<![CDATA[Giant Machines That Eat Garbage (and the People Who Feed Them) - io9 Comments]]> <![CDATA[Giant Machines That Eat Garbage (and the People Who Feed Them) - io9 Comments]]> <![CDATA[Giant Machines That Eat Garbage (and the People Who Feed Them)]]> @Annalee Newitz: Sorry, Ms. Editor, I guess you shouldn't be expected to edit cutlines.

Sihanouk-s-Poodle

]]> <![CDATA[Giant Machines That Eat Garbage (and the People Who Feed Them)]]> We send China garbage and they send us back DVD players and stylish clothes? I love international trade!!!

7Zark7 Iz In Ur Internetz

]]> <![CDATA[Giant Machines That Eat Garbage (and the People Who Feed Them)]]> @zarchitect: I doubt OSHA has any say in what goes on in the factory in China. And I'll bet the fan is there to help cool the plastic. Any toxic fume avoidance is merely an oversight.

Ravac

]]> <![CDATA[Giant Machines That Eat Garbage (and the People Who Feed Them)]]> Nice, I work about 200m away from the facility in Vienna. This facility also heatens a few thousand households in vienna through garbage melting (long distance heating).

pax85

]]> <![CDATA[Giant Machines That Eat Garbage (and the People Who Feed Them)]]> Garbage is a big business but is polluting our planet worth all the money in the world?
[www.i-guide.ro]

iguide

]]> <![CDATA[Giant Machines That Eat Garbage (and the People Who Feed Them)]]> I work with human waste, his name is James and he doesn't do shit all day except clip his toenails and play with pencil shavings.

And check out a company in California called ECO2, they recycle used plastic by blasting it with C02, instead of water, thus leaving no harmful or toxic byproduct. Yay California!

toopersent

]]> <![CDATA[Giant Machines That Eat Garbage (and the People Who Feed Them)]]> Yeah, I'm not sure that Shandong factory is actually reducing pollution... At least the plastic was relatively inert before being cycled through what looks like an 18th century foundry.
-Kle.

Klebert L. Hall

]]> <![CDATA[Giant Machines That Eat Garbage (and the People Who Feed Them)]]> The moral of the story, boys and girls, is that recycling is good, but reducing so we don't have to recycle is better. I like the OSHA approved fan blowing the carcinogens away from the recycling lady in 2nd pic

zarchitect

]]> <![CDATA[Giant Machines That Eat Garbage (and the People Who Feed Them)]]> @EnochLight: Yup, working with waste is pretty hellish. That's what I thought was so amazing about these images. It really captures the horror of these working conditions.

Annalee Newitz

]]> <![CDATA[Giant Machines That Eat Garbage (and the People Who Feed Them)]]> "In Ghana, workers turn waste into fuel for the local palm oil plant. Here you can see them scooping it into a steam-driven machine that powers the factory."

More like, "indentured servants/slaves" are forced to work in horrible conditions no one should ever endure... that guy looks like he hasn't had enough food to eat for a long time.

EnochLight

]]> <![CDATA[Giant Machines That Eat Garbage (and the People Who Feed Them)]]> Er, I guess I'm the only one that worries about the condition of those workers...

NcSchu

]]> <![CDATA[Giant Machines That Eat Garbage (and the People Who Feed Them)]]> Reading this, I couldn't help but think of Soylent Green.

taybay

]]> <![CDATA[Giant Machines That Eat Garbage (and the People Who Feed Them)]]> @Sihanouk-s-Poodle: Yeah, it does actually. The photographer called them "straws," but maybe he meant "straw." It would make sense to call this shredded plastic straw -- certainly what it looks like.

Annalee Newitz

]]> <![CDATA[Giant Machines That Eat Garbage (and the People Who Feed Them)]]> what about those ship yards, in india i think where all the locals tear down old oiltankers etc and recycle the metal, thats pretty cool.

jaaallen

]]> <![CDATA[Giant Machines That Eat Garbage (and the People Who Feed Them)]]> I don't think those are straws in Bangladesh. It looks like shredded plastic.

Sihanouk-s-Poodle

]]> <![CDATA[Giant Machines That Eat Garbage (and the People Who Feed Them)]]> @JoeyTheHobo: I don't think he melts tons of plastic into threads. But maybe he does!

Annalee Newitz

]]> <![CDATA[Giant Machines That Eat Garbage (and the People Who Feed Them)]]> @Annalee Newitz: Wall-E, what does't he do?

JoeyTheHobo

]]> <![CDATA[Giant Machines That Eat Garbage (and the People Who Feed Them)]]> But does Wall-E do recycling?

Annalee Newitz

]]> <![CDATA[Giant Machines That Eat Garbage (and the People Who Feed Them)]]> Wall-E will do better.

Kaiser-Machead

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