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/sci/ - Science & Math

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14559952 No.14559952 [Reply] [Original]

What's more harmful to the environment: Burying plastic or burning it? I assume burying is worse since it disperses microplastics everywhere but I have no understanding of what happens when you burn plastic beyond basic combustion.

Also here's a horrifying thought I just had:
>T+10,000 years: Plastic everywhere, trash planet
>some organisms have adapted to consume microplastic/petroleum based waste
>other organisms feed off these organisms
>T+20,000 years: As human waste is consumed and reduced, hunter organisms begin to hoard and then actually excrete plastic as bait for the plastic eaters
>plastic is now a fundamental part of the ecosystem

>> No.14561600

>>14559952
Bump. Interesting question.

>> No.14561662

Burying plastic is worse for the environment. Microplastics stunt plant and worm growth. Carbonization is better for the environment than burning.

>> No.14561815

>>14561662
What kinds of materials are left over from burning them? Doesn't it off gas poisonous shit? I always assumed so from the way burning plastic smells.

>> No.14561843

>>14559952
Burying. Incineration is superior because it actually destroys it and is controlled.

>> No.14561856
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14561856

>>14561662
>muh environment
you don't give a shit about it, you only use it for faggy virtue signaling

>> No.14561867

>>14561856
brainlet take

>> No.14561941

The whole point of burying plastic is to contain it. Landfills keep things locked up pretty tight. Yes, there's leaks (leachate) but that's a tiny, tiny amount compared to what stays in the pit. But with that said, burning can theoretically destroy the plastic completely, so it has the potential to be better if you assume that greenhouse gases aren't a problem.

>> No.14561988

>>14561815
Industrial scale incinerators can run at temperatures high enough to break down all the chemically "interesting" compounds, and reduce them to water vapor and CO2, but not without also vaporizing a lot of whatever heavy metals happen to be mixed in. It's mostly because of the difficulty of separating out all the metallic junk that people put in the trash that burial is resorted to even in large metropolitan areas where burning would otherwise do the trick.

>> No.14562347

>>14561988
Checked. That makes a lot of sense, thanks anon.
>>14561941
They're a problem but so is plastic getting everywhere.

>> No.14562422

>>14559952
Ok for real tho' why not ship it to jupiter

>> No.14563179

>>14562422
I think it would be easier to just shove it into the sun but either way it's too expensive.