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There needs to be regulation that standardizes on container materials and shapes, optimizing for recyclability and ability to sort. Then there needs to be a fin
by srj 7y ago
There needs to be regulation that standardizes on container materials and shapes, optimizing for recyclability and ability to sort. Then there needs to be a financial incentive to use packaging that offers the highest reclaimation rates. I'm imagining something like the CAFE standards, encouraging ever increasing rates.
I listened to a podcast with one of the former heads of the EPA and one of the challenges is that the petroleum industry actively favors non-reuse so they can keep selling more plastic.
Edit:
Here's the podcast: https://www.kcrw.com/news/shows/to-the-point/the-high-cost-of-cheap-plastics https://www.kcrw.com/news/shows/to-the-point/the-high-cost-o...
- grecy 7y agoIf we were actually serious about saving the planet, we'd just pass laws that mandate companies have to use certain specified bottles, and give them no choice. But of course, lobbying and profits are more important.
- pmlnr 7y agoIt's not _that_ simple. Recycling doesn't care about shape, just material, and reusing has the problem of people putting random things in the bottle before sending it off - including toxic and/or corrosive materials, thus making reusing impossible.
- smegger001 7y agoUse glass bottles. We used reuse glass soda and beer bottles all the time, part of your charge when purchasing these products was a bottle deposit that would be refunded upon return.
- scrollaway 7y agoOkay, great, you solved the reuse of material problem. Now what about the difference in weight your solution creates? The added weight means more fuel consumed in transport, both from bottling to store and during recycling... I'm not saying your solution isn't better btw, I didn't do the math; just reminding you that it might not be as straightforward as "just do x".
- grecy 7y agoTons of countries throughout Latin America, Africa and Europe reuse large glass bottles for soda and beer and whatever else. The bottles are thoroughly cleaned and sterilized between uses. It is that simple. Make it a law, get on with it.
- Mediterraneo10 7y agoThe problem with this solution is that washing and sterilizing makes a heavy demand on the country’s own water sources, which may already be facing depletion. It works well in, say, Northern Europe which is very wet, but in Peru or India such a system is not so environmentally friendly. There, it may be better to use plastic containers that are recycled at a facility elsewhere.
- 0_____0 7y agoHow much water is used to clean/sterilize a bottle? Compared to resources consumed making the container from scratch or attempting to crush/reprocess it? FWIW India already has a robust bottle return and reuse system.
- Mediterraneo10 7y ago> Compared to resources consumed making the container from scratch or attempting to crush/reprocess it? Empty containers can be loaded onto container ships, where they can be recycled elsewhere, and new containers delivered the same way. While that may still not be environmentally optimal on a world scale, at least it would consume no extra water in regions that are arid or facing groundwater depletion. > FWIW India already has a robust bottle return and reuse system. The soft-drink industry in India has already been castigated for depletion of groundwater, so again, washing and sterilizing all these bottles only compounds the damage.
- PinkMilkshake 7y agoI feel like we are stuck in a loop. Perhaps we need question whether or not it still makes sense to transport food and drink in small, individual containers. One solution might be to transport in bulk. You could take your own bottles to the supermarket that are whatever shape and material you desire and fill them up.
- dantheman 7y agoHow do you improve the bottles? Do we create a national bottle innovation center that creates bottles?
- Scoundreller 7y agoNot a cola company problem, but black plastics can't be read by the optical sorters that recycling plants use to read the 3 or 4 or whatever number on them. So they end up in the landfill stream. They should be banned overnight. But we can't be having that! https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/restaurants-coffee-plastic-takeout-balzacs-1.4600160 https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/restaurants-coffee-pl...
- dantheman 7y agoMaybe upgrade the optical sorter?
- titzer 7y agoLook up the Pfand system in Germany. Most domestic beer comes in one of two brown glass bottle shapes with brewery-specific labels. Any brown glass bottle of that shape can be turned into a few cents (I think it was 12.5) at essentially any grocery store's machine. Bottles are washed/reused up to 40-50 times before they even need to be melted down and recycled. Because of the reward there are people who roam around and pick up bottles every day, so a glass bottle in a park has a lifetime of about 1/2 day max. A few other drinks come in those bottles, e.g. Spezi. But coke? Nope. Plastic and aluminum. Imported beer? Nope. The system in Germany isn't perfect, but it's pretty damn good.
- rusticpenn 7y agoThe pfand system in Germany also works for Coke and pepsi...
- titzer 7y agoYes, you get even more money for the plastic and aluminum, but this is recyling only; they don't reuse the bottles because they are bottled out of country and don't use standard bottles.
- probably_wrong 7y agoIt's not just the petroleum industry - Coca-Cola has also lobbied pretty strongly against a deposit system: https://theintercept.com/2019/10/18/coca-cola-recycling-plastics-pollution/ https://theintercept.com/2019/10/18/coca-cola-recycling-plas...
- titzer 7y agoIt's because it eats into their profits.