• GreenKnight23@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    1
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    6 hours ago

    what’s the percentage comparison to microplastics that are released by the floating plastic island in the middle of the Atlantic?

    • LifeInMultipleChoice@lemmy.dbzer0.com
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      2
      arrow-down
      2
      ·
      edit-2
      5 hours ago

      I can’t imagine much microplatics are getting chipped off of them. The tires have thousands of pounds of pressure being put on small surface areas when you round corners, where as a plastic bottleneck can dolphin into the water if hit by a large wave and not nearly as much friction placed on it.

      How I imagine it

      • GreenKnight23@lemmy.world
        link
        fedilink
        English
        arrow-up
        3
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        4 hours ago

        so plastic floating in a salty ocean, being hit with wave after wave of hundreds if not thousands of tons of pressure 24 hours a day 7 days a week for literal decades all while slamming into other plastic bottles will release less plastic than tires?

        IDK. I think a wider study should be done.

        50-75 trillion pieces of plastic exist in the ocean today and makes up 80% of all marine pollution.

        plastic itself isn’t easily recycled either. tires on vehicles can be reliably recycled into other products like asphalt, roof shingles, new tires, etc.

        I think if the concern is about microplastics, there are bigger pollutants at hand that need attention before car tires.