If we are going to reduce the amount of plastic that floats out of the waste stream and into the environment, we are going to have to embrace some minor beverage-related inconvenience as we get used to it.
Coffee cups
But in my experience, the vast majority of us can easily adapt to inconvenience, and looking at the huge amount of work we as a value chain have to do to close the plastics circular economy loop, what choice do we have? As consumers, we all have to do our bit, and if decision-makers or brand-owners steer us in a certain direction to boost sustainable practices then so be it.
Two things grabbed my attention this week, one of them was a petition in the UK to introduce a 5p charge on single-use plastic straws similar to the 5p levy on plastic carrier bags. The other was news that sandwich and coffee shop franchise Pret A Manger is rewarding customers with a 50p discount if they bring their own cups in-store when they get their hot beverage.
A world where straws cost 5p - if your lipstick application is worth the expense - and where you bring your own mug to the coffee shop is what we have to embrace if we want to tackle plastic waste as responsible consumers, but there needs to be a better safety net for when consumers cannot make the sustainable choice for whatever reason.
The cup calculation
I find it interesting that cash is often the incentive (not that I can think of an effective alternative), but a discount for sustainable practices seems fair. Pret already gives customers a 25p discount if they choose not to use a disposable cup, and by doubling this bonus the company hopes to "help change habits".
The maths stacks up in the consumer's favour. One tall disposable coffee cup with lid purchased in bulk by the coffee shop industry costs less than 7p. Add to that a paper clutch to stop your hands from burning and the whole thing still comes in at under 8p, so Pret's 50p discount really is to encourage green behaviour rather than merely docking some or all of the material cost of the cup itself.
Pret is also tackling the thorny issue of disposable cups by looking to introduce cups that can be more easily recycled.
An ICM survey found that just one in 400 disposable coffee cups is recycled in the UK due to the fact the plastic lining makes it difficult to separate the paper body of the cup for reprocessing, with just two processing facilities in the country capable of separating the cup from the lining.
This is so typical of the plastics waste stream - the technology in the vast majority of cases of difficult-to-recycle packaging exists or is being developed, but too few municipal recycling facilities are investing. Just as with the plastic bag charge, many of us try our best to remember our 'bags for life' but sometimes have to buy a poly-bag, and on occasion even the greenest consumer might have to use a disposable coffee cup, so we do need both the consumer-end incentives to avoid the consumption of difficult-to-recycle packaging as well as the systems to process said packaging when it has been used.
The last straw
Drinking straw
Final Straw, the group that is lobbying to introduce a 5p levy on plastic drinking straws, has until April 2nd to get 10,000 signatures on its petition in order for the UK government to respond. The campaign already has 4,500 signatures and could prevent another difficult-to-recycle plastic product from entering the waste stream so regularly.
Final Straw cites the 5p levy on carrier bags in the UK as a reason to impose a similar charge for drinking straws, with the potential to limit the usage of straws by 85 per cent in the first six months of the levy being imposed.
Fast food outlets such as McDonald's have been criticised in the past for giving consumers free access to complementary drinking straws and pressure groups have said handing out straws on request could limit the amount of straws entering the waste stream. And I imagine when purchasing a drink from a bar in future, the vendor could just ask, 'Do you want a 5p straw with that?'
With drinking straws, it's not like we're going to have 'straws-for-life' ready for when we fancy a Coca-Cola, so the question remains, how do we process the drinking straws after we've paid an extra 5p for them?
Drinking straws are made of polypropylene, which can be sorted and filtered for recycling, but drinking straws are so light that they are difficult to recycle - but not impossible.
As with plastic carrier bags, the consumer will make the effort but real life dictates that we cannot be virtuous in our usage of plastic products all of the time. There has to be a sustainability safety net and it has to be the exception and not the rule.