John N Loc: HP14 3QF Stokenchurch, UK

Am I correct in thinking that Plastic cannot be recycled to the same product each time? So a top quality plastic becomes a quality plastic and so on until it winds up as a traffic cone or similar. We here in the U.K. claimed a high recycling figure when what was meant was that we were shipping large quantities out to do the dirty work for us. Now China and other places don't want this work our figure will slip significantly, possibly as low as 20%, as we did not invest in sufficient plant to do the job ourselves.

Shel Loc: Lecanto FL

The problem is the separating of each type of plastic into it own group. The trouble is that there are so many different types of plastics and the separation process is costly. While glossy paper is incompatible with newsprint, Kraft paper, and corrugated compatibility is not the problem that it is with plastics. Padded envelopes where bubble wrap provides the padding is seldom recycled.

John N Loc: HP14 3QF Stokenchurch, UK

So if the plastic is properly separated (into groups identified by the little no. in the recycling logo) it can be recycled to the same grade?

Shel Loc: Lecanto FL

The theoretical answer is yes for SOME plastics. The full answer is that the economics of separating plastics makes the recycling cost excessive vs. the cost of producing plastics from scratch. Not all plastics can be melted and remolded and impurities in a recycled plastic can result in product failure. Fence posts were viewed as a product that can be made from recycled plastics because it was considered that a total blending of the recycled plastics was not critical. I do not know whether this product became commercially successful.

John N Loc: HP14 3QF Stokenchurch, UK

Thanks very much Shel. It's been good to get an answer from someone who seems to know what they are talking about, rather than the dead from the neck up graduate employed by our local Authority to 'explain' these things to us. I think she read a book at one time - the same one as her boss had read because his answers were exactly the same. They didn't make sense to me then and they don't now.

But this is not just a case of economics. No matter the cost, the creation of plastic has to be reduced considerably. It's now found in the bottom of the food chain so soon it'll be in all of us. Some European countries are using it to provide a road resurfacing mix, others are coming up with innovative ways to use it but these only delay the time it'll take before it winds up in the ground. As for the fence posts - they are available here in the U.K., along with the infill panels and a no. of other garden products. Plastic sleepers built up like giant lego bricks to make raised flowerbeds another.

http://www.ecoplasticwood.com/
http://www.filcris.co.uk/category/garden

TonyP Loc: New Zealand

The New Zealand government has also passed legislation to outlaw single use plastic bags (and a range of other plastic items).
Supermarkets are already giving a 5c refund on shopping for every reuseable bag you fill at the checkout.
So its back to wrapping the kitchen rubbish in newspaper. Probably milk and other drinks in glass bottles. (deposit refunds on returns?)
Take your own container to the delicatessen etc.
I am going to miss those little doggy poo bags tho.
I recall all this stuff as a child.
The future is in our past it seems.

GeorgeH Loc: Jonesboro, GA

This is perhaps tangential, but...We can all agree that mercury in the environment is dangerous, and its use must be closely monitored. But how many of us have camera gear which is dependant on mercury cells for meters? I have several, those which have bridge circuits generally can operate on silver oxide cells.

But I also have a Bulova Accutron model 214 SpaceView, with a new old stock crystal. These iconic timepieces rely on the constant voltage of a mercury cell for proper operation. Some can be "rephased" to operate with a silver oxide cell, other can't. Mine is one of those which needs its mercury cell.
Yes, there are fixes, which demand a specialist's touch to add a tiny circuit element. And the air activated hearing aid cells are totally impractical.

Here's my suggestion. Make mercury cells available with a large deposit, say $50 or $100, refundable upon the return of the depleted cell to an authorized dealer; the cells would then be recycled to recover the mercury for new cells. I suspect that no one would toss that amount of money in the trash, and those of us with vintage devices could continue to enjoy them.

RAR_man Loc: stow, MA

I fully agree with trying to mitigate pollution by mercury or anything for that matter, but mercury seems to be a natural occurring pollutant at elevated levels that greatly precedes humanity. When ice cores are extracted from Greenland/Arctic, elevated levels of mercury are found in the cores dated thousands and millions of years. Volcanic emissions and flooding or lapping of water against mercury-rich ores may contribute to mercury in the environment.

Here in MA, our Quabbin reservoir, the major water supply for Boston and surrounding communities has high levels of mercury. There are posted warnings about eating fish from the Quabbin, an excellent fishery, due to elevated levels of mercury.

SteveR Loc: Michigan

Jerry....As a result of plastic bags being strewn about in certain sectors of Dallas, the city enacted a plastic bag ban a few years ago and a charge for paper bags. It didn't last long. As it is, my wife uses re-usable bags anyway. We DO get paper bags when we buy milk. I use them to throw away junk mail. We'll have to wait and see how long the ban lasts in NY.