Binning plastic: the answer is not what you think

IN THE last week, a 610m floating pipe connected to a huge net arrived at the Pacific Ocean garbage patch to begin cleaning up the biggest floating plastic waste island in the world. The organisation responsible for its design, the Ocean Cleanup foundation, is hoping to eliminate the rubbish by trapping it in the U-shaped pipe, with a boat discarding of it every few months.

We tend to blame plastic for polluting the environment, but the way we are using it might well be the problem.

Earlier this year, Plastics SA released the audited results of the biggest pollutants found on our beaches during 2017. The majority of waste was food wrappers, plastic containers, bottle caps and lids, a trend that John Keiser, Sustainability manager at Plastics SA, attributed to human behaviour that needed to change. He added that plastics were valuable as they made our lives easy, but they did need to be disposed of responsibly to avoid filling up landfills, waterways and oceans.

Acknowledging that marine pollution is one of the biggest challenges we face today, Environmental Affairs Minister Edna Molewa revealed in May that her department would be launching the Keep South Africa Clean campaign to get South Africans to stop littering.

It aims to change attitudes and behaviour towards waste – and enable people to take responsibility for keeping their communities clean.

Littering has become commonplace, as is seen along the highways, streets and neighbourhoods. Litter is a threat to our tourist industry, and that could threaten job security. In addition, our takeaway culture has seen us increase the use of single-use plastics and throwing it away.

What can fix it? Education and awareness is the first step, but we also need to accept that behavioural change is required. Plastic will always be around. It is our responsibility to commit to throwing our waste away – or better yet, recycling it.

Plastics SA reported that for the seventh year, plastics recycling in South Africa has grown, with more than 334727 tonnes recycled back into raw material. With an input recycling rate of 43.7%, South Africa has outperformed Europe whose recycling rate is 31.1%.

Recycling works well in South Africa because there is a financial imperative, whereas in Europe, it is “the right thing to do”.

Many local retailers have started making a concerted effort to do their part in reducing plastic waste and are introducing different alternatives for single-use plastic bags. However, all materials used (plastic, paper, cotton or fabric) have an impact on the environment.

A recent study by the Danish Environmental Protection Agency finds that plastic bags are in fact kinder to the environment than many other re-usable bags, such as cotton or cloth bags.

The study found that cotton bags have the worst impact on the environment; an organic cotton bag would have to be reused at least 149 times to make up for the negative production methods that produce it.

A shift in perception and behaviour can go a long way in fixing the problem of plastic pollution. For this to work, all stakeholders have to work together.

Plastic is a material with many benefits, and contributes greatly to job creation and the economy.

Making better choices through not discarding single-use plastic, recycling and using plastic responsibly all plays a part.

Plastic really can become the environmental hero.

Stewart is the executive of packaging at Novus Holdings.