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twicelife_real t1_j5wv7o7 wrote

Can’t glass be melted and reblown? Make it mandatory for companies to use a certain % of recycled glass in all their glass containers sold in the state.

Ban plastic containers. Every single thing in the grocery store and Walmart/target can be sold in some form of cardboard. And this will create a business opportunity for people to figure out other non-plastic/biodegradable containers. You have to force a market opportunity.

The problem is that companies like to keep costs low and will lobby against these types of things. At the very least, we should hold them accountable for the waste they produce via fines/taxes.

And the state should have an online return tax, that companies like Amazon have to report to the state, just like with sales tax. If you return something, you pay a tax to the state. 10-20%+ of what Amazon sells is returned and either thrown out or liquidated, adding to packing waste, landfill waste, and truck pollution. Make it financially unappealing to the customer to return something , which will in turn force better purchase decisions.

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ioncloud9 t1_j5ynyc6 wrote

If you think about it, its disgusting how short a shelf life so many products have before ending up in the landfill. Factories and businesses making trash with a brief moment of not being trash. We should be trying to phase out any plastic that isnt recyclable and even reduce the amount of recyclable plastics used. Replace with paper, aluminum, or glass. Even if the paper is not recyclable, paper is far more renewable and doesn't break down into microplastics that end up in our food and water supply. Yes aluminum and glass are more energy intensive, but use more green energy to make them, and the cleanup is far less labor and energy intensive as metals and glass break down even if they arent all recycled.

Also absolutely no to repurposing plastics for other things like flooring, benches, shoes. All of that doesnt eliminate the end of life issues for plastic waste, which is the biggest problem. Its just kicking the can down the road a year or two.

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