The marine plastics issue is something that has interested me personally for a while.
Turtle plastic
Plastic waste is abhorrent. There is nothing more disappointing than taking in a view of the countryside only to catch sight of a crisp packet in a hedgerow. It is the constant and indelible reminder of ourselves as a lazy, consumption-driven society - that too many of us haven't the patience or the sensitivity to hang onto our packaging to dispose of it responsibly. Most of the people you know were probably taught this as children and would not dream of littering, but the presence of litter in the environment is real and growing.
Landfill too is an embarrassing reminder of our throwaway society. We landfill valuable electrical products even though we should dispose of them responsibly so the parts can be re-used or even fixed up and re-sold for its original purpose. The landfill sites are overflowing, while we're scraping the edges of coal mines like the last of the ice cream in the tub.
Society has a consumption problem and we have been burying our heads in the sand to the fact that while we buy and use and throw away as much as we can afford on a daily basis, the planet is suffering.
The emotional scenes played out on the BBC in the absolutely brilliant Blue Planet nature documentaries amplify the slight sinking of the heart we see when on a beach and spot an empty coke bottle 100-fold, if not more. Marine plastics awareness came to a head this week at the UN Environment Assembly in Nairobi yesterday (December 6th 2017), when the UN condemned marine plastics as a "planetary crisis".
Working within plastics, I am all too aware that plastics has an image problem, but yesterday I realised it is not so much an image problem as it is not fully understood as a contributing technology to the lives we lead.
I was invited to respond to a piece by the BBC Environment Analyst Roger Harrabin after the UN resolution was announced. The response was to be delivered live on BBC Radio 4's PM programme with veteran broadcaster Eddie Mair.
I was fully expecting to deliver the sentiments published by the World Plastics Council in response to the global marine plastics crisis but instead I was asked to respond to the claim that the world is searching for the Holy Grail of biodegradable plastic technology as a panacea to the world's pollution problems.
The notion that plastics that biodegrade in the environment is the solution to marine litter is as unworkable as it is irresponsible. Before you even look at the mechanics of how this would work, the message that sends is simply that plastics are disposable, which does not address the fact that the plastics end up in the environment in the first place.
Setting the ultimate goal of converting everything to biodegradable plastics (would that were even possible) flies in the face of the hard work the European Commission and the Ellen MacArthur Foundation are doing to establish the Plastics Circular Economy.
Each plastic - and I don't need to tell you, the industry this - has been engineered for an application. It has been trialled and tweaked to be strong, flexible, tactile, rigid, weavable, flame-retardant, colourable - all manner of characteristics. PET is not the same as PP, HDPE is not the same as polycarbonate. Consumers cannot be expected to sort their PET from their PP, but the waste management systems in place can be - and the technology to sort difficult-to-recycle plastics should be being invested in.
Before we even reach that point, I have to return to my original argument, that marine plastics are a result of human carelessness, selfishness and short-sightedness. A turtle dying is tragic, but it is not because of the engineers and stakeholders involved in manufacturing a material and a product that has been made for the convenience of the consumer. A turtle dying is tragic probably because some fool doesn't have the presence of mind to keep hold of their waste and dispose of it correctly. And even if they did dispose of it correctly, what would happen to it? Would it be reprocessed into recycled materials for clothing? Or would it languish in landfill?
The plastics industry, from what I have seen in recent years at least, is working very hard to invest in R&D, to pursue bio feedstocks, to make the whole supply chain less wasteful in every way to bring value and or quality to the consumer. The plastics industry does care about sustainability. What the world needs is an understanding and appreciation of plastics as a resource, and a drive to close the Circular Economy loop, but it is up to the plastics industry, brand owners, governments and the consumer if this is to work.
To listen to Rose Brooke debating the plastics industry's case on BBC Radio 4's PM show, click here to hear her comments at 46.00 minutes in.
