Ridding ourselves of plastic – a genuine possibility?

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Comment by Carsten S. Jensen,

Founder and Managing Director of Jensen Associates

 

When it comes to the plastic pollution of our world, it has been known for many years that an island of plastic was forming in the pacific, yet it took Sir Richard Attenborough’s Blue Planet wake-up call to make us realise just how widespread the problem is, and how dire the consequences are – not only for our future, but right now.

 

Now wouldn’t it be great if we could just stop using plastic immediately, and the problem would be solved. Unfortunately, if we did that, we would create other problems that would be just as bad, or even worse for our environment. Also, plastics are used so widely in all kinds of products we buy that it would just not be physically possible to rid ourselves of it in one go. Even if we could, we would still have the mountains of plastic we have already “disposed of” to deal with.

 

If we take the food industry specifically, this is the segment which is currently facing the most criticism of its use of plastic packaging. BUT – is the current use of plastic always bad?

 

IT has to be appreciated that a lot of the plastics used in food packaging serve a purpose and has helped solving a very important challenge: How to protect and maintain food fresh. The use of plastic is for many products, as for example cucumbers and broccoli, key to maintaining shelf life longer and thereby allow for widespread distribution. It also means that we as consumers have more time to eat it, and hopefully end up wasting less due to it starting to go off before we had the time to use it. Indeed, we do have a problem with too much food waste even so, but I daresay that, should the supermarkets remove all plastic packaging from all foods, without having a viable packaging alternative to help keep food fresh, then we would see a very sharp increase in food waste as a result.

 

This being said, it is clear that large amounts of the plastic we currently find in the fresh fruit & vegetable aisles could be readily removed. I would estimate that easily more than 50% of the plastic could be removed immediately, either because it is entirely unnecessary, or because there are already viable degradable alternatives that can be practically implemented. But, it will have to be done in the right way.

 

Before any plastic is removed from a product, it has to be considered as well whether this will lead to excessive increased waste. The production of any food also has a CO2 – and water footprint. So, when the plastic is removed, it has to be ensured that it does not create an in-proportionate negative impact in other areas of environmental concern through increased waste. Also, what will the overall environmental impact be of the alternative packaging, in terms of energy use and footprints? We need to keep the bigger picture in focus as we face this challenge.

 

What I am afraid of here is that the non-plastic movement becomes hi-jacked and used mainly as a marketing ploy, and that we will end up with “solutions” that look good and convince the consumer that something good has been done, while at the same time creating a new problem, or simply shifting the focus.

 

 

Shifting to recyclable plastic is NOT a long term solution!
 

With the increased pressure on the supermarkets, many have pledged to substitute all un-recyclable plastic with fully recyclable alternatives within 1-2 years. This is certainly a step in the right direction – but that is all it is: It is not solving the problem. Even when we as a society become very good at recycling, we will never be able to recycle all of it. There will always be some plastic that is not recycled, even when it is possible to do so. In the BBC’s “War on Plastic” series that was aired over recent weeks, it was put very eloquently by the investigative journalist Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, when he compared it to an overflowing bathtub: It is not enough to just keep mopping up the water, you have to turn off the tap as well. Recyclable or not, it is still plastic and the more we have in circulation, the more of it will end up polluting our world.

 

 

Polluting has a price - and so does finding a solution

 

Any kind of pollution has a cost: To the environment, to our lives and especially to the future of our children, who will take over a world with a lot more pressing environmental problems than was the case a generation ago. Likewise, we have to accept that solving these issues will not be cheap. A lot of money will have to be spent on research into alternatives for plastic, as well as on setting up workable recycling schemes, and cleaning up the world’s oceans. Eventually, this cost will be passed on to us as consumers in the form of price increases and taxes. Also, in this time and age where we are all focused on convenience shopping, we have to be prepared to be inconvenienced for the sake of avoiding plastic. It would mean that for some fresh food items, doing one weekly shop may no longer be enough, we would have to buy more regularly and in smaller quantities, and overall be better at ensuring that we end up eating what we buy.

 

 

Solving the problem takes all of us

 

It seems to me that the supermarkets are very often given the blame for our extensive use of especially “single-use” plastic. The general consensus seems to be that it is their fault, they should not have started offering it to us like that in the first place. Though I am often very critical of supermarkets and the way they act, both towards their suppliers and customers, it has to be said that when it comes to plastic, we as consumers have to accept our part of the blame as well. We are the ones who have been driving the move towards convenience, we are the ones who want to be able to buy strawberries when they are not in season, and exotic produce from all over the world. This created a need for finding a way to preserve fresh products for longer to allow for transport and distribution. Plastic packaging offered a solution, which we gladly accepted for many, many years.

 

There is not going to be one, single solution that can just magically be implemented from one side, be it retailers, producers, scientists, governments or private persons: All parties will have to do their part and try to tackle the problem with all the means we have at our disposal.

 

When it comes to finding alternatives, research plays a key role. It is encouraging that a lot of research is already taking place, both by packaging manufacturers and various research centers. This research is crucial and needs proper governmental backing, on a global scale.

 

With regards to all the plastic already in circulation, there are still a lot of un-tapped possibilities when it comes to re-cycling. As it is, we as consumers in the UK have sorted our waste for years now, yet most of what we throw into our recycling bins does not yet end up actually being recycled. Here as well research is required, but a lot could be accomplished by sharing knowledge with other countries and learning from best practices. In many countries, recycling of both glass and plastic bottles is encouraged by deposit schemes: You pay for the bottles and get a refund when they are delivered back. In Denmark where I grew up, this system has existed for over 75 years, yet in the UK it does not yet exist. Such options have to be pursued as well, and extended to other products than drinks. If, for example, we bought our washing liquid, pasta, maybe even meat in recycled and now reusable plastic containers, and the design of such containers were standardised, a workable deposit- and return scheme could be implemented across a number of products, ensuring that as much as possible of the plastic - and non-degradable containers we use end up in a closed loop. Where possible, we need to recycle plastic containers for reuse “as is”, rather than for re-processing.

 

Last but not least, we must come to terms with the fact that, just as for CO2 emissions, we need to work towards a world where we do not cause plastic pollution at all. There needs to be a genuine commitment not only to limit use of plastic, but also to “turn off the tab”, and set up targets for limitation of production of new plastic. Within the food industry, the producers and manufacturers have a key role to play, as do various produce organizations world-wide. From their side, they should be looking at sector-wide standards and codes of practice, and agree general terms for how they are prepared to sustainably present their product to retailers.

 

 

Plastic is here to stay - how it stays is up to us

 

We have to face a very inconvenient fact:  Now that we have spent 70 years bringing plastic into this world, we will not be able to get rid of it “just like that”. It will be a working progress for generations to come. In the meantime, we all need to do our part, and do our best, to manage the situation and not let it get more out of hand than it already has. That, in itself, will be no small challenge and will require an investment of time, effort and money from everyone. Whoever we want to blame for the problem, solving it will take all of us.