June 2014 - Plastic Waste Solutions
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Port Phillip Bay Polluted with Microplastics – Australia
Posted on June 26, 2014 by DrRossH in Plastic Waste Newshttp://www.heraldsun.com.au/leader/bayside/port-phillip-bay-polluted-with-microplastics-experts-say/story-fngnvli9-1226932857637 MELBOURNE’S bays and rivers are in danger of becoming a “plastic soup” if nothing is done to curb litter from spilling into the city’s waterways. Environmental experts and campaigners have expressed concern about the number...
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DEFRA: Re-use will be considered in carrier bags exemption assessment – UK
Posted on June 22, 2014 by DrRossH in Plastic Limiting RegulationsDEFRA: Re-use will be considered in carrier bags exemption assessment | Packaging News | Jobs | Production | Design | Innovation. Peter Davis (British Plastics Federation) had voiced concerns that the consultation appeared to be working on the assumption that...
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MPs brand bag charge plans “a complete mess” as sector rounds on new report – UK
Posted on June 22, 2014 by DrRossH in Plastic Limiting RegulationsMPs brand bag charge plans “a complete mess” as sector rounds on new report | Packaging News | Jobs | Production | Design | Innovation. One can tell who has a financial interest in this plastic bag issue. The manufacturers...
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Small retailers exempt from plastic bag levy | Packaging News | Jobs | Production | Design | Innovation
Posted on June 22, 2014 by DrRossH in Plastic Limiting RegulationsSmall retailers exempt from plastic bag levy | Packaging News | Jobs | Production | Design | Innovation. Ministers have opted to exempt small retailers from enforcing the levy, which it says would be unfair and costly to small businesses...
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A solution to the full wrap shrink recyclability problem? Not so fast – USA
Posted on June 4, 2014 by DrRossH in Plastic Waste NewsA solution to the full wrap shrink recyclability problem? Not so fast - Perspective - Plastics News. If you’ve been following the debate around full wrap shrink labels and PET container recyclability, you might have heard declarations of victory in...
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How many people today grab a takeaway coffee cup from the local cafe to drink on the go? We don’t know, but the number must be enormous.. Most every one of the above have a plastic top that will last 100s of years. Some cafes still use plastic cups that last a similar time. Is 10 minutes of coffee worth 100s of years of trash?
These items can be seen littering our gutters and on our streets all over the place. If they were all cardboard, they would still be littered, but they would, at least, be gone in a short time.
They do not need to be made of plastic.
On the way home from the gym last week, a distance of about 1 km (1/2 mile), I counted the items of plastic litter on the curb as I walked. In that short distance I counted 63 pieces of plastic litter. Plastic drink bottles, bottle tops, candy wrappers, plastic film, polystyrene fragments etc. That seemed to be a lot to me. I guess it is a generational thing. Our parents would have been horrified to see that amount, whereas it seems to go unnoticed by our youth of today. In another 20 years how many pieces will there be on this stretch, -- 200? What will today’s youth think of that new amount then when they are older? Will their children be so readily accepting of a higher amount of litter?