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? 
Award-winning RePlay reveals the promise and reality of reuse – New Zealand
Posted on August 6, 2026 by DrRossH in Plastic RecyclingThree Gold awards and a Silver saw RePlay top the medal tally in this year’s PIDA awards. But behind the accolades lies an equally important story: the practical challenges of making reusable packaging systems commercially viable.
Source: Award-winning RePlay reveals the promise and reality of reuse – PKN Packaging News
Consumer behaviour remains the biggest hurdle
Perhaps the most significant finding to emerge from the project is that the primary challenge is neither the packaging nor the supporting technology, but consumer behaviour.
Tsui said the trial had reinforced a lesson emerging from reuse initiatives around the world.
“The biggest challenge has not been the packaging or the technology. It has been changing consumer behaviour.
“The current food packaging system is incredibly convenient, and consumers are accustomed to single-use packaging that requires no further action.
“Like many reuse initiatives around the world, we have learned that convenience is ultimately the most important driver of customer behaviour.”
Getting used product back to a recycling point is step 1 of a circular system. And questionably the most difficult to achieve. Get consumers to accept they have to do things a bit different and not just throw it in the bin!
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