Should We Trash Recycling? | Mitchell Pham | TEDxUTAustin

[@grantschroeder3676]

I have some of these so called compostable plastics made from plant that i have been trying to get to break down for over a year and they haven't changed at all. I aslo hate when people say someone else neads to fix a problem because regular people cant do anything about it. You need to be the change you want to see in the world.

[@d283jdsk2]

Make sure you're composting the right types. Some "compostable plastics" can only be broken down in industrial compost facilities.

[@1Airwaving]

We can be part of that change also by telling our U.S. representatives to sign on to the first ever comprehensive national effort --The Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act((Not kidding, that's its actual name)) We can do this!!

[@walkerbomb]

Yes, that was my only issue with this presentation. The energy going into the production and “maybe” composting of these materials is astronomical, more in fact than a plastic cup. But they are still single use. Designing for single use is thinking too small. And the industrial versus home compostable is just along the lines of all the different plastic numbers for recycling. No regulation, all marketing.

[@ZanciiiC]

Yes, because bioplastics actually do not decompose completely! It is greenwashing 😢

[@elly8211]

So true and such a good point to make... a lot of recycling is optimistic in that we hope that our actions will help save the planet while actually contaminating the recycling stream

[@Lew114]

Recycling can't fix the problem. We have to reduce consumption, eliminate single use plastic, reduce packaging, and use compostables instead of plastics. Doing those things don't preclude recycling though. We should still recycle. We just need to understand that recycling only helps a little bit and it isn't a substitute for real change.

[@svetlanikolova7673]

REFUSE REPURPOSE REUSE REDUCE ROT REPEAT

[@elizabeths.8683]

And repair! 👍

[@GertvandenBerg]

Encouraging standardised packaging might make it a lot easier to directly reuse... (Making the manufacturers responsible for getting rid of the waste from their products might align the interest that way...)

[@1Airwaving]

In fact, extending producer liability is aspired to in very real ways: Best so far, tell your representtaives to sign on(co-sponsor) the Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act ( BFFPPA).!

[@wills242]

These are interesting ideas !

[@Gertyutz]

Many types of plastic aren't recyclable at all. Shelving, vinyl siding, wall paneling, plastic furniture, countertops, fiberglass car bodies... When their usefulness is over, they go into landfills. It's discouraging.

[@bubbajones6907]

Everything which goes into landfill is recycled. The term "recycling" has been subverted by the sustainability cult.

[@GertvandenBerg]

At least those are mostly durable items... If it has a 10 - 50 year lifespan the impact is a lot less than single-use items that come in much larger volumes...

[@하람배-q5k]

@@bubbajones6907 are you sure about that?

[@bubbajones6907]

@@하람배-q5k Yes, it's quite obvious if you think about it.

[@wills242]

@@하람배-q5k I’m starting to think all these people addicted to inventing struggle just can’t fathom the math to think things through. Imagine having no idea about something and still insisting having a say in operations😂

[@lynmarie87]

I love what you said and I agree! How can we get more bulk stores in UT I have no problem planning my meals and buying in bulk. There is only 1 bulk store in the valley. Let’s spread the word and simply produce less!

[@ElijahPerrin80]

Damn logic, but I felt so good when I recycle lol, keep telling the truth.

[@hansnelsen5926]

Great Ted Talk, Great speaker, wonderful.

[@samwicoff270]

Great job! That's a smart approach

[@jeremiahshine]

How many recycled bottles are required to off-set an average sized plastic recycling plant for one day. We could add in transportation to the dump sites and transportation to the plant...

[@kevinmurphy4627]

It depends on where the market price for PET ( plastic's of bottle) is at on any given day.

[@aarone8740]

Not relevant; any efforts are worth it! Or we can just throw our hands in the air like quitters do! NOT ME!

[@wills242]

These questions aren’t fashionable😂 They could lead to accountability

[@ConorFenlon]

Isn't 80% still a really high yield for recycling centres though? Why damn the centres completely because a mere fifth of the potential output is not recyclable?

[@ConorFenlon]

Keeping in mind that the reason that remaining 20% is often not recyclable is because of consumer negligence; ie, they do not pay attention to what can and can't be recycled in the first place.

[@wills242]

@@ConorFenlon idk how accurate that is though. I’m sure it plays a role but I work with plastics almost daily and we’ve been trying to save every scrap. Our manufacturing process is as waste free as possible and even then, in order to get 50% back from our scraps we have to be willing to take a huge cut in quality and skip entire steps of refinement. I feel the materials we use in design are just as important as the things we design. As I’m typing this he’s starting to bring it up in the speech lol Perhaps a positive change in material development would be more attention paid to metrics taken at the molecular level in order to create more dynamic stable/versatile polys

[@catwoman07076]

The purpose of recycling is not just to reduce carbon emissions, nor just reduce waste in landfills, it's also to prevent another tree from being felled to make paper towels. There are multiple reasons for recycling, more than are being addressed here. Every new generation that is accustomed to the habits of their culture questions them -- what that new generation lacks is the perspective that led to the implementation of those habits! (For example, the anti-vaxxers didn't see their friends being horribly disabled for life by polio, and thus didn't see the fear of the disease come to an end after Salk's vaccine appeared, and polio disappeared -- they lack that experience, and that uninformed perspective makes it easy to assign malevolent goals to vaccination.) I think the presenter has some good ideas about our need to address consumption, packaging, and waste through multiple channels, but it's a mistake to malign recycling! When I recycle paper I save trees. It may be a fact of life that they have a limited number of times they can be reused, but how many trees did I help save in that process?

[@backcountyrpilot]

Gigi Z. Tees are a crop, just like corn, wheat, sugarcane, etc.

[@wills242]

So you basically your arithmetic skills peaked when you read Johnny Appleseed God bless your little world

[@Tjtingz]

felling trees isn't automatically bad if they are being grown sustainably for the purpose of their wood. Felling wild trees in Madagascar is bad for example, but that wood isn't being turned into paper exactly lol

[@jakovcu]

Thumbs up. Everything is very well explained. Except analogy on 5:04 with plain flights is misleading.

[@svetlanikolova7673]

ya use trains if you travel local city and long distances it saves the environment because they run on electric

[@jakovcu]

@@svetlanikolova7673 plains produce CO2 and that is natural biodegradable gas. Plastic is not degradable. Nature can not use Plastic.

[@rensuzugamori2531]

Nothing is more permanent than a temporary solution

[@lars1296]

Recycling is simply about making humans feel like they are “doing something.” It’s a joke

[@pepperminthippo6854]

Not recycling is simply about humans being too lazy but spending all sorts of time coming up with excuses so they will feel better about being deadbeats

[@MrLawandorderman]

Tax the producer based on the recyclability of their packaging

[@GertvandenBerg]

Return the packing to the producer to dispose / reuse... IF they need to pay those costs, they might change the packaging...

[@1Airwaving]

There's a great, unprecedented effort under way right now-- Ask your senators to sign on to the Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act! THE first/only ever such thing to be put forth at national level.

[@wills242]

@@GertvandenBerg yeahhh but this is how we got criminal industrial waste dumping in the first place. A factory/corp can pay off politicians for a decade before we deiscover the extent of their dump sites and by then it’s too late. China does this for example and almost no factory in China is up to their own codes.

[@JaikerzJake]

great presentation! Although, compostable items are not as useful in landfills or composts as they may seem to be.

[@lapinchiloca]

Correct, the composting process requires more space, time, care and energy than just quickly recycling

[@ThomasRowland-dl2em]

How do I know when paper has degraded to much to recycled

[@urip_zukoharjo]

It's very easy for an environmentalist to say just shift the responsibility more to the producer, but as an economist this is also way harder than how it seems with all the financial burden producer has to endure, especially when in some places waste comes from small businesses with tight profit.

[@mamaseeds]

Recycling uses up much energy, how cost effective is that and most importantly does the operative plant create carbon emissions? Here we advocate and are proactive in up-cycling, or 're-purposing'. If a resource cannot be re-purposed after use, then the producer is liable, surely.

[@TaigiTWeseDiplomat--Formosan]

Should have a better title like ：Recycling couldn't help the planet here is why

[@aarononeal9830]

If you're looking for a way to help the environment you can switch to ecosia they are a search engine that plants trees.

[@joezupko]

The amount of waste large companies produce is unimaginable. It makes it seem pointless for individuals to even try helping. Millions of tons of unused products go into landfills each year, mostly clothes I believe

[@jakovcu]

Large corporations produce for consumers.

[@wills242]

And the literal cashier at that corporation’s storefront will berate you from their assigned moral high ground for not “doing your part”.

[@jasonbeck8936]

This information isn't entirely accurate. Not maliciously. Paper being inevitably sent to the landfill after x amount of times of being recycled is a net positive. As well, Pizza boxes can be recycled depending on your municipality and spoilage. Look at your local municipality. Good info though.

[@FedericoTesta1]

I totally agree with your words. But i still feel good when i recycle.

[@Michelitateatro]

REFUSE! STOP USING PLASTIC

[@jravak487]

"Earth friendly" packaging cost more to produce which is going to to end up costing the consumer. No thanks. There is a market for "waste." Most waste is just material people don't want anymore. Most people don't have the space to store materials until they have enough to sell in bulk. Metal can be scrapped almost anywhere in the US, but unless you have a garage just for collecting metal, specifically iron and steel, it just won't be worth your time to take a small truck load at a time.

[@bjski4557]

So let’s just continue to fill up our oceans with plastic. I’d prefer to pay less by not using one use plastics in the first place and pay the higher price for earth friendly packaging while people are transitioning to a less wasteful lifestyle.

[@jesusreyes-zu2wz]

His brother goes to my school

[@aarone8740]

Only a republican would end our recycling efforts!

[@maxikilla2029]

hello

[@SNDNCKID]

He’s discouraged that 91% of plastic doesn’t even get recycled but mentions “because a lot of city’s and countries don’t emphasize recycle” I let that slide. Then he compares 40,000 discarded plastic bottles left to float around in the ocean for a biblical amount of time to being the same “greenhouse carbon emission” as a flight. Next he’ll say “people in Prius cars drive around their house three times at the end of the day before parking it just because. Oh wait. He pretty much does say that. Smh.

[@hannahhale7396]

My roommate thinks you're SUPER hot

[@lars1296]

Yes. It’s a ripoff. Next question

[@lot.bajrami]

Alisha, relax

[@glennpoch4742]

This is all very nice, but his premise is flawed. He says that this biodegradable plastic will solve our waste problem. Well, we don't have a waste problem. All the waste that the US will create for the next 100 years can fit in one 18 square mile landfill. Modern landfills are safely designed and once full, they put a park or beach on top of it. The market will not bear this more expensive biodegradable plastic because a cheaper alternative is available that is not creating an actual problem. Only a perceived one.

[@하람배-q5k]

what do you mean "we don't have a waste problem"? what world do you live in?

[@TermiteVideo]

Not all waste ends up in a landfill. Unfortunately there is a massive amount of pollution, particularly plastic, in the oceans.

[@emiravcioglu5361]

Ohh boy, you are wrong....