recovery rate of more than 96%, as low-waste, environmentally friendly replacements to conventional fossil fuel-based plastics. (Nature, 17 Feb)

https://academictimes.com/new-plant-based-plastics-can-be-chemically-recycled-with-near-perfect-efficiency/
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u/DuelingPushkin Feb 20 '21

Isnt the whole issue with non renewable resources that we will eventually run out? We should be looking for alternatives as soon as possible and minimizing out use to extend the life of that resources as long as possible but isnt cutting cold turkey without an alternative just as bad as it naturally running out?

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u/kackleton Feb 20 '21

im not sure what you mean. we have plenty of alternatives. and how could stopping use of fossil fuels and plastics be bad in any way? the more we leave untouched the more carbon stays sequestered in the earth, in a form naturally impossible anymore by the way, in a form that should never have been removed.

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u/DuelingPushkin Feb 20 '21

Except this whole thread was about the fact that we really don't have alternatives that would be feasible unless we were on 100% renewable energy sources currently, and were producing far more energy anually that we currently are.

Trying to get rid of plastics while we currently don't have the infrastructure to do so would be a disaster.

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u/kackleton Feb 20 '21

I still don't see your point. The idea of not being "feasible" under the current system does not make sense to me. It just costs more money. Which I think is worth it.

I don't know what kind of disaster you are getting at. Whatever societal consequences there may be in getting off plastic they are very likely a lot more solvable than the huge environmental impact of plastics in the ocean, as just one example.

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u/DuelingPushkin Feb 20 '21

There are other environmental externalities, namely the energy used to create them and transport, to using glass bottles and paper bags and other plasticless options. And we currently dont have to infrastructure in place to generate that energy without uaing a massive amount of fossil fuels. So its literally not possible with our current infrastructure to switch away from plastic without causing even more green house gas production and mining even more oil

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u/kackleton Feb 20 '21 edited Feb 20 '21

Good points, thank you. I see what you are saying now. I still find it possible in my life to live just fine without buying things in plastic packaging, so it must be feasible. It certainly makes life a little harder, but I think that is a worthy tradeoff. Now it won't be possible in any short timeframe, but as renewable energy gets more available and efficient we can move away from plastic packaging. So many things that are wrapped in plastic don't even need to be