368 million tonnes of plastics were produced in 2019. Raw materials used include petroleum oil, natural and coal seam gas, byproducts from coal and shale oil production.
For comparison forestry production in 2019 is quoted at 3966 million m3. It’s not the only source of alternative materials. There are also bio wastes from agriculture and unused wastes from forest production.
The economics of hemp production for fibre per NSW DPI.
With suggested DPI irrigation demands of 3-4Ml per hectare and important for crop establishment hemp is not as water intensive as cotton 6-7Ml per hectare best practice.
There are also questions about some of the alterative plastics. While they might not be developed from gas, the jury is still out to whether they are better when they become fugitive waste in the wider environment. They can still take years/decades/centuries to decompose and still pose the same risks to wildlife.
Plastics (from any sources) do have important uses, but the byproducts of their use and their poor handling/disposal practices give great risk to the environment as a whole.
Environmentally aware,
I’ve quite a collection mostly through choosing to support the most local NRL team where ever I’ve been living. If I were to move much further south I’d likely swap codes, just to have a sporting chance.
is the use necessary (can we do without what the plastic is doing)?
is plastic the best material for the job?
is the value worth the cost?
Much packaging, for example, is “necessary” only for the convenience of business. For the consumer, it’s often an inconvenience (those armour-plated clamshell things spring to mind).
To packaging again. Does it need to be transparent? Does it need to be impenetrable to anything less than a power saw (or a bazooka)?
Take toothpaste. It’s packaged in a tube. Once the tube was metal, these days it’s plastic. Why? Probably because plastic is cheap. Why is plastic cheap? Because the price of purchase does not reflect the full life-cycle costs.
There is quite obviously an alternative to plastic for this use. The question is, do we need that use? Can toothpaste be packaged some other way? Maybe a reusable syringe?
The next question is, do we need toothpaste? For thousands of years before the invention of toothpaste, people cleaned their teeth. There are numerous recipes for tooth powder on the Internet.
Has Choice ever tested tooth powders and compared them to toothpastes?
If you make your own, then you can at least be sure that it contains no microplastics.
Packaging is only one possible use of total plastic used world wide, and comprises of about 1/3 of all plastic consumed annually. There any many other uses such as synthetic polymers and plastics in medical industry, which allows treatments which would not have otherwise been the case and can’t be readily or safely replaced by non-plastic alternatives. There are also many other non-packaging uses where currently there are no alternatives…another example is insulation for electrical components which demand for plastics will increased as the world becomes more reliant on electricity as the main energy source.
Packaging is possibly an easy one to find some alternatives (‘low hanging fruit’), but there are many other applications where such alternatives are yet to be discovered (or may never be satisfactorily replaced by non-plastic alternatives).
This Kmart Anko lawn darts set broke on first use. So badly designed the weight of the head snapped the dart in two on impact when thrown underarm by a six-year-old!!
Looking into the issue, the only application for plastic that seems to be indispensable and for which there’s genuinely no obvious alternatives is electrical insulation. Once upon a time, natural rubber was used. Over time that material perishes, turns into a sticky mess and fails. Many a structure fire resulted. For lower voltages, paper and cotton were used and could still be viable.
I was surprised to find that there’s still a healthy market for natural rubber.
Thanks Mark. Yes, got a full refund but the cost to the environment goes without refund. Just more plastic circulating, not to mention the transport costs to move this useless junk from one side of the earth to the other. A ridiculous waste of resources.
An update from Boomerang Alliance regarding banning single use plastics in Australia.
Dear XXXX,
After many years of community action to reduce plastic pollution, 2021 promises to be the year that our States and Territory Governments start to make a difference. Five jurisdictions - South Australia, Queensland, the Australian Capital Territory, Western Australia and Victoria have either passed or have promised legislation to reduce takeaway single-use plastics. A great start to eliminating these items from the litter stream and our oceans. We applaud them.
The other jurisdictions, New South Wales, Tasmania and the Northern Territory are considering their options but lagging behind. They need to catch up quick and we are campaigning to get them moving.
Below is our status report on each state and territory. We’ll keep you up to date on progress.
Diary Reminder: Remember the 7th of March is Clean Up Australia Day. According to the latest data over 30% of all rubbish collected is still single-use plastic. Graph below is from CUA Rubbish Report 2020.
FIRST TRANCHE SINGLE-USE PLASTIC ITEMS (2021)PROPOSED SECOND TRANCHE (expected 2022-24)
SOUTH AUSTRALIA
Legislation passed with ban introduced on 1 March 2021
Plastic straws, stirrers and cutlery
Compostable plastic items are included in the ban (for these listed products) * Expanded polystyrene (eps) cup, bowl, plate and container, listed oxo-degradable products (2022)
(After further investigation) Takeaway coffee cups, (thick) plastic bags and other food service items QUEENSLAND
Legislation expected to be passed in March 2021 with ban introduced no earlier than 1 September 2021
Compostable plastics and other packaging items certified to the Australian standards (AS 4736/AS 5810) are allowed/exempt from the ban. * Coffee cups/lids, other plastic items and heavyweight plastic bags (after further analysis) - expected in 2022
Plastic Pollution Reduction Strategy allows for further additions in future AUSTRALIAN CAPITAL TERRITORY
Legislation expected to be passed in March 2021 with ban introduced on 1 July 2021
Plastic cutlery, stirrers, expanded polystyrene food and beverage containers
Compostable plastic items are included in the ban (for these listed products) * Plastic fruit/vegetable produce bags, oxo-degradable products, plastic straws (expected in 2022)
(In longer term) coffee cups and lids, plastic dinnerware, heavyweight plastics bags and cotton ear buds
Enabling legislation allows for further addition in future WESTERN AUSTRALIA
legislation being drafted and expected to be tabled by 2023
Currently reviewing position on compostable plastics * Plastic fruit/vegetable produce bags, microbeads, eps packaging, cotton buds with plastic shafts, oxo-degradable products (expected 2024-26)
Plan for Plastics allows for further additions in future VICTORIA
Ban to take effect in Feb 2023 after consultation
Will include single-use plastic straws, cutlery, plates, drink stirrers, polystyrene food and drink containers, and plastic cotton bud sticks * Govt agencies to ban by Feb 2022
I find the claim of needing some 25 nappies unrealistic.
When our kids were little, we would soak the used nappies in a large bucket prior to washing which would be done daily and we only had around 12 nappies in total.
At around 50 cents each, it would not take long to waste $500 on disposable nappies.
This brand claims that theit product will save around $1,000 in lieu of disposable nappies.
It is about right. This will give about 2 days use. We had enough for 3 days to allow enough time for the nappies to dry in inclement weather.
One possibly will save more. Over 2-3 years, a child will use around 6000-9000 nappies. Good quality cloth nappies will last the same time, if not more. Add in washing costs and one should save considerably more.
I can’t understand the justification for providing a rebate when reusable nappy users are better off financially.
It will certainly save money.
How much depends on the cost of the washing and sterilising on a daily basis. We started with 2 dozen cloth squares and soon had a third dozen. Two buckets on the go all the time. Wash every day when possible, but could stretch to two.
What it does not save is time. Life is about your personal convenience might not be how many of us were raised. It’s however part of a great marketing mantra. Clever marketing has also promoted disposable nappies as the way to be a good parent and have the perfect happy child, vs inferred uncaring low hygiene standard woofey and leaky kids in cloth.
To @phb ‘s point re the saving alone should be motive enough. There is always the option of a ban on disposable. If we can do it for plastic straws and disposable cutlery and plates we can do it for disposable nappies.
Lake Uru Uru may soon not be a Lake to visit for Tourists if that amount of rubbish continues to flow into it. Or maybe it will be a Tourist destination for the wrong reason ie a perfect example of plastic pollution.
