{"id":213917,"date":"2022-01-18T20:46:29","date_gmt":"2022-01-18T18:46:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mypr.co.za\/?p=112015"},"modified":"2022-01-18T20:46:29","modified_gmt":"2022-01-18T18:46:29","slug":"link-between-ivory-and-plastic-reminder-of-why-anti-plastic-sentiment-is-misguided","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/link-between-ivory-and-plastic-reminder-of-why-anti-plastic-sentiment-is-misguided\/","title":{"rendered":"Link between ivory and plastic reminder of why anti-plastic sentiment is misguided"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The link between ivory and plastic should be a reminder to South Africans of why the anti-plastic sentiment is misguided.<\/p>\n

So says South African National Bottled Water Association (SANBWA) CEO, Charlotte Metcalf.<\/p>\n

Metcalf admitted she herself was reminded of the link between the two substances while reading an interview with WWF sustainable materials specialist Paula Chin in Packaging Insights.<\/p>\n

\u201cMs. Chin reminded readers that plastic was invented to replace the use of elephant ivory for billiard balls in the 1800s, and averted an ecological disaster, while the plastic bag was intended to be reusable when it was invented in 1962.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese two facts \u2013 that plastic can be a viable replacement for other materials with significant environment footprints and can be reused \u2013 as well as her considerable knowledge, experience and research inform her stance, which she shared with Packaging Insights.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is that replacing plastic with alternative packaging materials is not the answer to pollution and may even worsen industry\u2019s environmental impact. Instead, Ms. Chin believes a systems-based approach focusing on reuse and refill models must be implemented in which policymakers and businesses are held fully accountable.\u201d<\/p>\n

You can read the full interview here: https:\/\/www.packaginginsights.com\/news\/wwf-sustainable-materials-specialist-beware-plastic-replacements-and-prioritize-reuse.html<\/p>\n

Some of the key points made by Ms. Chin include:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2022 While the war on single-use items is necessary, misperceptions about the role of plastics abound. The public must shift their attention to wider concerns over the full life cycle of packaging materials. It\u2019s not: \u2018all plastics are bad, and everything else is good\u2019. In fact, Green Alliance\u2019s 2020 Fixing the System report, which showed switching all current consumption of UK plastic packaging (1.6 million metric tons) on a like-for-like basis to the other materials could almost triple carbon emissions<\/p>\n

\u2022 A globalised supply chain means the full life cycle of material must be considered both environmentally and socially. In recent years, industry has rightly been very focused on plastic pollution, but there\u2019s been a lot of switching to different materials as businesses move away from plastics. In the long run, this could lead to worse environmental and social impacts as impacts shift to other supply chains.<\/p>\n

\u2022 Single-use packaging is still a short-term use of resources, regardless of the material. The embedded impacts associated with the sourcing of those materials contribute to climate change and biodiversity loss, so we need to use them more efficiently and consider them more precious.<\/p>\n

\u2022 We need to prioritise tackling our single-use culture overall by incentivising a shift to reusable, refillable alternatives. While many businesses (The Bodyshop is one) are already running their own initiatives to support consumers to experience reuse and refill systems, it\u2019s a very piecemeal approach driven by individual businesses.<\/p>\n

According to Metcalf, Chin\u2019s thinking has significant relevance in the South African context.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is enormous pressure to reduce the amount of packaging waste sent to our country\u2019s landfills or which ends up as visible litter in the environment. As a result, the Government is implementing Extended Producer Responsibility (ERP) legislation with respect to packaging.<\/p>\n

\u201cWithin this, the adoption of \u2018design for recycling\u2019 and \u2018a circular economy\u2019 play a big role, and one that the whole value chain needs to be a part of. However, we can only do so if we are aware and educated about the issues the country\u2019s recycling industry faces,\u201d said Metcalf.<\/p>\n

\u201cInstead of following international trends blindly, producers, consumers and legislators must do what\u2019s best for South Africa. And they can do that by critically examining the new technologies mooted to determine if they apply to the South African situation or if they would disrupt the very successful recycling streams that we have.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor example, with respect to the bottled water industry, many are punting biodegradable bottles. South Africa\u2019s recycling ecosystem, however, can\u2019t accommodate these at present. And, if they are \u2013 by mistake \u2013 recycled with PET, the PET is contaminated and rendered worthless.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnother example is the \u2018box\u2019 or \u2018carton\u2019. There are very few recycling plants in South Africa that can separate the cardboard from the \u2018sleeve\u2019 that ensures it doesn\u2019t leak. As a result, they can\u2019t be recycled and yet people believe boxed water is an alternative to PET,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cFinally, a study conducted by Trayak LLC, a packaging design and manufacturing consultancy based in the USA, has highlighted that the most sustainable option for packaged water is the 500 ml PET bottle.<\/p>\n

\u201cUsing its independent and science-based software platform and Comparative Packaging Assessment (COMPASS) methodology, it conducted a life cycle assessment (LCA) of five different industry average packaging formats \u2013 the polyethylene terephthalate (PET) water bottle, a PET soda bottle, an aluminium can, a beverage carton and a glass bottle.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe results of the comparison between the five industry average beverage containers showed the PET water bottle as the least environmentally impactful option, and therefore the preferred container for packaged water.\u201d<\/p>\n

CLICK HERE to submit your press release to MyPR.co.za<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Pages: Page <\/span>1<\/span> Page <\/span>2<\/a><\/div>\n

Source: MyPR.co.za<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The link between ivory and plastic should be a reminder to South Africans of why the anti-plastic sentiment is misguided. So says South African National Bottled Water Association (SANBWA) CEO, Charlotte Metcalf. Metcalf admitted she herself was reminded of the link between the two substances while reading an interview with WWF sustainable materials specialist Paula […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":213918,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[9021,1],"tags":[3257],"class_list":{"0":"post-213917","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mypr","8":"category-south-africa","9":"tag-mypr","10":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/link-between-ivory-and-plastic-reminder-of-why-anti-plastic-sentiment-is-misguided.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/213917","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=213917"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/213917\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/213918"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=213917"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=213917"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.myza.co.za\/press\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=213917"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}