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Canada Plans to Ban Single-Use Plastics, Joining Growing Global Movement

nytimes.com

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Re: Canada Plans to Ban Single-Use Plastics, Joining Growing Global Movement

#21

Post by petschge »

gnicholas wrote: post #16

> The World Economic Forum estimates that 90 percent of the plastic ending up in the oceans comes from 10 major rivers, and that currently there are 50 million tons of plastic in the world’s oceans." from the WEF: researchers were able to estimate that just 10 river systems carry 90% of the plastic that ends up in the ocean. Eight of them are in Asia: the Yangtze; Indus; Yellow; Hai He; Ganges; Pearl; Amur; Mekong; a…

It's not quite that simple to absolve Canada (and Europe and the US) from their responsibility for this problem. Quite a bit of the plastic that ends up in those rivers far away was exported "for recycling" to the countries where it gets miss-handled and ends up in the landscape.

Re: Canada Plans to Ban Single-Use Plastics, Joining Growing Global Movement

#22

Post by NeedMoreTea »

no1youknowz wrote: post #2

This can only be a good thing. There are now alternatives to plastic from biodegradable materials such as lobster shells and cactus juice. I'm sure with more research and better methods, mother nature can offer more materials to use for consumption tools. [0]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wBSzxQLQSpI [1]: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/stories-48497933/how-to-make-b...

Not really a recent development though. In the late seventies, or early eighties there were already biodegradable and compostable plastics.

One UK supermarket used one of them for trays and bags around the same time, and printed the fact on every one. I forget whether they were compostable or just biodegradable. Yet eventually that chain switched back to oil derived plastic like everyone else.

Presumably price won.

Here's one from fermented sugars that ICI came up with in the early 80s: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyhydroxyalkanoates

Re: Canada Plans to Ban Single-Use Plastics, Joining Growing Global Movement

#23

Post by manishsharan »

barking wrote: post #17

Canada is not where the problem is at, so to speak By analyzing the waste found in the rivers and surrounding landscape, researchers were able to estimate that just 10 river systems carry 90% of the plastic that ends up in the ocean. Eight of them are in Asia: the Yangtze; Indus; Yellow; Hai He; Ganges; Pearl; Amur; Mekong; and two in Africa – the Nile and the Niger. https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2018/06/90-of-plast…

Third world countries follow First world countries. In India, not too long ago, cheap roadside restaurants(dhabas) used plates made out of leaves and served tea in cups made out of clay. Now that is considered a sign of primitiveness and poverty. If first world nations change their attitude towards plastics, the third world nations will follow suit eventually.

Re: Canada Plans to Ban Single-Use Plastics, Joining Growing Global Movement

#24

Post by jimcsharp »

Tiktaalik wrote: post #6

Not mentioned in this article but worth noting that the City of Vancouver was interested in pursuing a single use plastics ban taking effect this summer in 2019, but backed away when disability rights activists protested that plastic straws are very important for people with mobility challenges, and they considered the non-plastic alternative straws available to be poor and not viable options.

I think making some waste opt-in would go a long way. Some stingy restaurant owners are doing that any way.

Re: Canada Plans to Ban Single-Use Plastics, Joining Growing Global Movement

#25

Post by ridicter »

I see comments pointing out that the majority of plastic pollution in oceans come from Asia/Africa. This is true, but there are two points worth considering:

1) Whenever you pay cheaply for anything made in any third world country, you're externalizing the societal cost of pollution to that country (and if it gets into the oceans, to everyone). In other words, you're not paying the true cost of that item--economically and to society and the environment.

2) As linked elsewhere: first world nations often export their trash to third world nations, masquerading as recycled materials - see spat with Philippines - https://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/canadian-garbage-from-phi...

Re: Canada Plans to Ban Single-Use Plastics, Joining Growing Global Movement

#26

Post by ZeroGravitas »

gnicholas wrote: post #16

> The World Economic Forum estimates that 90 percent of the plastic ending up in the oceans comes from 10 major rivers, and that currently there are 50 million tons of plastic in the world’s oceans." from the WEF: researchers were able to estimate that just 10 river systems carry 90% of the plastic that ends up in the ocean. Eight of them are in Asia: the Yangtze; Indus; Yellow; Hai He; Ganges; Pearl; Amur; Mekong; a…

I'd prefer to hear about things on a per capita level. What other stats do we hear about per river?

Re: Canada Plans to Ban Single-Use Plastics, Joining Growing Global Movement

#27

Post by seltzered_ »

manishsharan wrote: post #23
barking wrote: post #17

Canada is not where the problem is at, so to speak By analyzing the waste found in the rivers and surrounding landscape, researchers were able to estimate that just 10 river systems carry 90% of the plastic that ends up in the ocean. Eight of them are in Asia: the Yangtze; Indus; Yellow; Hai He; Ganges; Pearl; Amur; Mekong; and two in Africa – the Nile and the Niger. https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2018/06/90-of-plast…

Third world countries follow First world countries. In India, not too long ago, cheap roadside restaurants(dhabas) used plates made out of leaves and served tea in cups made out of clay. Now that is considered a sign of primitiveness and poverty. If first world nations change their attitude towards plastics, the third world nations will follow suit eventually.

https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2014/06/co... covers this topic well.

"I was surprised to learn that the average Bangalorean throws out very little trash: about a pound of garbage per day, or the weight of a grapefruit. The average American generates more than four times that amount, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, or more than seven times that amount, according to a more rigorous methodology developed by Columbia University and the BioCycle trade journal. We’ve nearly doubled our per capita output of garbage since 1960, to the point where we now generate 50 percent more trash than Western Europeans and two to three times more than the Japanese."

"As I wound my way through Bangalore’s streets in the Daily Dump van, I spotted numerous American brands out the window: Nike, Tommy Hilfiger, Levi’s, McDonald’s, Pizza Hut. But the United States doesn’t just export products to India—it exports a culture of consumption, backed by billions in advertising dollars."

Re: Canada Plans to Ban Single-Use Plastics, Joining Growing Global Movement

#28

Post by benj111 »

kilo_bravo_3 wrote: post #10

Hopefully mankind's addiction to single-use plastics and the negligent disposal of all plastics can be stopped before exposure to, inhalation of, and ingestion of large quantities of microscopic shards of poly-whatever start shredding and poisoning our bodies from the inside.

"microscopic shards of poly-whatever start shredding and poisoning our bodies from the inside"

Is there any evidence that this could happen? It's the first I've heard of it.

Re: Canada Plans to Ban Single-Use Plastics, Joining Growing Global Movement

#29

Post by einr »

manishsharan wrote: post #23
barking wrote: post #17

Canada is not where the problem is at, so to speak By analyzing the waste found in the rivers and surrounding landscape, researchers were able to estimate that just 10 river systems carry 90% of the plastic that ends up in the ocean. Eight of them are in Asia: the Yangtze; Indus; Yellow; Hai He; Ganges; Pearl; Amur; Mekong; and two in Africa – the Nile and the Niger. https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2018/06/90-of-plast…

Third world countries follow First world countries. In India, not too long ago, cheap roadside restaurants(dhabas) used plates made out of leaves and served tea in cups made out of clay. Now that is considered a sign of primitiveness and poverty. If first world nations change their attitude towards plastics, the third world nations will follow suit eventually.

If first world nations change their attitude towards plastics, the third world nations will follow suit eventually.

Eventually?

Several Indian states have already banned single use plastic bottles and polystyrene food packaging, etc. The Indian government has also already banned lightweight plastic bags nationwide.

So has Tanzania, Eritrea, Djibouti, Gabon, Gambia, Haiti, Ivory Coast, Malawi, Namibia, Kenya, Rwanda, Mali, Morocco and many other "third world nations". In fact, if you look at the list and map¤, it's saturated with bans in "third world nations" while most rich countries are dragging their feet or ignoring the problem. After all, we can just export our garbage to Africa, right?

¤ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phase-out_of_lightweight_plast...

Re: Canada Plans to Ban Single-Use Plastics, Joining Growing Global Movement

#30

Post by benj111 »

Tiktaalik wrote: post #6

Not mentioned in this article but worth noting that the City of Vancouver was interested in pursuing a single use plastics ban taking effect this summer in 2019, but backed away when disability rights activists protested that plastic straws are very important for people with mobility challenges, and they considered the non-plastic alternative straws available to be poor and not viable options.

The UK is planning to ban plastic straws except those sold through pharmacies. That seems like the right balance, they're available to those that need them, but denormalises them for standard usage, and incentivises retailers to stock alternatives.
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