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| Facebook: This made me laugh inside, based on recent news. The Philippines would like Canadian dollars, but not Canadian trash... |
CBC News
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| Regardless of political leanings, theologically and philosophically, any reasonable human being, should desire the end of these types of garbage containers. I am not expert, but seems to me there needs to be less plastics. As long as we live in this realm, it is wise to have it as environmentally clean as reasonably possible, acknowledging the need for industry at the same time. |
BBC By Roger Harrabin BBC environment analyst 20 February 2018
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Should we burn or bury waste plastic?
The case for burning Here's the case for burning.
Plastic is made from oil and gas, and it creates a lot of heat when it's burned. So at first sight it makes sense to harness that by burning it in an incinerator to make electricity.
It's even more efficient if the incinerator can capture the waste heat from the process and use it to warm offices and homes.
Burning plastic this way currently substitutes in some places for burning dirty fossil fuels like oil or coal.
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Much of our household waste in landfills does indeed create greenhouse gases that heat the world, unless they are captured as landfill gas.
But this doesn't apply to plastics, which are extremely stable. They don't break down in landfill, so don't emit greenhouse gases. And, in fact, there's a strong case against incinerating plastics.
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So what's the case for burial?
Burning plastic creates harmful dioxins and if incinerators are inefficient, these leak into the environment.
Modern incinerators are said to have largely solved this problem. But climate change is another consideration.
The consultancy Eunomia says plastics burned in incinerators set up to generate only electricity create heat at 25% efficiency. This is much lower than the 55% efficiency for new gas-fired power stations.
