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ENVIRONMENT
The plastic dilemma
Bronwen Jameson, external affairs manager at Recycling Technologies in Swindon, works to raise awareness of the technology that’s on offer to accelerate the evolution of plastic into a more sustainable material. She works with governments, NGOs, supply chain partners and trade bodies with the aim of changing the landscape of recycling so that decisions and policy may be based on emerging solutions as well as ‘business as usual’. Here she explains how not using plastic may in fact be more harmful to the environment
P
lastic was first created by US amateur inventor John Wesley Hyatt in the 1860s. He took up a challenge with a $10,000 reward, to find an alternative material to ivory for making billiard balls. Ivory was becoming scarce and killing elephants in their thousands for their tusks was creating public outcry – something needed to be done to protect wildlife. Now over 150 years later, the tables have turned on this wonder material plastic, and plastic waste in particular. The BBC’s Blue Planet highlighted significant negative effects on the natural world of our current ‘make, use, dispose’ economy, where we use materials, sometimes for very short periods of time, then throw them away. Clearly we need to use our world’s resources more efficiently and protect our environment.
Is the answer to ban or stop using plastics? In many situations and in the spirit of the 3Rs, which prioritises ‘reduce and re-use’ over ‘recycle’ this may be exactly right. We are rightly starting to refuse takeaway cups in favour of reusables and questioning whether we need a straw in every drink or a toy in every children’s meal. If we don’t need to use a resource at all, it is always best to go without. But what happens when the packaging’s utility value – lightweight, safe, durable, sealable – justifies its use? Studies in the UK show that many of us are prone to what can be considered a plastic dilemma. We recognise the importance of plastic packaging to protect goods in transit and prolong shelf-life, which helps to prevent food waste, but we are increasingly unwilling to accept that it comes at the
expense of the environment. Yet eschewing packaging which helps prevent food waste will and does bring high environmental costs, such as added greenhouse gas emissions. If food waste was a country it would be the third biggest greenhouse gas emitter in the world. When considering replacing plastics with other materials the choices become complicated. A paper bag has 3.3 times more carbon dioxide embedded in it than a conventional plastic bag. Glass bottles and metal cans in particular have significantly higher emissions associated with their manufacture than their plastic equivalent. In many situations rejecting plastic does not help the environment at all, but has a negative impact. I work for Recycling Technologies, a recycling company that has developed a
“Ultimately, it is you and me, the citizens and consumers, who have kept Sir David Attenborough’s rally cry alive in the media and in the hearts and minds of business, with our passion to see action on plastic waste; and we all stand to gain in terms of easier recycling at home, reduced carbon emissions and cleaner seas and streets” BRONWEN JAMESON
20 TheBATHMagazine
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april 2020
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issue 211
