Single-use: false solutions
What really needs to be done to get rid of the plastic problem?
If we are to solve the plastic crisis, we must move away from the throwaway culture. Yet companies with plastic-shine solutions are perpetuating this culture. The real solution is packaging that is refillable or reusable. Reclycling, Bio plastics and Paper instead of plastic are therefore sham solutions. Many companies come up with sham solutions so they can continue with business as usual. Below you can read why these different solutions are false solutions and therefore do not really solve the problem.
Mock Solution 1: Recycling
Companies and governments hammer recycling into our heads as the solution. Part of the plastic waste that citizens collect separately ends up in countries like Malaysia or can end up - even within the EU - in illegal landfills. So there is hardly any recycling. Since China closed its gates to the import of waste plastic in 2018, the problems surrounding recycling have been piling up.
The main causes: the amount of waste plastic continues to increase, there is too little recycling capacity and there are no controls on trade. As a result, plastic overwhelmingly disappears into landfills or even into the environment. Just because something is recyclable does not mean it will be recycled. More than 90% of all plastic produced has never been recycled. When plastic does get recycled, it is usually "downcycled. It is then continually transformed into a lower quality product until it ends up in the incinerator. So this does not contribute to solving the plastic problem.
Mock Solution 2: Paper
There are plenty of examples to cite: McDonalds replacing its plastic straws with paper straws, clothing stores giving you a paper bag instead of a plastic bag; more and more companies are replacing their disposable plastic products with paper. There is not nearly enough recycled paper to meet the huge demand. As a result, an enormous amount of forest is being cut down worldwide for the production of packaging, tissues and toilet paper.
If companies start replacing their plastic packaging with paper, the pressure on our forests will increase even more. So this solution does reduce the amount of plastic, but in the process it increases the number of trees that are cut down. As a result, this solution also falls under false solutions.
Sham solution 3: Bioplastics
Nowadays there is a lot of use of bioplastic instead of 'regular plastic'. Think of the crunchy bags around organic peppers that say they are compostable, or Coca-Cola's 'plant bottle'. But what exactly is bioplastic? Bioplastics are plastics made from natural raw materials, such as corn, whereas 'regular' plastic is made from oil. Some of these bioplastics are compostable, which means that the material can degrade by at least 90% within 6 weeks. However, even compostable bioplastics only break down under the right (industrial) conditions.
In addition, bioplastics behave in nature just like "regular plastic". Therefore, a marine animal will suffocate in it just as well if it ends up in the ocean. This also ensures that this solution does not contribute to combating plastic pollution. It still ends up in nature and causes damage there.
So what should be done?
The underlying problem is our disposable culture. We use a plastic package for a few seconds, when it is made to last for hundreds of years. If we really want to solve this problem, we need to start looking differently at how we deliver and use products. Companies play a crucial role in this. They keep the disposable culture going by relying on the above-mentioned false solutions. So from now on, go for reusable products to counter the single-use problem.
About Retulp
Retulp staat voorop in de beweging tegen wegwerpplastic, door het bieden van echte, duurzame alternatieven voor dagelijks gebruik. In plaats van te vertrouwen op tijdelijke fixes of materialen die het probleem niet bij de wortel aanpakken, richt Retulp zich op hervulbare en herbruikbare producten. Elk product in het assortiment van Retulp, van robuuste roestvrijstalen flessen tot praktische voedselcontainers, is ontworpen met zowel het milieu als de gebruiker in gedachten. Met elke aankoop ondersteun je niet alleen een duurzamere levensstijl, maar draag je ook bij aan projecten die gericht zijn op het verminderen van de plasticvervuiling wereldwijd. Ontdek hoe eenvoudig het is om deel uit te maken van de oplossing met Retulp, en maak vandaag nog de overstap naar een duurzamer alternatief.
