Disposal is the problem

Calls to ban plastic products are a simplistic response to a complex problem (“Greenpeace Calls for Nestlé to Act Over Single-use Plastics”, April 12). What’s required is a rational solution to the genuine crisis of plastic pollution, not an emotional reaction.

Many leading the call to “wage war on plastic” fail to understand the terrible effect alternative materials have on the environment. While it is tempting to imagine a world without plastic as an environmental utopia, plastic in consumer goods uses four times less energy than metal, paper and glass. Alternatives to plastic packaging would nearly double greenhouse gas emissions.

Plastic disposed of correctly is one of the most environmentally friendly products. The solution to plastic pollution can be found in correct disposal and management of plastic waste. President Cyril Ramaphosa’s quest to clean up SA can happen only with a recycling revolution.

We need the government to fix SA’s inadequate waste-management facilities and improve infrastructure for collection and recycling urgently. It can create thousands of jobs while safeguarding the 100,000 formal and informal jobs the plastics industry provides. The government can do this if it ring-fences the plastic-bag levy. The nearly R2bn raised through the levy should have been used to develop better recycling facilities and incentivise sustainable consumer behaviour.

Anton Hanekom Executive director: Plastics SA