this post was submitted on 22 Apr 2024
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ELI5, if plastic and paper are both recyclable and both not ideal for the environment, why is one better than the other?
Neither will be recycled, but one comes from a renewable resource, and the other from non-renewable. Also, paper biodegrades while plastic doe not
Mainly because plastic is not actually recyclable.
It’s like bread dough and bread. Reshaping bread dough is easy. The same process doesn’t work for bread, but you can grind it into crumbs and make other foods with it. You probably won’t be able to make the same kind of bread, but you can use it for thickening sauces or deep frying things and it is a form of recycling. Trying to then recycle the next food is much harder.