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General Science / How can we run out of landfill space?
« on: 09/03/2009 10:36:01 »
It is true that significant amounts of waste (recyclate) plastic, metal etc is shipped around the world - in the majority of cases back to China where it is recycled. Contrary to what is written in the more sensationlist media, no domestic waste is shipped across the world.
This is economic solely because otherwise the ships and the containers that delivered goods to the west that originated in China would otherwise be travelling back empty. Until recently, China's demand for raw materials was greater than could be provided by virgin resources, so the value of recyclate was high.
There are no "chasms" in the UK which would be cold enough all year round to prevent anaerobic decay - and as I posted above - as soon as the bugs get going it is very difficult to stop them as they are exothermic.
This is economic solely because otherwise the ships and the containers that delivered goods to the west that originated in China would otherwise be travelling back empty. Until recently, China's demand for raw materials was greater than could be provided by virgin resources, so the value of recyclate was high.
There are no "chasms" in the UK which would be cold enough all year round to prevent anaerobic decay - and as I posted above - as soon as the bugs get going it is very difficult to stop them as they are exothermic.