Structure?

Question

We think of waste as whatever is useless according to our ever-changing methods of calculating value, or sufficiently broken down that the cost of recycling seems higher than the cost of disposal.

Could you help me with this sentence?

What does the underlined part mean? How does “that” work?

CalifJim · Accepted Answer

teacherJapanWe think of waste as whatever is useless according to our ever-changing methods of calculating value, or sufficiently broken down that the cost of recycling seems higher than the cost of disposal.
Structure?

We think of waste as
whatever is
... 1) useless
........... according to
.............. our ever-changing methods of calculating value,
or (whatever is)
... 2) sufficiently(=so) broken down(=crumbling)
................................ that
........... the cost of recycling
.............. seems higher than
........... the cost of disposal.

teacherJapanHow does “that” work?

sufficiently ... that {clause} works the same as so ... that {clause}.

sufficiently is a higher register word than so here.

Most of the mistakes were [so / sufficiently] minor that I fixed them myself.
Farmers' profit margins are [so / sufficiently] low that a bad year can bankrupt them.
Alice was [so / sufficiently] skilled at English that she was able to speak it all day long.

CJ

Structure?

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