Calling Out the Dirty Dozen of Problematic Plastic Packaging
George Guidoni
Ever since checkout plastic bags have been banned from the vast majority of Canadian grocery stores and many other retail outlets, the movement for banning all packaging plastics altogether has been getting a lot of traction among consumers and governments alike.
While seemingly noble in principle and on the surface, the anti-plastic crusade overlooks many of the positive benefits that certain plastic packaging products provide in terms of product protection, shelf-life extension and food-waste reduction, where the downside of outright plastic elimination can have huge negative implications for consumer welfare, economic prosperity and food security on an epic global scale.
Being labeled as the world’s chief environmental culprit this century is undoubtedly a very heavy cross to bear, and it takes a lot of courage and self-belief these days to suggest that plastics still have an important role to play in the global packaging industry of today and tomorrow.
Regrettably, such arguments and opinion get remarkably little airplay of media coverage, compared to the doom-and-gloom anti-plastic hysteria dominating the current narrative.
So for the sake of a little balance and fairness, we applaud the efforts by groups like the Canada Plastics Pact (CPP) and the National Zero Waste Council (NZWC) to identify a list of so-called problematic and/or unnecessary plastic packaging products that could be removed from everyday use without long-lasting negative consequences.
Released last month, the new guidance document—titled Supporting the Elimination of Unnecessary & Problematic Plastics—uses a five-step criterion to determine which plastics should be the first to go, including:
- The item or material can be avoided or replaced;
- The item or material contains hazardous chemicals;
- The item or material hinders or disrupts recycling or composting systems;
- The item or material has a high likelihood of being littered.
- The item or material is non-recyclable, compostable or reusable and is not likely to be so by 2025.
“Research has shown that single-use items are the most common items found in clean-up efforts in Canada and worldwide,” says CPP’s managing director, Cher Mereweather.
“Our latest CPP data reveals that an estimated 978,000 tons of plastic packaging waste was produced in 2022 through residential recycling systems and waste-management initiatives, with only 20 per cent of it being recycled.
“Today’s reality is that many products that are technically recyclable are not collected or processed and may contaminate other recycling streams.
“It’s clear that the first step we need to take is to eliminate the plastics we don’t need.”
The Unnecessary & Problematic Plastics list includes various items such as checkout bags, cutlery, straws, oxo-degradables, and materials containing intentionally added Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS), a.k.a. the dreaded ‘Forever Chemicals.’
Other items on the list include stir sticks, beverage six-pack rings, undetectable carbon black, PVC (Polyvinyl Chloride) and PVDC (Polyvinylidene Chloride), PETG (Polyethylene Terephthalate Glycol), EPS (Expanded Polystyrene), PS (Polystyrene) and multi-material flexibles.
According to CPP, relying solely on recycling systems will not solve Canada’s plastic-packaging waste challenges, and that even if industry were to meet all recycling targets, it would not be sufficient to eliminate plastic waste entirely.
As Cher points out, “Immediate action is imperative to tackle the challenges posed by plastic waste [and] this document gives industry clarity and direction.
“Keeping plastics in our economy and out of people, animals, and nature is a complex challenge that requires collaboration and innovation at all levels, from all sectors.”
We could not say so better ourselves.
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