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? D-Day for plastics is coming – Australia
Posted on June 23, 2021 by DrRossH in Plastic Waste NewsSource: D-Day for plastics is coming | The Fifth Estate
1 July 2021 marks the first day of the federal government’s ban that will prevent the export of Australia’s mixed plastic waste to overseas countries.
This is significant. This is the first time any country is sealing their border and banning the export of recovered plastics to existing overseas markets. It will be closely watched by countries around the world.
All these changes are likely to result in increases in our recycling and landfill fees, which are frankly due for an overhaul. It will also increase pressure upon brand owners, retailers and manufacturers to address the durability, reusability and recyclability of plastic products and packaging. While there are some good moves underway with packaging with the Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation (APCO), there are almost no moves to address repair and recyclability of products.
And for us at home, in our workplaces and venues across Australia we too will have greater responsibility to improve our purchases and sorting of plastics for increased circularity.
In summary, the government’s bold ban will prompt a necessary structural change through our plastics supply chain. We will end the awful shameful practice of sending our ‘mixed plastics wastes’ offshore and face up to what we really produce, use and dispose, and have more serious discussions about a more circular plastics economy.
We are predicting this will be a huge structural change required to succeed at this. if we only give it lip service then we’ll be having the same discussion in 10 years time.
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