China Rubbish dump full... 25 years early!
Discussion
This is why we need to do something, I was quite saddened to see this, we are making a mess.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-50432013
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-50432013
Type R Tom said:
Did anyone see the hire bikes that were dumped?
https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2018/03/bike-sha...
That was insane. https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2018/03/bike-sha...
I'd be worried they'll be doing it with EVs next. EV proponents (and I am one of them) will crow about how China are pushing forward. They have over 400 manufacturers!! But how many of them are essentially making cheap landfill like those bikes? I'd wager a fair few some how....
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-48444874
If we stop exporting waste to developing countries we might actually have a point.
If we stop exporting waste to developing countries we might actually have a point.
But isn't the primary cause of all of this the worlds obsession with consumerism.
I don't think recycling is the answer as there are further impacts from this and very little is truly fully recyclable.
I'm reading elsewhere the threads about people running sheds and aren't these the people we should be holding in high regard for their commitment to making something last longer - when others have almost thrown them away.
I don't think recycling is the answer as there are further impacts from this and very little is truly fully recyclable.
I'm reading elsewhere the threads about people running sheds and aren't these the people we should be holding in high regard for their commitment to making something last longer - when others have almost thrown them away.
vaud said:
Nope just another British thing they have purchased with no idea if they really want it.We already collect the methane from landfill sies and use it to generate power and heat. Trials are already underway to reopen landfill to extract the hydrocarbons available from the plastics buried within.
The old addage "wheres there's muck there's brass" is true today as it was in Hovis times.
Some countries even in the EU have, or had, different rules regarding recycling.
In the UK recycling plastic meant melting it down and reusing.
In Italy recyling plastic meant burning it to get some heat and perhaps power. Very galling for someone like me trying to get an EU plastics recycling programme together. Not for altruistic reasons mind, I was paying 6ppsqm for ldpe and if I could get that down to 4ppsqm through recycling our own plastics it was worth a bloody fortune to me. I hated waste.
In years to come the Malaysians, Indonesians, Chinese, Indians and Africans will be exploiting all the hidden treasures in the stuff we sent them and which they buried.
Excellent.
The old addage "wheres there's muck there's brass" is true today as it was in Hovis times.
Some countries even in the EU have, or had, different rules regarding recycling.
In the UK recycling plastic meant melting it down and reusing.
In Italy recyling plastic meant burning it to get some heat and perhaps power. Very galling for someone like me trying to get an EU plastics recycling programme together. Not for altruistic reasons mind, I was paying 6ppsqm for ldpe and if I could get that down to 4ppsqm through recycling our own plastics it was worth a bloody fortune to me. I hated waste.
In years to come the Malaysians, Indonesians, Chinese, Indians and Africans will be exploiting all the hidden treasures in the stuff we sent them and which they buried.
Excellent.
Leylandeye said:
I'm reading elsewhere the threads about people running sheds and aren't these the people we should be holding in high regard for their commitment to making something last longer - when others have almost thrown them away.
Yep, I'm with you on that. Those people are the true environmental heros. The person who threw away a serviceable vehicle to buy a Prius and show off their green credentials and cool new car are the bad guys in the end.Stigproducts said:
Leylandeye said:
I'm reading elsewhere the threads about people running sheds and aren't these the people we should be holding in high regard for their commitment to making something last longer - when others have almost thrown them away.
Yep, I'm with you on that. Those people are the true environmental heros. The person who threw away a serviceable vehicle to buy a Prius and show off their green credentials and cool new car are the bad guys in the end.Otispunkmeyer said:
Stigproducts said:
Leylandeye said:
I'm reading elsewhere the threads about people running sheds and aren't these the people we should be holding in high regard for their commitment to making something last longer - when others have almost thrown them away.
Yep, I'm with you on that. Those people are the true environmental heros. The person who threw away a serviceable vehicle to buy a Prius and show off their green credentials and cool new car are the bad guys in the end.I've found as I've moved around, especially in more affluent areas, generalist skills and maintenance seem to be suffering denigration in favour of just paying someone else to do it. But the true green types I do know seem to be the ones quite happy to drive a 20 year old banger and adjust their diet/ lifestyle as their ethics dictate- no new iPhone every two years, etc. They also tend not to be very materialistic, which I think is the main barrier to living in an environmentally friendly way- living efficiently doesn't boost growth too much the way our economy is set up.
Can somebody explain how landfill works?
I was reading an article about a massive landfill site in Jakarta and it looks similar to that Chinese one, a lot of people mention ‘burying’. How will they bury it? There’s a mountain of rubbish there, do they just dump dirt and soil on it? Sorry I might sound stupid but I just don’t get it.
Whenever I went to the tip, there was a land fill section and I assumed they excavated the ground and buried the rubbish after but it never fully made sense to me.
I was reading an article about a massive landfill site in Jakarta and it looks similar to that Chinese one, a lot of people mention ‘burying’. How will they bury it? There’s a mountain of rubbish there, do they just dump dirt and soil on it? Sorry I might sound stupid but I just don’t get it.
Whenever I went to the tip, there was a land fill section and I assumed they excavated the ground and buried the rubbish after but it never fully made sense to me.
I have wondered about rubbish in general and how much we produce and how it's actually disposed of. Forget climate change and David Attenborough getting us to drink out of paper straws. There's only so many places we can bury our rubbish (which sounds like a terrible idea in any case) before we resort to either blasting it into space or dumping it in the seas. Burning it can't really be good, but neither is letting it sit around for years.
An obvious solution is to reduce waste but we will most likely be producing waste much faster than we can get rid of it. Does anyone know of any documentaries about this or is most of the money going towards the climate change fad?
An obvious solution is to reduce waste but we will most likely be producing waste much faster than we can get rid of it. Does anyone know of any documentaries about this or is most of the money going towards the climate change fad?
g4ry13 said:
I have wondered about rubbish in general and how much we produce and how it's actually disposed of. Forget climate change and David Attenborough getting us to drink out of paper straws. There's only so many places we can bury our rubbish (which sounds like a terrible idea in any case) before we resort to either blasting it into space or dumping it in the seas. Burning it can't really be good, but neither is letting it sit around for years.
An obvious solution is to reduce waste but we will most likely be producing waste much faster than we can get rid of it. Does anyone know of any documentaries about this or is most of the money going towards the climate change fad?
It's a massive issue for pretty much any city so even if it's not sexy, it's been covered for quite a while. Sanitation has been a world-changing development and has been covered quite a bit due to it's historical importance. An obvious solution is to reduce waste but we will most likely be producing waste much faster than we can get rid of it. Does anyone know of any documentaries about this or is most of the money going towards the climate change fad?
New York features a lot, as you'd imagine. They've gone from illegally dumping it in the sea to the biggest recycling plant on earth. And huge large landfills, of course.
Sims Municipal Recycling plant. Interesting the things which affect their profitability.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGaJIITLYsE
NY turning one of their infamous landfills into a park (hr long documentary)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3hMhWOaX_0o
Summary of NY's sanitation department's efforts over the past decades:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6LzB6rMDtA
What strikes me is how much of their work is simply sorting junk into the right category, which means we probably don't really do it well as individuals.
PBS made an episode of How We Got To Now on sanitation, which is mainly about sewage, but is still a great watch:
https://vimeo.com/182860286
BBC's Secret Life of Rubbish- Postwar 25% of our paper came from recycling. If it's cheaper to recycle, we will:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=knOV2favJWU
BBC also made a documentary called the Secret Life of Landfill, but I can't find it at present:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0bgpc2f
Edited by glazbagun on Saturday 16th November 02:13
flacko said:
cbmotorsport said:
I'm sure it's a sweeping generalisation, but I find the Chinese people's attitude to waste and consumption really quiet abhorrent.
I'll say immediately I've not been to China, but I have come across many Chinese people while in other parts of Asia and they've done nothing to sway my opinion thus far.
I've been involved in beach clean ups in National Marine parks and the majority of the waste on the beaches was from Chinese tourists which i witnessed them drop. A huge amount of plastic washed up on beaches in Asia also comes from China.
Again, sweeping generalisation but that's just the way I feel. Not sure how to educate and motivate such a huge population to change their ways.
in the complex my ex lived at in china, they had 4 different bins. all of which were put into the same skip when the collection truck came around :] I'll say immediately I've not been to China, but I have come across many Chinese people while in other parts of Asia and they've done nothing to sway my opinion thus far.
I've been involved in beach clean ups in National Marine parks and the majority of the waste on the beaches was from Chinese tourists which i witnessed them drop. A huge amount of plastic washed up on beaches in Asia also comes from China.
Again, sweeping generalisation but that's just the way I feel. Not sure how to educate and motivate such a huge population to change their ways.
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