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Five Companies Produce Nearly 25 Percent of All Plastic Waste Worldwide

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Re: Five Companies Produce Nearly 25 Percent of All Plastic Waste Worldwide

#11

Post by qeternity »

silisili wrote: post #7
andrewstuart wrote: post #4

I visited a remote island in the Solomon Islands in the Pacific. A tiny island, I walked all around the island in the water in about two hours. There were hundreds, probably thousands of plastic drink bottles in the water and on the sand. Every step brought fresh plastic drink bottles into view. Humans don't deserve this planet.

While I agree with the ending statement largely, we have to blame the producers here. If I want water, I'm stuck with what's sold to me. Most on this site are fortunate enough to be able to drink disposables and have it whisked away magically. It's when that doesn't or can't occur that you start to realize how much we all waste. Single use plastics should have been outlawed years ago. Or at least taxed to high heaven…

> If I want water, I'm stuck with what's sold to me.

This is a cop out. It’s cheap and trivial to buy a reusable water bottle and refill it.

Re: Five Companies Produce Nearly 25 Percent of All Plastic Waste Worldwide

#12

Post by olejorgenb »

strogonoff wrote: post #5

Thinking that recycling would address the problem of plastic pollution is wishful thinking. Plastic recycles very poorly. Companies like plastic because it means thicker margins for them, environment be damned; the proper solution is not to buy into the “consumers should be recycling” narrative but to thin out their margins so that using more sustainable and recyclable materials is financially attractive again.

> Plastic recycles very poorly.

While I'm sure this is true in general, my impression is that the PET used in drink-bottles recycle well. For drink bottles I don't think we have a good option either? Glass is too heavy, aluminum is more energy intensive (I assume) even when it's recycled. Reusable bottles is unlikely to be realistic.

Re: Five Companies Produce Nearly 25 Percent of All Plastic Waste Worldwide

#13

Post by olejorgenb »

olejorgenb wrote: post #12
strogonoff wrote: post #5

Thinking that recycling would address the problem of plastic pollution is wishful thinking. Plastic recycles very poorly. Companies like plastic because it means thicker margins for them, environment be damned; the proper solution is not to buy into the “consumers should be recycling” narrative but to thin out their margins so that using more sustainable and recyclable materials is financially attractive again.

> Plastic recycles very poorly. While I'm sure this is true in general, my impression is that the PET used in drink-bottles recycle well. For drink bottles I don't think we have a good option either? Glass is too heavy, aluminum is more energy intensive (I assume) even when it's recycled. Reusable bottles is unlikely to be realistic.

Collection rates in countries having an reverse-vending system is also high to very-high. 80-95% IIRC

Re: Five Companies Produce Nearly 25 Percent of All Plastic Waste Worldwide

#14

Post by RobotToaster »

Eh, the headline is kind of misleading

>they used data from brand information on plastic litter and found that 24 percent of the waste with an identifiable brand came from just five companies: Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Nestlé, Danone, and Altria.

>Over five years, volunteers in 84 countries analyzed over 1,800,000 pieces of plastic that they collected during clean-up events. Just over half the analyzed items had a visible brand.

1) It wasn't 24%, it was 24% of the half that could be identified.

2) It's only of the litter collected during clean-up events, so will be skewed towards waste from products used outside. This will ignore things like industrial plastic waste, fishing nets (which is a big issue in ocean plastics), etc.

That said it still seems like an important study.

There's also the question of what is actually problematic waste, that causes issues for humans or animals. Plastic in landfill isn't "good", but as long as it doesn't contaminate groundwater AFAIK it's harmless.

Re: Five Companies Produce Nearly 25 Percent of All Plastic Waste Worldwide

#15

Post by RobotToaster »

olejorgenb wrote: post #12
strogonoff wrote: post #5

Thinking that recycling would address the problem of plastic pollution is wishful thinking. Plastic recycles very poorly. Companies like plastic because it means thicker margins for them, environment be damned; the proper solution is not to buy into the “consumers should be recycling” narrative but to thin out their margins so that using more sustainable and recyclable materials is financially attractive again.

> Plastic recycles very poorly. While I'm sure this is true in general, my impression is that the PET used in drink-bottles recycle well. For drink bottles I don't think we have a good option either? Glass is too heavy, aluminum is more energy intensive (I assume) even when it's recycled. Reusable bottles is unlikely to be realistic.

> Reusable bottles is unlikely to be realistic.

It used to be the norm in the UK for milk.

Re: Five Companies Produce Nearly 25 Percent of All Plastic Waste Worldwide

#16

Post by OsrsNeedsf2P »

To everyone blaming consumers: I encourage you to take a solution driven mindset here. Consumers won't change. There's far too many people, some of which don't care about the environment.

Tight regulations and additional tax on single use plastics can reduce plastic waste.

Re: Five Companies Produce Nearly 25 Percent of All Plastic Waste Worldwide

#17

Post by strogonoff »

andrewstuart wrote: post #4

I visited a remote island in the Solomon Islands in the Pacific. A tiny island, I walked all around the island in the water in about two hours. There were hundreds, probably thousands of plastic drink bottles in the water and on the sand. Every step brought fresh plastic drink bottles into view. Humans don't deserve this planet.

Visible plastic pollution is horrible, and is only part of the problem. This then breaks down and was shown to enter and accumulate in not only animal bodies, including human bodies (soft tissue, lungs, even placenta[0][1]), but individual cells[2]. This includes BPA, a xenoestrogen used in most or all plastic bottles, which in EU is among the candidates for SVHC (substances of very high concern)[3].

[0] https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S016041202...

[1] https://academic.oup.com/toxsci/advance-article-abstract/doi...

[2] https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S00489...

[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Substance_of_very_high_concern (I expect the oil industry to do its utmost to delay this from having any legal effect, as per.)

Re: Five Companies Produce Nearly 25 Percent of All Plastic Waste Worldwide

#18

Post by unwind »

olejorgenb wrote: post #13
olejorgenb wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Plastic recycles very poorly. While I'm sure this is true in general, my impression is that the PET used in drink-bottles recycle well. For drink bottles I don't think we have a good option either? Glass is too heavy, aluminum is more energy intensive (I assume) even when it's recycled. Reusable bottles is unlikely to be realistic.

Collection rates in countries having an reverse-vending system is also high to very-high. 80-95% IIRC

Deposits on cans and PET bottles is well-established in Sweden, and rates seem to be around 90% now according to the responsible company [1], so yes.

[1]: https://pantamera.nu/en/private-citizen/facts--statistics/de...

Re: Five Companies Produce Nearly 25 Percent of All Plastic Waste Worldwide

#19

Post by strogonoff »

rightbyte wrote: post #10
strogonoff wrote: post #5

Thinking that recycling would address the problem of plastic pollution is wishful thinking. Plastic recycles very poorly. Companies like plastic because it means thicker margins for them, environment be damned; the proper solution is not to buy into the “consumers should be recycling” narrative but to thin out their margins so that using more sustainable and recyclable materials is financially attractive again.

Steel or aluminum cans might be better? At least they rust away and don't float. I mean you could have a screw cap on a can too if that is important. Dunno why 33cl/50cl and whatever the oz. sizes are, are metal and plastic respectivly. Using one time cannisters for water feels fundamentally unsubstainable.

I think “one time” is the key word here. Multiple use glass and metal containers were just fine before plastic; they can be the norm again.
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