carbon capture- landfill

[vanordinaire]

I'm looking at this from a layman's viewpoint, but can anyone tell me why putting thousands of tons of used carrier bags into landfill sites isn't as good a method of carbon capture as some of the methods being proposed by clever people?

[Monty Python]

Probably because the nett amount of carbon dioxide produced in making the plastic bag in the first place outweighs that trapped in the bag itself.

[Simpo Two]

Carrier bags can be biodegradable, so why are we all stressing over them?

[Shaolin]

Simpo Two said:

Carrier bags can be biodegradable, so why are we all stressing over them?

Because most aren't? Especially those made from oil.

[vanordinaire]

Shaolin said:

Simpo Two said:

Carrier bags can be biodegradable, so why are we all stressing over them?

Because most aren't? Especially those made from oil.

Exactly, they are made from oil which has trapped carbon underground for millions of years(a good thing) and now we've dug it up and are releasing the carbon (a bad thing).....so if we make the oil into plastic and stick it back in the ground, we fix the problem... or is that too simplistic?

[Cyder]

Do you mean carbon or carbon dioxide here?

They're 2 very different things.

[vanordinaire]

Cyder said:

Do you mean carbon or carbon dioxide here?

They're 2 very different things.

Not really, if we burn the oil (or coal or gas) which has previously been trapped under the ground, we allow the carbon which they contained to mix with oxygen and create carbon dioxide which goes into the atmosphere potentially contributing to climate change. Every plastic bag which is buried in landfill traps carbon under the ground so reducing ( albeit by a tiny amount) the amount of carbon dioxide added to the atmosphere.

[Simpo Two]

I wonder what percentage of the world's CO2/pollution/yada is caused by carrier bags?

I suggest carrier bags attract the attentions of governments and the fury of eco-warriors because they are big and white and everybody uses them. And the result is that we all go shopping feeling guilty about something, which is not healthy.

[Shaolin]

Simpo Two said:

I suggest carrier bags attract the attentions of governments and the fury of eco-warriors because they are big and white and everybody uses them.

I think (I may be wrong) that the carrier bag thing started with some woman from Cornwall who went on holiday to Hawaii (eco-friendly long-haul dontchaknow) and was upset at sea turtles eating plastic bags because they mistook them for jellyfish in the water, so wanted to reduce the number of one-trip bags. In itself, this is a laudable aim I feel, however, bags thrown away in Britain are rarely eaten by sea turtles I suspect.

On the one hand, they are obvious and ugly if they blow about in the wind and make a visual impact out of all proportion to their size and especially weight. But the fact the such a big fuss is made about them is that the supermarkets in particular along with government in some places (Wales) taking our eye off more substantial pollution by focussing on a relative tiddler like this that is easier to do something about.

I don't think it's a coincidence that the arrival of bag-guilt co-incided with the arrival of great big open fridges and freezers in the supermarkets that make the whole aisle frigid and must be far more power-hungry than what they replaced as they are much bigger and missing the door. In the winter, the store heating and spilled cold air from cabinet cooling are battling each other all day long. It's easier to say "Would you like a bag"? (to which I always want to say "No I'm planning to juggle this lot all the way to the fking car, of course I need a bag you fktard") than it is to do something of consequence that might impact negatively on profits and competitiveness.

Edited by Shaolin on Thursday 27th February 19:33

[Getragdogleg]

I wonder how much C02 Coca~Cola capture and store in bottles each year...