A million plastic bottles a minute

CasualBystander

Celestial
They are considering a Sugar Tax on fizzy drinks down here to wean people off it.
Paying extra on your soft drink could save lives

bottles-of-different-types-of-coke-and-soft-drinks-on-sale-in-tesco-BMHHNX.jpg

They must be putting it in sippy cups or something like a baby bottle with a nipple if they have to wean people off of it.
 

3FEL9

Islander
Just as a followup:

If you give chocolate to your dog it is toxic.

If you give chocolate to your girlfriend it has health and social benefits.

Just a friendly reminder here. We're talking toxic plastic residues , only your beloved bacterias would like. But maybe thats yummy choco to you aswell
 

CasualBystander

Celestial
Just a friendly reminder here. We're talking toxic plastic residues , only your beloved bacterias would like. But maybe thats yummy choco to you aswell

Probably. If it isn't chasing me it is food. If I am armed it doesn't matter what it is, it is food.

As a side note. These plastic eating bacteria should look like a carbohydrate source to plankton.

Has anybody tried to see what the effect of these bacteria on the food chain is? All the claims of this and that seem anecdotal.
 

michael59

Celestial
Probably. If it isn't chasing me it is food. If I am armed it doesn't matter what it is, it is food.

As a side note. These plastic eating bacteria should look like a carbohydrate source to plankton.

Has anybody tried to see what the effect of these bacteria on the food chain is? All the claims of this and that seem anecdotal.

If I know us human beings, and I do. It's a crap shoot. Ten years from now we will discover what a big mistake it was to allow this plastic eating bacteria to run rampant.
 

CasualBystander

Celestial
If I know us human beings, and I do. It's a crap shoot. Ten years from now we will discover what a big mistake it was to allow this plastic eating bacteria to run rampant.

Well... right now it is mostly in the ocean. But if they get aggressive it would mean PET couldn't be used for ocean going applications unless covered with a sealant.

But there have always been oil eating bacteria in the ocean. Natural seeps in the Gulf of Mexico leak 1/4 of the Deepwater Horizon output every year.
 

3FEL9

Islander
Probably. If it isn't chasing me it is food. If I am armed it doesn't matter what it is, it is food.

As a side note. These plastic eating bacteria should look like a carbohydrate source to plankton.

Has anybody tried to see what the effect of these bacteria on the food chain is? All the claims of this and that seem anecdotal.

QUOTING:
The researchers report that a community of Ideonella sakaiensis working this way could break down a thin film of PET over the course of six weeks if the temperature were held at a steady 86 degrees Fahrenheit. END QUOTE

ClmT1QTWQAEY6fV.jpg


Note the temp 86 F or 30 Deg C .. You could probably harvest the asian bacterias and produce bio diesels ...
 

CasualBystander

Celestial
QUOTING:
The researchers report that a community of Ideonella sakaiensis working this way could break down a thin film of PET over the course of six weeks if the temperature were held at a steady 86 degrees Fahrenheit. END QUOTE

ClmT1QTWQAEY6fV.jpg


Note the temp 86 F or 30 Deg C .. You could probably harvest the asian bacterias and produce bio diesels ...

Gets back to my comment that the duration of most plastic in the ocean is measured in years or fractions thereof , not decades or centuries.
 

3FEL9

Islander
Gets back to my comment that the duration of most plastic in the ocean is measured in years or fractions thereof , not decades or centuries.

But the problem is. It does not go away. It just breaks down to smaller and smaller pieces until it reaches molecule levels.
What we cant see or easily meassure is still there... yes bacterias eat some.. How much noone knows.

In colder parts of the seas it remains intact for ages.. on landfills ~ 450 years is a plausible assumption.
 
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CasualBystander

Celestial
But the problem is. It does not go away. It just breaks down to smaller and smaller pieces until it reaches molecule levels.
What we cant see or easily meassure is still there... yes bacterias eat some.. How much noone knows.

In colder parts of the seas it remains intact for ages.. on landfills ~ 450 years is a plausible assumption.

This "bacteria can eat the surface of a solid piece of plastic many molecules thick, but when it gets down to just a molecule they stop eating" theory is interesting.

Please tell me more.
 

3FEL9

Islander
This "bacteria can eat the surface of a solid piece of plastic many molecules thick, but when it gets down to just a molecule they stop eating" theory is interesting.

Please tell me more.

Sure. Never said that. You just did..

Im saying the plastic degrades by many other means, temperature, mechanical forces, chemicals , evaporation ,UV sunlight, down to molecule level.. A PET bottle just gets dispersed into zillion ( still toxic ) pieces..

But is it really gone ?

Heres how it looks when the bacteria is BIO-degrading PET plastics.. its an evenly attack on the whole surface.

News_20160310_YoshidaG_halfsize.jpg


Insert box upper right shows intact surface
 

Dundee

Fading day by day.
Australia's northern shore, when I was last up there it was way worse than this, all washed in from our northern oceans. It was about 5 times worse and as far as the eye can see. I didn't take photo's as I was blown away (and had just been chased by a snake so was still a little rattled) Most Aussie beaches are pristine. I had no idea we had this problem in the NT

upload_2017-10-24_4-20-32.png
 

CasualBystander

Celestial
Sure. Never said that. You just did..

Im saying the plastic degrades by many other means, temperature, mechanical forces, chemicals , evaporation ,UV sunlight, down to molecule level.. A PET bottle just gets dispersed into zillion ( still toxic ) pieces..

But is it really gone ?

Heres how it looks when the bacteria is BIO-degrading PET plastics.. its an evenly attack on the whole surface.

News_20160310_YoshidaG_halfsize.jpg


Insert box upper right shows intact surface

As I keep pointing out and you seem to gloss over, the rate of degradation is proportional to the surface to volume ratio.

When you break something up into small pieces it is degraded much faster.

A single molecule is all surface so it gets attacked very quickly.
 

CasualBystander

Celestial
As I keep pointing out and you seem to gloss over, the rate of degradation is proportional to the surface to volume ratio.

When you break something up into small pieces it is degraded much faster.

A single molecule is all surface so it gets attacked very quickly.

An example might be helpful:

A 1 meter cube has a 6 sq meter surface and 1 cu meter of volume.

1 billion 1 millimeter cubes have a volume of 1 cu meter.

They have a surface area of 6 sq mm. The total surface area is 0.000006 sq meter * 1000 * 1000 * 1000.

That is a surface area of 6000 sq meters.
 

3FEL9

Islander
An example might be helpful:

A 1 meter cube has a 6 sq meter surface and 1 cu meter of volume.

1 billion 1 millimeter cubes have a volume of 1 cu meter.

They have a surface area of 6 sq mm. The total surface area is 0.000006 sq meter * 1000 * 1000 * 1000.

That is a surface area of 6000 sq meters.

You must have aced your physics exams in high school ,lol

But yeah I agree, more exposed surface is better for reactions in the material...

On a side note. Chernobyl blew up into zillion of little pieces... Its still detectable around here,
Not that I worry thoo
 

CasualBystander

Celestial
You must have aced your physics exams in high school ,lol

But yeah I agree, more exposed surface is better for reactions in the material...

On a side note. Chernobyl blew up into zillion of little pieces... Its still detectable around here,
Not that I worry thoo
Given that Belarus and Ukraine have far lower cancer rates than the US, that is a reasonable viewpoint.
 

Ras

Honorable
Hey look. Smart Asian girl knows whats up.

@Diva


I disagree with her.

Its a pointless battle trying to get this bacteria to degrade billions of ever continues of plastic bottles.. What we need is to change the humans, like giving a fine for littering will do i think.
 
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