Are you being nitpicky about “just like”? I was referring to the end result, not the process. What I meant was that plastic in a landfill will break down eventually. It will take longer in a landfill, sure. But it’s not magically kept out of the environment just because it’s in a hole.
I wouldn’t say it was nitpicky. I read your post the same way as Ruken.
How plastic breaks down is going to be part of the question. It isn’t a single process.
Micro-plastics are arguably mostly a result of mechanical damage. UV is another problem as it breaks bonds in the material resulting in loss of integrity. That can result in very fine particles. A difficult issue is the creation of very small particles when we wash clothes. These can make it into the sea or rivers, escaping even water treatment. Nylon and polypropylene are a big component of nano-plastics.
But plastics sitting in landfill are not subject to much that will create micro-plastics. Plastics are generally very stable. Mostly people worry that plastics in landfill will be there forever, and unlike most other stuff, won’t degrade.
There is some evidence of bacteria that can degrade some plastics, and given the short time we have been manufacturing plastics this is interesting. Given enough time to evolve, or enough research to create, bacteria that eat some plastics on an industrial scale may become a reality. This may or may not be a good thing. Disposing of plastic might become no harder than composting vegetables. But I doubt discovering that, for instance, your electrical insulation is subject to bacterial attack would be welcomed. Immunity to biological degradation is one reason we like plastics.
A zillion years ago there was a cute April Fool’s Day piece in a local yachting magazine that involved a tropical shrimp that ate polyester. It could reduce a nice fibreglass boat to a floppy mess you could push your hand though in a matter of weeks after infestation. Artfully done, it was just a little close for comport, especially as the whole issue of osmotic damage to GRP hulls was then a big deal. We could maybe create a new species of termite that eats polypropylene. What fun we could have.
The idea that plastics should not be recycled seems to be little more than code for - all plastics are bad, we should stop using any. Recycling being viewed as a form of green-washing the plastics industry, and thus to be attacked, no matter what benefits might accrue.
Hmm, I think you’ve hit the nail on the head.
Apparently mealworms can eat (and metabolise) polystyrene foam.
It seems to me that the question isn’t how much plastic we use, but how much we throw away. If I have a tool with a plastic handle that I use for 50 years, is that any worse than a tool with a wooden handle that I use for the same time? And sure, sure, the plastic tool might be a source of microplastics that cause health problems, but the wooden one could be a source of microwood, too: A friend recently got a splinter from her very old and well-used hoe (which, one would think, would have been smoothened enough by now to not have splinters).
A better focus would be on reducing packaging, no matter its substance, because most packaging gets used once and then thrown away. Or possibly making packaging that’s more easily re-useable.
The plot of Mutant 59: The Plastic Eaters.
Another recycling plastic “success” story:
Amazon Packages Burn in India, Final Stop in Broken Recycling System
Plastic wrappers and parcels that start off in Americans’ recycling bins end up at illegal dumpsites and industrial furnaces — and inside the lungs of people in Muzaffarnagar…
On a November afternoon, mosquitoes swarmed above plastic trash piled 6 feet high off one of the city’s main roads. A few children picked through the mounds, looking for discarded toys while unmasked waste pickers sifted for metal cans or intact plastic bottles that could be sold.
https://www.bloomberg.com/features/2022-india-plastic-recycling-pollution/
Here is the study (open access):
Recycling science marches on.
Scientists are looking for a combination of catalysts and process which will differentially decompose mixed polymers into reusable monomers.