plastic waste Archives - Page 24 of 25 - Plastic Waste Solutions
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Oceans of plastic killing turtles as the Australian Federal government pursues a carbon tax
Posted on December 30, 2011 by DrRossH in Plastic Waste NewsWhere do we start on plastic waste discussions? It is such a big problem that most people prefer to keep their head in the sand and do nothing about it. Plastic waste is probably our biggest environmental problem, on comparison...
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Plastic Bag Charge Claimed as a Tax.
Posted on December 30, 2011 by DrRossH in Plastic Limiting RegulationsThis is not a tax by any measure. A consumer has the option to bring in their reusable bag and not pay any fee. Also with no local govt getting any of the revenue how is that construed as a...
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The 4Rs for Controlling Plastic Waste
Posted on December 30, 2011 by DrRossH in Plastic Waste NewsThe 4Rs are incorporated in to the Logo of Plastic Waste Solutions. We all know the Reduce, Reuse and Recycle as a proposed plan to control the use of plastics and other waste. There is a large element missing in...
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The Need for a Container Deposit Scheme
Posted on December 30, 2011 by DrRossH in Plastic Limiting RegulationsA CDS or Container Deposit Scheme is a very successful program where it has been introduced. In Australia and internationally. Just this morning I picked up 8 bottles in a 200 m stretch. It just shows the magnitude of the problem...
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Foodservice sector defends coffee chains over cup recycling
Posted on December 30, 2011 by DrRossH in Plastic Waste NewsThere are some fair comments in the reply to the Which? report in the link below. Consumers do have a large responsibility to dispose of items in the best manner not just the most convenient manner. However the manufacturers have...
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Palm Desert City to Discuss the Banning of Plastic Bags
Posted on December 30, 2011 by DrRossH in Plastic Limiting RegulationsPWS was surprised at most of the comments entered on this article. It is very short sighted thinking of many people. Plastic bags are an item that have a life time of just a few minutes and then discarded. In a...
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California debates the Use of the Biodegradable Claim
Posted on December 30, 2011 by DrRossH in Plastic Limiting RegulationsA sad case of bureaucrats getting involved in a technology they do not understand. http://www.mercurynews.com/science/ci_19195413 This article refers to landfill-biodegradable plastic bottles, yet cites the problems that a different technology ‘oxo-degradable’ plastics have and then further confuses with problems that...
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Plastic Packaging is the Problem
Posted on December 20, 2011 by DrRossH in Plastic Waste NewsThere has been a trend to plastic way from cardboard boxes or cardboard containment of goods for shipping purposes. A lot of this is due to cost, not necessarily due to more secure packaging. Cardboard enjoys very high recycling rates...
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Litter traps for plastic debris installed along Beaches
Posted on December 1, 2011 by DrRossH in Plastic Waste NewsThree trial litter traps were installed by PWS along beaches of Port Melbourne. The litter traps cover the outlets of storm water drains that empty on to the beaches. Previously when a large storm event would occur, plastic litter on...
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Plastic bag ban in Wales
Posted on November 29, 2011 by DrRossH in Plastic Waste NewsAnecdotal evidence from major retailers suggests that Wales’ carrier bag charge has dramatically reduced bag use in Wales, according to environment minister John Griffiths. The carrier bag charge came into force on 1 October in Wales. As a result of the...
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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?