ITCO takes aim at single-use bags

CAMPAIGN TRAIL

PLASTICS • FLEXIBAGS HAVE A ROLE TO PLAY IN THE LIQUIDS SUPPLY CHAIN BUT, ITCO SAYS, USERS NEED TO MAKE SURE THAT THEY DO NOT END UP ADDING TO OCEAN POLLUTION

SINCE LARGE-SCALE PRODUCTION of polyethylenes began in the mid-1950s, they have shown themselves to be a cheap and extremely flexible solution to all manner of needs. For instance, by 1985 it was estimated that 75 per cent of all US supermarkets had switched from paper bags to plastics.

More recently, though, there has been growing concern over the littering of the planet by single-use plastics bags, water bottles and other items, with a major emphasis on the impact of this litter on the marine environment. Governments have responded to public opinion by introducing

FLEXIBAGS ARE USEFUL IN THE TRANSPORT OF NON-

HAZARDOUS LIQUIDS IN BULK BUT THEIR USERS

NEED TO LOOK CLOSELY AT HOW THEY ARE DISPOSED bans or taxes on single-use plastics.

And last year, as HCB reported in its December 2019 issue, the chemical industry has also started to respond, establishing the Alliance to End Plastic Waste (AEPW); various ports around the world have set up programmes to clean their waters of plastic litter and to avoid the generation of additional waste in the polymer chain.

More action is still needed, and the International Tank Container Organisation (ITCO) has renewed its efforts to reduce the employment of single-use plastics bags in the bulk liquids supply chain.

TAKE RESPONSIBILITY Speaking at ITCO’s 2019 Asia Regional Meeting in Shanghai this past 27 November, Clive Francis, vice-president Asia-Pacific of Exsif Worldwide, looked in some detail at the situation. He characterised the flexibag as a 40-kg single-use plastics bag, equivalent to some 7,272 supermarket shopping bags. As he said: “What is the value of a family taking their re-useable shopping bag to the supermarket if their product they are buying was shipped in a flexibag?”

Flexibags are not re-used once they have been emptied: they are a one-way, singleuse bag. And while consignees may be encouraged to send dirty bags to be shredded and recycled, anecdotal evidence indicates that many end up in landfill, adding to the piles of litter threatening the oceans.

ITCO wants to see an end to this process. It has begun a campaign to require a verifiable end-user certificate, issued at the time of shipment, stating how the flexibag will be recycled or disposed of in an environmentally responsible way at the end of its trip. At its Members Meeting in Amsterdam at the end of September, ITCO also agreed to make a budget available for a short animated video to promote the use of tank containers as a totally sustainable alternative; this will be provided for all members to use, free of charge, to get the message out to their customers that plastics waste is bad for their image.

As part of this effort, ITCO realises the need to work with its customers in the chemical industry. ITCO president Reg Lee has been in touch with AEPW to explain the issue and to open a dialogue. Lee stresses that it is not ITCO’s intention to outlaw the use of flexibags but simply to ensure that there is a responsible approach to their use by the chemical industry.

Lee says: “ITCO fully supports the aims and objectives of AEPW and in our own small way we have been helping the chemical industry become more aware of the environmental problems associated with shipping nonhazardous chemicals in single-trip plastic bags in 20-foot box containers on international trade routes,” and notes that almost one million such bags will be used this year. www.itco.org