# What can we do with plastic waste? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 8, 2009, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-we-do-with-plastic-waste/520404 "2009-12-08T03:26:29Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Raygun99](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/6f9a4e/32.png) [@Raygun99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raygun99)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2009, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-we-do-with-plastic-waste/520404/21 "2009-12-16T23:14:52Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > I could see possibly returning to the deposit system that used to apply to glass soda bottles. Think they still do that some places, there was a Seinfeld episode about it. Maybe slap a dime deposit on the two liter size, a nickel for 20 oz or water bottle size… This _doesn’t_ happen where you are? We’re already up to .25 deposit for 2L bottles. ---
**Author:** ![Ogre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/ecb155/32.png) [@Ogre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ogre)\ **Post date:** [December 16, 2009, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-we-do-with-plastic-waste/520404/22 "2009-12-16T23:42:32Z")
Plasma gasification? ---
**Author:** ![Oakminster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/77aa72/32.png) [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)\ **Post date:** [December 17, 2009, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-we-do-with-plastic-waste/520404/23 "2009-12-17T16:25:47Z")
> [@Raygun99](#): > > This _doesn’t_ happen where you are? We’re already up to .25 deposit for 2L bottles. Nope. I don’t even remember the last time I paid a deposit–but I do remember sometimes scouring ditches for returnable bottles as a child. Sadly, I did not know a black man with white curly hair and a Dobro to play all day for me. On the up side, I didn’t get whuppings and go see him again. RIP, Curtis Lowe. Finest picker to ever play the blues. ---
**Author:** ![Ignatz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/3be4f8/32.png) [@Ignatz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ignatz)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2009, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-we-do-with-plastic-waste/520404/24 "2009-12-28T03:16:13Z")
Speed bumps and parking lot wheelstops [http://www.barcoproducts.com/store/index.asp?DEPARTMENT\_ID=40](http://www.barcoproducts.com/store/index.asp?DEPARTMENT_ID=40) ---
**Author:** ![Max\_the\_Immortal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@Max\_the\_Immortal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_the_Immortal)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2009, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-we-do-with-plastic-waste/520404/25 "2009-12-28T04:05:05Z")
> [@jchoi](#): > > Why do people need to drink out of bottles when they can get water from taps.?! Not if they haven’t got something to pour water into, they can’t. On my university campus, nearly every trash bin has a similar bin nearby for recyclables. As far as I know, everyone on campus uses them when they’re that handy. ---
**Author:** ![flodnak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/838e76/32.png) [@flodnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flodnak)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2009, 8:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-we-do-with-plastic-waste/520404/26 "2009-12-28T08:09:01Z")
> [@Oakminster](#): > > I could see possibly returning to the deposit system that used to apply to glass soda bottles. Think they still do that some places, there was a Seinfeld episode about it. Maybe slap a dime deposit on the two liter size, a nickel for 20 oz or water bottle size… This is the case here in Troll Country, except the deposits are higher: NOK 1 for small containers, NOK 2.50 for larger, on nearly all bottles and cans that hold drinks, from water to soda to beer. Pretty near every supermarket has a bottle return machine, and participation is high. You’ll see people walking down the street drinking from a bottle and, when they’re finished, setting the bottle on top of or beside a trash can instead of tossing it inside. A roving Bottle Vulture will soon come along and grab it for the deposit value. I once got to see the process of preparing the bottles for re-use. The bottles are scanned for damage and “sniffed” to see if some bonehead stored, say, gasoline in the bottle before returning it. Bottles that are whole and safe for re-use are then washed and sterilized, and sent to be re-filled. The guide said that each bottle is filled an average of 20 times before it’s too worn out to use again, and that damaged, worn, or unsafe bottles are shredded and melted down for a number of re-uses, including synthetic fleeces. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2009, 11:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-we-do-with-plastic-waste/520404/27 "2009-12-29T11:28:35Z")
Denmark has a similar scheme to the one **flodnak** describes - the plastic drinks bottles are more sturdy than the disposable ones we have in the UK - on visiting, I remember at first being quite taken aback to be buying a soft drink in a plastic bottle that was a bit scuffed and scratched, until someone explained there was a deposit system. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2009, 12:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-we-do-with-plastic-waste/520404/28 "2009-12-30T00:19:40Z")
Is there a way to de-chlorinate the chlorinated compounds? 'Cos that seems like it would be important from a “render less toxic” standpoint. ---
**Author:** ![medstar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f07891/32.png) [@medstar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/medstar)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2009, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-we-do-with-plastic-waste/520404/29 "2009-12-31T05:04:13Z")
Grind it up and add to roadway asphalt mixture? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-can-we-do-with-plastic-waste/520404.md?page=1)