By Daniel Hordon
Wonder what happens when you put plastic in the recycling bin? Over 50% of it goes straight into our oceans, which is why we need to stop using it now for the sake of our ecosystem and our own health.
We all use single use plastics everyday; they surround us. As I write this article, I hold a plastic pen, the person next to me has a single use water bottle. There is little escape from single use plastics and the little-restricted market of capitalism makes them near impossible to avoid. We drink from plastic bottles, buy vegetables in plastic packaging, rub plastic from cosmetics into our skin and even drink microplastics which are near impossible to filter out of our water supply.
Our issue with single use plastics is extensive and has been caused by years of industry trying to cut costs instead of using sustainable materials. This has left us with over a truckload of plastic entering our oceans every second and takes hundreds of years to decompose. In 2014 only 9.5% of the USA’s plastic waste actually got recycled, often despite it going into bins branded as ‘recycling bins’.
As with any issue, the question of blame has surfaced as government officials, businesses and consumers all attempt to blame one another for the plastic epidemic they have all contributed to. Businesses have neglected the environment with the aim of driving down costs. Consumers have not been recycling properly and have begun to opt for the cheapest products, which often have the most plastic packaging. And finally, the government has failed to act against this with proper legislation on the use of or the recycling of plastics.
Over the past few months I have been taking the challenge of cutting out as many single use plastics from my life as possible, but it’s a seemingly impossible challenge. When I wake up I brush my teeth with a plastic toothbrush and toothpaste which contains microplastics and this is only 5 minutes of my day. It is only since I have become aware of the issue and attempted to cut out plastics that I have noticed just how prominent they are. Despite my efforts to recycle my plastic bags, use a reusable plastic bottle and recycle all plastics I can, it has become apparent that cutting out plastics can no longer be a life choice for the consumer and left to only them to solve. It is inconvenient, timely and more importantly it costs more to avoid all plastic products.
What exactly does the plastic waste do?
When plastics enter the oceans they never degrade meaning that they stay there for hundreds or thousands of years. Our capitalist endeavours to cut costs mean that we don’t even know the full potential of plastic, how long it will be around for and what will happen to it when it does decompose. This plastic stays in the oceans and plasticisers inside the products leech out into the water. Poor animals who call the ocean their home are also affected and many have been found to have eaten plastic products after confusing them with food stuffs. Most commonly, plastic bags which whales and other animals confuse for jellyfish and when consumed never leave their bodies.
Plastic has also leaked out into our water supply through years of using cosmetics containing plastics and washing clothes made with plastic fibres. When flushed down the drain these plastics are too small to be filtered out of the water supply meaning that they keep coming out of the tap and being consumed by humans. Again, there has been a lack of research into the exact impacts of microplastics and just how some of the chemicals in these products actually affect humans; however, it is widely suggested that the effect is a negative one which poisons us. Escaping plastics is nearly impossible. As animals also consume plastic, both on land and at sea, the plastics they consume come into the food chain and are taken into our bodies when we eat them.
So what can be done?
Businesses need to realise that they have a moral obligation to solve any issues caused by their own products. The gambling industry have made efforts to stop people from gambling and the alcohol industry have made efforts to stop people from drinking excessively, so why don’t businesses who sell single-use plastic products do the same. These businesses must work to improve their products and packaging to remove plastics which are damaging the environment. Not all businesses have been ignorant of this crisis with Coca Cola Enterprises increasing its advertising on recycling and the Co-op and Iceland recently advocating a plastic bottle deposit return scheme. However, if businesses continue to neglect their moral obligations in protecting the environment then the government will need to step in to enforce more strict laws on the use of single use plastics.
The government have previously stepped in introducing the 5p charge on single use plastic bags. This has been proven to be a successful scheme - reducing the amount of bags used by 85% in the first 9 months. Ultimately, Britain is lagging behind on this with even Rwanda stepping up to ban the sale, use, production or import of plastic bags and packaging with the only exceptions in the pharmaceutical industry. A similar scheme should be introduced to save the UK it’s wider plastic epidemic. Philip Hammond’s Autumn Budget back in November 2017 hinted towards a possible tax on plastic bottles and takeaway boxes in the future, a move which is also expected to massively reduce the use of plastic.
A plastic bottle deposit return scheme would help to increase the amount of plastic bottles that are actually recycled. Norway has a deposit return scheme with bottles taxed to the value of 10p or 25p depending on the size of the bottle. The result - 96% of bottles are returned to be recycled in comparison to just 57% in the UK. These schemes are proven to be effective in increasing recycling rates, yet central government appears to be failing to understand the impact of such a scheme, suggesting that “pilot schemes have produced inconclusive results” back in February, although more movement on the policy appears to have occurred since. How 96% recycling rates can be “inconclusive” is questionable.
Seemingly ever more progressive in policy, the Scottish devolved government recently announced that it would look into the introduction of a deposit return scheme. A policy for the future is needed to ensure that the plastic problem doesn’t continue to spiral out of control and cause further problems for our children.
What can I do to avoid single use plastics?
Avoiding plastics is very difficult in a society built around plastic products. However, it is important that everyone reconsiders their choices and buying habits as this will ultimately have an impact on the products that manufacturers will offer us. Some possible ways of cutting out plastic are:
1. Buy fruit and vegetables loose and carry them home in paper bags
2. Use a bag for life, paper or cloth bags when shopping
3. Drink water from a reusable plastic bottle and refill it at the tap
4. Buy drinks in cans or glass when possible - these can be recycled more easily
5. Use a glass or metal straw and deny a straw in restaurants or bars when offered
6. Swap out any cosmetics which contain microplastics for those which don’t contain any plastic materials (a list of cosmetics containing plastic can be found at http://www.beatthemicrobead.org/product-lists/)
7. Use paper stem cotton buds instead of plastic stem
8. Carry a reusable coffee cup as disposable ones often contain plastics and are hard to recycle
9. Swap out single use plastic utensils and carry a knife, fork or spork instead
10. Buy fish from sustainable sources
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