4 ms·

Plastic Plates, Cutlery, Cups to Be Banned in Europe as of 2021

45 points by pdog 8y ago

jfim 8y ago
I wonder how that will interact with airlines usually using plastic cutlery in economy.
- random878 8y ago
  They'll probably just use one of the many greener alternatives. In the UK I've started to notice the emergence of plastic alternatives, e.g. M&S have wooden cutlery for take away food now instead of plastic. It's good to see. If only we could make some progress on disposable coffee cups...
  - kmlx 8y ago
    https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-launches-plan-to-ban-plastic-straws-cotton-buds-and-stirrers https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-launches-plan-... Government launches plan to ban plastic straws, cotton-buds, and stirrers Published 22 October 2018
    - random878 8y ago
      What interests me is that the things I've noticed are not necessarily things included in new legislation. It suggests to me that the intervention is prompting businesses to consider their all round plastic use (i.e. they're making proactive change expecting upcoming legislation) or they're responding to consumer opinion. Either way, this is a really positive step. Also, more importantly, the public seem supportive. I think the success of the 5p plastic bag charge has made people rethink their opposition to green schemes.
  - toyg 8y ago
    The paper straws that have become commonplace in UK cafes are terrible. They get all soft an ruin the taste of drinks. I understand there is a problem, I just don’t think we’re nowhere near good solutions.
    - crooked-v 8y ago
      There are good paper straws out there, they're just a tiny bit more expensive.
ars 8y ago
Stated Problem: "With plastics accounting for around 80 percent of marine litter" Government: "the EU rushed through deliberations on the planned restrictions in less than a year." Solution: "Ban the plastic that doesn't end up in the ocean". Good job. Maybe someone should have told them the plastic in the ocean comes from countries without trash service, and from fishing, maybe they could have funded some charity work or NGO's or something. This ban isn't going to help a thing. So if I'm hosting a birthday celebration for 50 people, I'm supposed to what? Ask guests to BYOC (bring your own cutlery)? Waxed paper plates and cups work OK (although not for hot drinks), but bamboo cutlery gives me a nails-on-chalkboard feeling.
- rad_gruchalski 8y ago
  Considering that a lot of this plastic crap is never recycled but rather shipped somewhere, I’d assume it will help. Every little helps. It’s a small step in the right direction. The next should be eliminating the sellotape and wrapping foil from consumer packaging.
- random878 8y ago
  It's not a binary choice of being 100% perfect or not bothering - it's about small, meaningful steps in a better direction.
  - yostrovs 8y ago
    Is it really "meaningful" to chop trees instead of using petroleum for single use items? I don't know exactly, but the impact difference on trash in the ocean will approach zero.
    - random878 8y ago
      > I don't know exactly You sum up a fundamental problem of the world so well - you don't know, but you damn well wont let that stop you from formulating a strong opinion about it!
      - 8y ago
tomatotomato37 8y ago
Fun statistics: 2010 total plastic marine debris[0]: 4,800k - 12,700k metric tons 2010 EU plastic marine debris[0]: 50k-120k metric tons (Higher than the US by ~1k) 2010 EU plastic marine debris percentage[0]: 1% 2016 EU export of nontoxic garbage to a country in top 10 plastic marine waste[2]: 269,000 tonnes (a lot missing statistics so wide error bars here) 2015 percent of nontoxic garbage export that is plastic/mixed[1]: ~9% Hours wasted digging through overly verbose pdfs and mislabled charts: Too many Probable amount of EU plastic that gets exported to top 10 country: 26.9k - 53.8k tonnes Crude adjusted EU ranking if 100% of the doubled amount makes it into the ocean: ~10th Incredibly crude adjusted EU plastic marine debris percentage: 2% Other stupid things learned: Netherlands imports hilarious amounts of garbage [3] [0]: https://www.iswa.org/fileadmin/user_upload/Calendar_2011_03_AMERICANA/Science-2015-Jambeck-768-71__2_.pdf https://www.iswa.org/fileadmin/user_upload/Calendar_2011_03_... (the footnote of table 1 specifically) [1]: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php?title=Waste_shipment_statistics_based_on_the_European_list_of_waste_codes#Non-hazardous_notified_waste_based_on_LoW https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php... [2]: http://appsso.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/nui/show.do http://appsso.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/nui/show.do (You'll have to screw with the customizations to get useful statistics) [3]: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/waste/transboundary-waste-shipments https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/waste/transboundary-waste-...
DigiMortal 8y ago
Dumb, this is a waste management issue almost 100%

45 points by pdog 8y ago

jfim 8y ago

I wonder how that will interact with airlines usually using plastic cutlery in economy.

random878 8y ago
They'll probably just use one of the many greener alternatives. In the UK I've started to notice the emergence of plastic alternatives, e.g. M&S have wooden cutlery for take away food now instead of plastic. It's good to see. If only we could make some progress on disposable coffee cups...
- kmlx 8y ago
  https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-launches-plan-to-ban-plastic-straws-cotton-buds-and-stirrers https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-launches-plan-... Government launches plan to ban plastic straws, cotton-buds, and stirrers Published 22 October 2018
  - random878 8y ago
    What interests me is that the things I've noticed are not necessarily things included in new legislation. It suggests to me that the intervention is prompting businesses to consider their all round plastic use (i.e. they're making proactive change expecting upcoming legislation) or they're responding to consumer opinion. Either way, this is a really positive step. Also, more importantly, the public seem supportive. I think the success of the 5p plastic bag charge has made people rethink their opposition to green schemes.
- toyg 8y ago
  The paper straws that have become commonplace in UK cafes are terrible. They get all soft an ruin the taste of drinks. I understand there is a problem, I just don’t think we’re nowhere near good solutions.
  - crooked-v 8y ago
    There are good paper straws out there, they're just a tiny bit more expensive.

ars 8y ago

Stated Problem: "With plastics accounting for around 80 percent of marine litter" Government: "the EU rushed through deliberations on the planned restrictions in less than a year." Solution: "Ban the plastic that doesn't end up in the ocean". Good job. Maybe someone should have told them the plastic in the ocean comes from countries without trash service, and from fishing, maybe they could have funded some charity work or NGO's or something. This ban isn't going to help a thing. So if I'm hosting a birthday celebration for 50 people, I'm supposed to what? Ask guests to BYOC (bring your own cutlery)? Waxed paper plates and cups work OK (although not for hot drinks), but bamboo cutlery gives me a nails-on-chalkboard feeling.

rad_gruchalski 8y ago
Considering that a lot of this plastic crap is never recycled but rather shipped somewhere, I’d assume it will help. Every little helps. It’s a small step in the right direction. The next should be eliminating the sellotape and wrapping foil from consumer packaging.
random878 8y ago
It's not a binary choice of being 100% perfect or not bothering - it's about small, meaningful steps in a better direction.
- yostrovs 8y ago
  Is it really "meaningful" to chop trees instead of using petroleum for single use items? I don't know exactly, but the impact difference on trash in the ocean will approach zero.
  - random878 8y ago
    > I don't know exactly You sum up a fundamental problem of the world so well - you don't know, but you damn well wont let that stop you from formulating a strong opinion about it!
    - 8y ago

tomatotomato37 8y ago

Fun statistics: 2010 total plastic marine debris[0]: 4,800k - 12,700k metric tons 2010 EU plastic marine debris[0]: 50k-120k metric tons (Higher than the US by ~1k) 2010 EU plastic marine debris percentage[0]: 1% 2016 EU export of nontoxic garbage to a country in top 10 plastic marine waste[2]: 269,000 tonnes (a lot missing statistics so wide error bars here) 2015 percent of nontoxic garbage export that is plastic/mixed[1]: ~9% Hours wasted digging through overly verbose pdfs and mislabled charts: Too many Probable amount of EU plastic that gets exported to top 10 country: 26.9k - 53.8k tonnes Crude adjusted EU ranking if 100% of the doubled amount makes it into the ocean: ~10th Incredibly crude adjusted EU plastic marine debris percentage: 2% Other stupid things learned: Netherlands imports hilarious amounts of garbage [3] [0]: https://www.iswa.org/fileadmin/user_upload/Calendar_2011_03_AMERICANA/Science-2015-Jambeck-768-71__2_.pdf https://www.iswa.org/fileadmin/user_upload/Calendar_2011_03_... (the footnote of table 1 specifically) [1]: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php?title=Waste_shipment_statistics_based_on_the_European_list_of_waste_codes#Non-hazardous_notified_waste_based_on_LoW https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-explained/index.php... [2]: http://appsso.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/nui/show.do http://appsso.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/nui/show.do (You'll have to screw with the customizations to get useful statistics) [3]: https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/waste/transboundary-waste-shipments https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/waste/transboundary-waste-...

DigiMortal 8y ago

Dumb, this is a waste management issue almost 100%