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? 
Mandatory packaging standards welcomed – Australia
Posted on June 14, 2023 by DrRossH in Plastic Limiting Regulations
A government move toward mandatory packaging design and targets has been described as a watershed moment in Australia.
Source: Mandatory packaging standards welcomed – Waste Management Review
Plibersek said environment ministers expect the companies responsible for producing packaging to take responsibility for their waste but it’s clear that voluntary targets and design guidelines aren’t working. Three million tonnes of packaging is sent to landfill each year – equivalent to about 200 billion chip packets.
“We need to dramatically reduce packaging waste, and the harmful chemicals that destroy our environment. We see packaging in the guts of dead birds, floating in our oceans, destroying nature as it takes generations to degrade,” Plibersek said.
“Put simply, we’re making too much, using too much, and too much is ending up in landfill.
“Until now, governments have ignored calls to step in and set mandatory targets. While some in the industry have stepped up to voluntarily reduce their impact, it’s just not enough. We’re changing that.”
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