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by cyberax 1149 days ago
Most of the “bad” microplastic pollution comes from clothes and disposable bags and utensils. Bags are clearly on their way out, being replaced by cardboard bags.

Clothes are trickier. Polyester is extremely versatile and durable. But newer formulations of nylon (which is biodegradable) or PTFE (aka "teflon") treated fabrics are comparable.
2 comments
awestroke 1149 days ago
> Bags are clearly on their way out, being replaced by cardboard bags.

In your city, maybe. Absolutely not globally

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concordDance 1149 days ago
Disposable bags in the west contaminating the water? I would be immensely surprised if that's even 1% of clothes and shampoos/beauty products. We don't normally put plastic backs in running water for ages.
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cyberax 1149 days ago
Yes. Thin disposable bags are easily degraded mechanically, resulting in lots of microparticles.

For clothes it's even worse, they produce microparticles at all times, especially during laundry.

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concordDance 1149 days ago
Thin plastic bags in the west have a very short lifecycle that goes mostly shop->home->bin->landfill (segregated from water table). There is almost no opportunity for it to actually contaminate the water.
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