2. The Government’s policies to reduce plastic waste have been broadly welcomed. While plastic and packaging recycling in Australia is well established, only 14 per cent of plastic is recovered for recycling or energy recovery. Should residents be required to pay? %%EOF To further curb use and pollution of throwaway plastics, states and municipalities have also begun to ban plastic straws, plastic foodware like cups and utensils, expanded polystyrene foam food containers, and cigarette smoking on beaches. All rights reserved. “A new language around sustainability” has emerged that is creating a ”shared vision among a broad set of stakeholders.” The New Plastic Economy Initiative, led by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, is driving commitment from brands and others — and at the same time revealing the gaps between those commitments and the ability of our systems to meet them. Dimino also talked about a growing idea called ecomodulation, which is a tool that can be used in EPR and other fee-based programs. There is a wide array of policies to address plastic production, consumption, and disposal (see table 1), and the m… Registered in England and Wales. But, one encouraging aspect of the global response includes the growth of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) implementation and legislation. The aims of the Company’s single use plastics policy, is based on the the 'Reduce and Reuse' principle: Reduce plastic pollution & resource consumption by reducing the plastic waste generated by our business. https://www.waste360.com/sites/all/themes/penton_subtheme_waste360/images/logos/footer.png. Addressing the “plastics problem” requires an integrated, life cycle perspective (Fullerton and Wolverton 1999, 2000; Walls and Palmer 2001) to encourage efficient disposal decisions at the end of the life cycle, discourage production and consumption of products with high social costs of disposal (i.e., “source reduction”), and encourage lower-impact, easily recyclable product designs (i.e., green design). “The challenge in the U.S. is that there’s a cost to providing these programs…which begs the question of who pays. h�b``�```Z����)��� National Geographic magazine devoted a special cover package to plastic in June 2018 . “I think it’s become clear we have a long way to go to achieve circularity for ocean plastics,” she said. But it hasn’t gone far enough.” She indicated that there is a need to continue to promote recyclability within the current infrastructure and to incentive producers to make changes toward more recyclability. The conveniences plastics offer, however, led to a throw-away culture that reveals the material’s dark side: today, single-use plastics account for 40 percent of the plastic produced every year. The solutions to plastic pollution are complex, transboundary, and multilateral. The report considers recyclables made from PET, HDPE and PP as high-value plastics LDPELow density polyethylene, a type of plastic/polymer Material recovery facility (MRF) Brief Packaging waste has hit epidemic proportions in this country. banning single-use plastics that cause harm as early as 2021 where supported by scientific evidence and warranted, and taking other steps to reduce plastic waste working with provinces and territories to develop consistent extended producer responsibility programs so the same rules for collection and recycling apply to all companies that produce plastic products. And the circular economy influences policies that support reuse, recycled or compostable packaging. Policies and regulations 11.1 Introduction Plastic is a versatile polymer with a … With an estimated 8.4 million tonnes of plastic waste entering the oceans per year , the global problem of plastic waste is a significant environmental concern for governments and the public.To combat the damage from plastic waste, government and non- government organisations invest in numerous waste abatement infrastructure, policies and outreach programs (). The National Waste Policy guides continuing collaboration between all Australian governments, businesses and industries. Plastic waste is growing by around 4% per year, while recycling rates are decreasing. The plastic fabrication process can be modified to form various shapes, colors and specifications according to customer needs. Informa Markets, a trading division of Informa PLC. h�bbd```b``:"���"�*"Y�َ`6�d�f���$X�i�do��B@$��i:@�1a-��"5�v�փ�>��Up5�־@�;C3Ѕ{�f20R����t�@� Z�i The negative spillover effects of plastic waste on fisheries, tourism and maritime transport, for example, add up to an estimated $40 billion each year, according to the UN Environment Programme. Plastic waste materials that do not have value in local recycling markets (e.g., grocery bags, thin films, composite plastics). Consequently, the amount of plastic waste is increasing … 46 0 obj <> endobj In this sample, retailers keep the fee. While China used to import large quantities of plastic waste for its recycling industry (up to a cumulative 45% of plastic waste generated worldwide since 1992), the new policy is now expected to divert some 111 metric tons of waste to lower‐income neighboring countries (Brooks et al., 2018). This site is operated by a business or businesses owned by Informa PLC and all copyright resides with them. Policy on plastic use and plastics waste management. endstream endobj 47 0 obj <. Plastic has become an important and integral part of society throughout the world due to its various applications, such as packaging, agriculture, automobile parts, electronic applications and medical devices. Informa PLC's registered office is 5 Howick Place, London SW1P 1WG. And she noted that, thanks to the circular economy concept, there is a growing awareness and shifting perceptions around plastics and plastics recycling. “These are typically regions that have mandatory recycling in place, a strong recycling culture, and have been particularly hard hit by the cost increases in recycling over the past few years.” EPR is proven in a lot of other jurisdictions to provide “stable financing and an increase in recycling and improved performance, so that’s really what’s driving the interest.”, As for ongoing challenges, Hickle talked about the “significant costs” embedded into the current recycling systems in the U.S. and how these aren’t necessarily “transparent or recognized.” He said that, “The sheer number of programs in place actually inhibits and drives up costs. 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