LogFAQs > #931088832

Kyuubi4269 posted...

_AdjI_ posted...

And then even once you do get the plastic recycled, that's still an energy-intensive process that would be better to avoid.

Not really a problem if you operate on renewables/nuclear.

It's decidedly less of a problem, sure, but that doesn't mean it's not worth avoiding. The more energy you use, the more production capacity you need, meaning the more production capacity has to be built. Even renewable energy sources have a substantial impact on the environment when they're being built, from the clearing of the required land, the operation of the construction vehicles, and the process of procuring the raw materials.

In practice, of course, recycling is a relatively tiny component of all of a region's energy usage, so it's unlikely that it will personally require production capacity to be expanded. It's still not a zero cost, though, so if it can be avoided (by not producing the waste in the first place), it should be.