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Oceanic Trench Garbage Compactor.

Use the huge pressures found at great depths to crush garbage
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Imagine a big stationary floating platform. Floating merrily above one of the deeper regions of ocean. Large, garbage- filled barges are docking all around, while a very large wheel turns overhead. The wheel supports many killometers of steel cable running all the way down to a frankly daft depth. On the floating platform, barge loads of garbage are unloaded onto a very large bag, lying flat on the deck. Eventually, when the pile gets high enough, the sides of the bag are lifted and all nicely tied up at the top with a vacuum tube added (this is super-thick wall stainless, tiny lumen) and hooked up to the cable. Then off it goes. Down to Davy-Jones locker. It's moving slowly... 'cause it doesn't need to move fast. As it's dragged deeper, the pressues increase, squeezing gasses and liquids into the vacuum tube. Down it goes to embrace pressures of 10,000psi or more. Crunching our waste to a tiny fraction of it's original volume. Then, it comes back up. It's loaded onto one of the barges, and the cycle continues.
bs0u0155, Jan 18 2013


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       Why bring it back up? It has to go somewhere.
Brian the Painter, Jan 18 2013
  

       Because then it can go somewhere smaller, or in greater quantities per equivalent volume.   

       Anyway, if we left it down in the sea trenches, James Cameron would complain, and then I'd have to go punch him in the nose, because I can't stand hearing really rich people complain about stuff (Lord Buchanan excepted, naturally).
Alterother, Jan 18 2013
  

       If you find a sea trench that is "subducting", you should be able to get rid of the garbage for several million years (the time it takes for gelogical subduction to carry stuff to where it can be volcanically spewed). The people who find that trash will, of course, be mightily surprised!
Vernon, Jan 18 2013
  

       Vernon- Make it hundreds of millions of years. James Cameron would still be upset.   

       This is the best way to get rid of nucular waste too, of course. Early on, environmentalist wackos killed that idea.
Kansan101, Jan 18 2013
  

       Using subduction zones to dispose and destroy the detritus of civilization was a major theme in David Brin's book Heaven's Reach in his Uplift Series. Everything put there goes down and becomes melted into magma. It is all a matter of timescales.
AusCan531, Jan 19 2013
  

       //Then, it comes back up. It's loaded onto one of the barges, and the cycle continues.//   

       Tell me how it comes back up after undergoing 10,000 or more psi and I'll float you a bun.   

       I'm currently re-engineering a machine that will test large pipes, (say 40") up to 7500psi. Most of the smaller fittings on the water side go up to 10,000psi. All to guarantee safe delivery of oil and gas to your countries, ladies and gentlemen.   

       We don't need no steenking trench...
Ling, Jan 19 2013
  

       The Tonga trench is the 2nd deepest and very fast at 24cm/year - easily the best choice for dumping everything in the pacific.
mylodon, Feb 05 2023
  

       Preheated, David Brin, building civilizations on the edge of tectonic plates so that by the time the alien scout ship comes by a million years later evidence of your presence has been hidden ;-)
normzone, Feb 05 2023
  


 

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