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? What a difference good EPR makes – Europe
Posted on January 15, 2026 by DrRossH in Plastic Limiting Regulations, Plastic Recycling, Stewardship Waste ProgramsA quiet but effective European revolution is catching on and spreading across the world – Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR).
Source: What a difference good EPR makes – Inside Waste
A quiet but effective European revolution is catching on and spreading across the world – Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR). A robust EPR will soon materialise in Australia; now it’s a matter of when and whether we put in place the essential guardrails and work together to achieve excellence.
Over 30 years, EPR and Producer Responsibility Organisations (PROs) have evolved, introducing new measures like eco-modulation in fees incentivising improvements in design, and investing in expanded collections and recycling. Effective EPR and PROs are so valuable that EPR is becoming central to governments and industry sector strategies for circular materials and products, stronger industry sectors, local jobs, higher economic productivity, improved trade balance and lower harmful emissions.
These nations avoid the ‘zombie zone’ of limping ‘half-alive’ voluntary schemes that we have in Australia that must coax producers to stay for an indefinite period with ‘best as they can muster’ services. Timely and good legislation can also prevent formation of competing for-profit schemes that race to attract members with low levies, minimal services and progress.
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