Researchers at the RIKEN Center for Emergent Matter Science (CEMS) in Japan have one-upped themselves in their quest to solve our microplastic problem. They report a new plant-based plastic made from cellulose, the world’s most abundant organic compound. The new plastic is strong, flexible, and capable of rapid decomposition in natural environments, setting it apart from other plastics marketed as biodegradable.
Stories like this pop up all the time “Bugs eat plastics” “Plastics turned back into fuel” “Plastics reused into new objects”
None of it turns into any real solutions, and I can only assume it’s a greenwashing campaign with a science veneer, by spreading the idea that eventually science will make plastics fully recyclable/reusable/compostable.
The greenwashing plastics/petroleum industry is preying on the idea that there’s a solution on the horizon for the unsolvable problem of plastics recycling and reuse.
Please reduce or even eliminate plastics use, if possible.
It takes decades to move the needle on manufacturing lines around the world. Once you make a new discovery you have to deploy it. That’s the difficult part. Unless you have a government mandate, it takes even longer. Companies are lazy and won’t change. Why do something when I can do nothing and continue to make money?
I think of it as pablum used to keep people complacent with the status quo. Don’t change, a fix is right around the corner a few years away. Same idea just a different way to say it.
Stories like this crop up around plastics, carbon capture (like @oeuf@slrpnk.net said), and batteries. How many stories have you seen about batteries with the term “game changer” in it?
Not making a case for nihilism or apathy. Just healthy skepticism and make the changes you can in the meantime, like reducing single use plastics where you can.
Stories like this pop up all the time “Bugs eat plastics” “Plastics turned back into fuel” “Plastics reused into new objects”
None of it turns into any real solutions, and I can only assume it’s a greenwashing campaign with a science veneer, by spreading the idea that eventually science will make plastics fully recyclable/reusable/compostable.
The greenwashing plastics/petroleum industry is preying on the idea that there’s a solution on the horizon for the unsolvable problem of plastics recycling and reuse.
Please reduce or even eliminate plastics use, if possible.
Especially single use plastics.
It’s reminiscent of this XKCD:
It takes decades to move the needle on manufacturing lines around the world. Once you make a new discovery you have to deploy it. That’s the difficult part. Unless you have a government mandate, it takes even longer. Companies are lazy and won’t change. Why do something when I can do nothing and continue to make money?
I think of it as pablum used to keep people complacent with the status quo. Don’t change, a fix is right around the corner a few years away. Same idea just a different way to say it.
Stories like this crop up around plastics, carbon capture (like @oeuf@slrpnk.net said), and batteries. How many stories have you seen about batteries with the term “game changer” in it?
Not making a case for nihilism or apathy. Just healthy skepticism and make the changes you can in the meantime, like reducing single use plastics where you can.