You won’t have missed the increased negative attention around plastic and plastic packaging in particular over the past few years; videos of marine animals swimming through plastic plagued oceans, horrifying photos of dead whales’ plastic filled stomachs, as well as not going far on a beach yourself without stumbling across plastic waste, it’s safe to say plastic is demanding our attention.
But, even with all of this focus on plastic, we all still use it frequently in our day to day life and would struggle to live without it. So, is plastic really that bad? Or does it deserve it’s bad name and less than favourable reputation it’s found itself with? Let’s have a look:
Plastic Packaging Pros
Plastic itself is a highly versatile material which does an excellent job of protecting a huge range of products. It keeps food fresher for longer and provides a safe and easy way to transport liquids which reduces unnecessary waste.
As well as this, studies have shown that if there were no plastic packaging available and other materials such as cardboard were used instead, overall energy consumption would increase, as would greenhouse gas emissions.
So plastic as a material isn’t bad when it’s used, instead it’s what happens once it’s finished with that causes the issue.
Plastic Packaging Problems
We’ve seen the problems that plastic packaging causes, but all of them could have been prevented if the plastic was disposed of in the correct waste stream. You’ll notice a numbered triangle on every single plastic item around – this is added to indicate the type of plastic used and how easy it is to recycle.
For more help on knowing your PET 1 from your LDPE 4, we’ve had a closer look at recycling symbols to help you identify where your waste needs to go.
The main issue is that not many people know what to do with each type of plastic, and no council in the UK accepts all of the 7 types of plastic in curbside collections, so it’s left to individuals to suss out not only what material they’ve got, but where they can recycle it properly. We all are trying to be more eco-friendly, but if the only option to recycle one piece of plastic packaging is to drive 10 miles to the nearest recycling centre, not many of us would make the trip and would just bin it instead. And then of course, there’s plastic which isn’t yet recyclable, and has no option but to go straight into the bin.
It’s safe to say that we’d all recycle more if it was easier for us to do so, but the infrastructure just isn’t in place yet to facilitate it.
Where We Are Now
Plastic packaging is a confusing and changing landscape at present. We’re seeing a real divide between businesses taking on the environmental responsibility themselves by only using sustainably sourced packaging which is widely recyclable or easily biodegradable so it’s straightforward for their customer to dispose of it, and businesses who are continuing to use the same packaging but are making what needs to happen to the packaging more obvious to customers.
For example, one of the most popular forms of packaging in the eCommerce market are poly mailers; they’re low-cost, they protect goods whilst in transit, and offer a versatile solution for thousands of businesses. Some users of poly mailers are now looking to paper mailing bags as an alternative but they are far more costly, whereas others are continuing to use polythene mailers and printing a recycling logo on them to inform their customers their packaging is recyclable, although only in some supermarkets.
More and more people are refusing single use plastic which is forcing businesses to change their habits and use more sustainable packaging. Brands are already being boycotted if they’re not seen to be eco-friendly enough, so the pressure is definitely on.
Packaging manufacturers are looking at alternative materials which will have a significantly lower environmental impact to take over from plastic, such as starch films which are beginning to be introduced.
The overriding solution from our point of view is that, as long as the material is recyclable and is actually recycled, it can be used time and time again to create new packaging solutions and reduce the need for raw materials, therefore creating a more sustainable supply chain and a greener future for us all.
