Only 9% plastic waste What has been created to date has been recycledAlthough we’ve been talking about recycling for decades, Oceana senior vice president Matt Littlejohn warns. Implementing packaging reuse systemsInstead of the current recycling, which does not guarantee the effective disposal of these wastes.
That’s how Littlejohn explains it in an article published on EFeverde.com, coinciding with the recent United Nations meeting in Nairobi, where more than a hundred countries are trying to develop a binding global agreement to combat plastic pollution.
In his article “Reuse, the true circular solution”The vice president of the International Ocean Conservation Organization argues that circularity has advocates “Focus on resolute reuse.”
The problem, in this expert’s view, is that current circular solutions are disconnected from real large-scale reductions in single-use plastic use.
In this sense, he argues that: Meeting PET bottle recycling targets set by major companies would reduce water pollution by only 7 percent..
“If the bottle is designed to be thrown away, adding more recycled content will not stop that from happening,” he emphasizes.
Meanwhile, time is running out and “Growing tsunami from single-use plastic is having devastating effects on marine life.” Littlejohn warns that he estimates that more than 11 billion plastic objects are trapped in coral reefs in the Asia-Pacific region.
Thanks to reuse systems, each container can be refilled up to 50 times
That’s why he believes a global system is needed to reduce plastic waste on a large scale, based on greater reuse.
He adds that packaging drinks in reusable containers prevents contamination because Each container can be used up to 50 timesIt also has the lowest carbon footprint of all bottling options.
Recall that Oceana published a report based on industry data and scientific studies reviewed by experts; Accordingly, “just a 10 percentage point increase in the global proportion of reusable packaging by 2030 would eliminate more than 1 billion bottles and single-use packaging.” plastic cups” and It will prevent up to 153 billion of these packages from entering the environment..
Reuse, the best option
It therefore calls for a commitment to “a truly circular solution: reuse” “for the good of the oceans and the planet.”
As various groups have repeatedly warned, the way to implement this system in Spain is, among other things, the so-called Return, Deposit and Refund System (SDDR)It is a method currently practiced in some countries and regions of Europe, where the customer who purchases a container from a store leaves a small amount of money as a deposit to return the empty container to the business.
“We need more reuse. Reusable beverage packaging prevents plastic pollution because bottles can be used up to 50 times and cups up to 100 times. Each reuse prevents a single-use plastic bottle or cup from being thrown away or carelessly thrown away, possibly ending up in our oceans.” Reuse systems will Over 90% packaging return rate. Reusable beverage packaging may also have the lowest carbon footprint of all packaging options, a conclusion reached and publicly announced by Coca-Cola, its bottlers, and major reusable cup companies. Beatriz Pérez, Coca-Cola’s chief sustainability officer, declared to investors in 2023 that refillable packaging “has a lower carbon footprint within the business (compared to other options),” the director of Oceana International explains in her article.
Full article: https://efeverde.com/reutilizacion-la-truera-solucion-circular-por-matt-littlejohn-vicepresidente-senior-de-oceana/
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