[legitster]

Hear me out:

Single use plastics are a carbon sequestration technology.

We take oil out of the ground, and instead of burning it we turn it into a solid and bury it again.

Something like 30% of the oil we consume never ends up getting burned. While that's probably not a 30% reduction in CO2 gasses, the price pressure plastics put on fossil fuels is not negligible.

[doctorpangloss]

here's an even crazier idea

when oil prices were negative, why didn't environmental enthusiasts figure out how to buy (that is, be paid to receive) a ton of oil, take delivery, and simply not use it? they could bury it right back into the ground, no?

look, there are unlimited stupid fucking ideas.

[quickthrowman]

Oil prices were negative because there was nowhere to store it. It’s doubtful the delivery terminal of the pipeline would allow you to discharge your oil in their facility.

[remyp]

I guess so, but it seems to me it would be far more efficient to use already-above-ground materials (there are loads of them floating in the ocean!) and leave the oil in the ground.

[kube-system]

Yes, if those material are, in fact, usable. For most types of plastics, recyclability is technically problematic.