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? Let the numbers do the talking – Europe
Posted on December 11, 2024 by DrRossH in Compostable PlasticsBioplastics have been constrained to a niche largely due to high production prices. There is, however, more to total price than the production price of resin. Levies and fees on producers count towards a product’s final price. Just how competitive bioplastics really are against virgin plastics and other materials depends on their total price
Source: Let the numbers do the talking | Sustainable Plastics
The author calculated the total cost of bioplastics versus the alternatives by considering five cost drivers: the packaging removal tax in different European countries, the price on carbon as measured by LCA, the penalty on non-recycled content, the tax on single-use products, and polymer prices.
The first cost driver is the packaging removal tax. Countries across Europe mandate packaging manufacturers to pay for the collection of their products after use, which are then destined for recycling, landfill, or incineration.
Bioplastics will become cheaper as their lower carbon contribution is recompensated whilst alternative materials suffer higher carbon levies. Their price will remain comparatively high, however, especially in the case of PHA. Production capacity will more than triple by 2028, according to EUBP predictions, but that is likely to still be insufficient to reach economies of scale comparable with other polymers.
Bioplastics will continue to fit niche applications, but they will be a much more economical and competitive choice in 2050 than they are in 2024.
Discussion · No Comments
There are no responses to "Let the numbers do the talking – Europe". Comments are closed for this post.Oops! Sorry, comments are closed at this time. Please try again later.