LA is testing asphalt made from plastic bottles

[SectorZ]

Things like Scientific American shouldn't be touched without at least 10 foot pole.

Yeah, 175 years of quackery coming from them... 

Well, CNN and FOX had been respectable news outlets at some point as well.

Kinda not really. Apples to a-bombs comparison there. Both of those orgs screamed objectivity when neither were remotely ever doing so in reality. Fox News was never respectable and CNN maybe had a decade before people wised up.

Only thing you can mock SA for is getting political of late, but even in doing so only limited their politics strictly within the scope of science-related issues.

[Alps]

Let's please try to keep things civil and cut down on the snark. The damages of microplastics are a real concern so let's try to stick to citing facts and expressing opinions instead of sarcastic replies that add nothing or political content that drives controversy. Thanks!

[US71]

I read an article recently about a South American factory making bricks with old plastic. I'll have to see if I can find it again.

https://hackaday.com/2021/02/07/these-plastic-pavers-are-earth-savers/

[kalvado]

Things like Scientific American shouldn't be touched without at least 10 foot pole.

Yeah, 175 years of quackery coming from them... 

Well, CNN and FOX had been respectable news outlets at some point as well.

Kinda not really. Apples to a-bombs comparison there. Both of those orgs screamed objectivity when neither were remotely ever doing so in reality. Fox News was never respectable and CNN maybe had a decade before people wised up.

Only thing you can mock SA for is getting political of late, but even in doing so only limited their politics strictly within the scope of science-related issues.

My bigger issue with SA is that they seem to use general purpose journalists to write their texts. There are plentiful technical mistakes, inexcusable for a "scientific" publication.
I am trying to find serious publications on the subject of microplastics - and they are much less alarming. Problem exists, but the scale seems to be way smaller than whatever is sold to general public.

[kernals12]

I read an article recently about a South American factory making bricks with old plastic. I'll have to see if I can find it again.

https://hackaday.com/2021/02/07/these-plastic-pavers-are-earth-savers/

There seems to also be progress in mushroom based materials.
https://daily.jstor.org/company-uses-mushrooms-grows-plastic-alternatives/

Also, there's gotta be a way to cleanly incinerate plastic and break it down into carbon and hydrogen.

[kalvado]

I read an article recently about a South American factory making bricks with old plastic. I'll have to see if I can find it again.

https://hackaday.com/2021/02/07/these-plastic-pavers-are-earth-savers/

There seems to also be progress in mushroom based materials.
https://daily.jstor.org/company-uses-mushrooms-grows-plastic-alternatives/

Also, there's gotta be a way to cleanly incinerate plastic and break it down into carbon and hydrogen.

Problem is that plastic needs to be in one container ready to go  to the furnace be incinerated. Many people are pigs, they throw stuff all over the place (my apology to pigs for comparison, though)
Once in a container, plastic may be considered as a valuable material rather than dangerous waste, though.

[kernals12]

I read an article recently about a South American factory making bricks with old plastic. I'll have to see if I can find it again.

https://hackaday.com/2021/02/07/these-plastic-pavers-are-earth-savers/

There seems to also be progress in mushroom based materials.
https://daily.jstor.org/company-uses-mushrooms-grows-plastic-alternatives/

Also, there's gotta be a way to cleanly incinerate plastic and break it down into carbon and hydrogen.

Problem is that plastic needs to be in one container ready to go  to the furnace be incinerated. Many people are pigs, they throw stuff all over the place (my apology to pigs for comparison, though)
Once in a container, plastic may be considered as a valuable material rather than dangerous waste, though.

If waste plastic becomes a valuable raw material, then people looking for a quick buck will pick it up from the side of the highway by their own volition.

[hotdogPi]

I read an article recently about a South American factory making bricks with old plastic. I'll have to see if I can find it again.

https://hackaday.com/2021/02/07/these-plastic-pavers-are-earth-savers/

There seems to also be progress in mushroom based materials.
https://daily.jstor.org/company-uses-mushrooms-grows-plastic-alternatives/

Also, there's gotta be a way to cleanly incinerate plastic and break it down into carbon and hydrogen.

Problem is that plastic needs to be in one container ready to go  to the furnace be incinerated. Many people are pigs, they throw stuff all over the place (my apology to pigs for comparison, though)
Once in a container, plastic may be considered as a valuable material rather than dangerous waste, though.

If waste plastic becomes a valuable raw material, then people looking for a quick buck will pick it up from the side of the highway by their own volition.

A few months ago, I picked up plastic bottles by the side of the road to recycle.

$7.25 per hour (assuming federal) / (400 bottles / 5 hours) = 9¢ per bottle [no, I didn't actually get paid to do this]

$3.00 / 24 bottles = 12.5¢ per bottle

It's almost no difference, especially once you factor in people's time being worth more than minimum wage and receiving 24 bottles of water rather than empty bottles.

[kernals12]

They could develop a robot that vacuums up litter alongside roads

[GaryV]

They could develop a robot that vacuums up litter alongside roads

If it's that good of an idea, feel free to explore developing it.

[kernals12]

They could develop a robot that vacuums up litter alongside roads

If it's that good of an idea, feel free to explore developing it.

I'll leave that up to Boston Dynamics.