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Why can’t we just start charging producers of waste a direct cost. If we charged producers (McDonald’s, coke, Pepsi, supermarket, uniliver etc) $1 for every pla
by dav43 2y ago
Why can’t we just start charging producers of waste a direct cost. If we charged producers (McDonald’s, coke, Pepsi, supermarket, uniliver etc) $1 for every plastic bottle they used, we’d have a budget for clean up and a change in motivations. Suddenly glass reuse programs are suddenly cost comparable etc
- pratikel 2y agoCan you do this globally? Most ocean plastic is not from the US or EU.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- justinator 2y agoBecause they would then trade those like carbon offsets or find away to ignore them/workaround them for a market advantage.
- bretthoerner 2y ago> Because they would then trade those like carbon offsets or find away to ignore them/workaround them for a market advantage. Isn't that the point? I'm not arguing (or not arguing) for this solution, but charging people the cost of cleanup and allowing them to "ignore them/workaround them for a market advantage" seems like an improvement on the status quo? Because the local government collecting the tax would now have funds to put toward the solution. This is classic internalizing of what were externalities.
- missedthecue 2y agoPlastic is very good for the environment relatively speaking. - It's a carbon sink, - it's lightweight (reducing transport emissions) - it takes very little energy to produce compared to glass or metals which require furnaces - and has very little carbon emissions during production unlike paper packaging which has a huge carbon footprint. The only problem with plastic is that it doesn't always make it to the proper disposal place. This isn't Coke's fault, people can just as easily dump a paper carton in the street. I think you'd get more dividends by ensuring the public has the motive (stick or carrot) to not dump their garbage into waterways, and in very poor countries, funding sanitation infrastructure.
- stevage 2y agoWhat do you mean it is a carbon sink? Extracting oil from underground then turning it into plastic above ground? Or do you mean something different?
- missedthecue 2y agoBasically yes. Petroleum burned produces CO2. Petroleum plasticized does not. The more market share that plastic packaging eats up, the lower emissions are.
- beeeeerp 2y agoI’d call that being more neutral than a sink unless I’m misunderstanding you. I consider paper a sink, because trees are actively sequestering atmospheric CO2.
- staplers 2y agoStanding trees will aways be more of a carbon sink than dead flat trees.
- datascienced 2y agoA tree captures CO2 so, of course, but tangental.
- tiagod 2y agoOlder trees fix less carbon than newer trees. Paper products are essentially made of carbon extracted from the air, and you just plant new trees in the farm afterwards. Plastic, on the other hand, is taking carbon that's already sequestered deep underground and pulling it to the surface, with an obvious net positive carbon footprint. All that said, as far as I remember, trees are not and can not be a very major form of carbon capturing due to the available area in the globe and the amount of excess carbon we need to get rid of.
- antupis 2y agoBecause plastic from McDonald's is not that big a problem. Fishing gear https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/nov/07/invisible-killer-ghost-fishing-gear-deadliest-marine-plastic https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/nov/07/invisibl... and carbon fibers are much bigger https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/07/230703133034.htm https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/07/230703133034.h... plastic polluters.
- dav43 2y agoSame theory would apply - charge the producers of these products a cost - no matter a plastic bottle, a plastic nappy or a plastic medical device.
- JacobThreeThree 2y agoAnd if the producers from other highly polluting countries don't pay, we send in the military?
- wil421 2y agoThe problem is that countries lack basic infrastructure such as sanitation. People and illegal dump trucks throw trash into the rivers or right beside it. If the companies are making recyclable products then the problem is disposal. There are lots of glass bottles products solid in Latin America like coke that’s put directly into a bag and the store keeps the glass for a refund. It’s easier to put an incentive on the collection of the bottle.
- happyopossum 2y ago“We” can - many states have relatively large (5-10 cents/bottle) charges for plastic bottles, that is ostensibly used for funding recycling and cleanup programs. A bunch of 3rd world countries on the other hand?