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/
72.0k Upvotes

93% Upvoted

1.1k comments sorted by

View all comments

737

u/steffane_lonely Feb 20 '21

This is great step in the right direction but the recycling system as a whole needs to change as well considering the large majority of recyclable materials don't get recycled anyway.

1

u/vectorjohn Feb 21 '21 edited Feb 21 '21

It's because they're not really recyclable. Plastic, maybe, could get a couple of cycles maybe, but it's just not realistic without regulation forcing it to happen and changing the type of packaging.

Edit: source, I'm not making it up: https://www.npr.org/2020/09/11/897692090/how-big-oil-misled-the-public-into-believing-plastic-would-be-recycled

Recycling plastic was a lie to get people to accept all the plastic trash.