slightlyassholic

slightlyassholic t1_j87mm15 wrote

Won't happen.

You'd have to either disempower or completely reprogram about half of the country. Even if the GOP was on board with the idea, they have convinced many of the very people who desperately need those services that they are somehow evil.

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slightlyassholic t1_itr9bfe wrote

There are some "new" technologies such as hydrothermal carbonization, hydrothermal liquefaction, and just using it as waste derived fuel that all show promise.

There are, of course, automated or semi-automated methods of separating the various types of plastic for traditional recycling, but those don't seem to be popular or more likely, profitable.

With the above methods, you can just shove it all in and get usable a usable product or products.

My hope is that these technologies will take hold. They could actually be profitable. Hell, you don't even need to separate out the plastic from the waste stream, just pull out all of the metal and other non-combustibles such as glass. (this is a bit of an oversimplification but is true in principle without turning this into a wall of text)

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