Like, that plastic garbage island in the Pacific: why is it bad?
The argument against microplastics seems pretty clear. Is there a corresponding one for bottles and such?
Sure, some landfills can leak, but that's a design flaw of landfills. Is it bad to responsibly dispose of single use plastic in a landfill where it may be reclaimed by future technology?
It's just not a realistic starting point to build an argument around. You have to assume people will improperly dispose of it as an axiom.
As you can imagine, this process means lots of trash never makes it to the landfill. Vietnam is one long coast with several major, densely populated river deltas. All that loose trash makes it’s way to the sea, to be broken down into micro-plastics by the sun and wave action. Those micro-plastics bioaggregate in some of our favorite fish and crustaceans. I suppose it is fitting that we consume it ourselves.
Recently, I travelled to Delhi where there is a ban in single use plastic. There was a lot less litter. This could be due to different a trash collection system, culture, etc. There was some paper litter, but I didn’t see the epidemic of plastic food containers I see in VN, Thailand, and Cambodia.
the ones that don't break down into microplastics where they can act as endocrine disruptors.
The breakdown of a gazillion tons of non-single use plastic that is exposed to the sun on a daily basis?
I'm not saying single use plastics are good, but if your argument is that they're bad because they make microplastics then you've got to expand the discussion I think.