Don’t ban plastics — design them to be recyclable, says expert
Plastic isn’t the problem: the issue is how we design plastic products and dispose of them, a global expert on plastic litter on Tuesday told Europe’s biggest inter-disciplinary science meeting, EuroScience Open Forum 2018. Better design could increase recycling rates and reduce the amount of plastic that ends up in the oceans, where it threatens marine life, said Plymouth University marine biologist Richard Thompson. Plastic pollution is a rapidly growing global problem, driven partly by the fact that humans have had "60 years of training" to regard most plastic products as disposable items, said Thompson. The impact of this throw-away culture is compounded by poor design that makes products difficult or too expensive to recycle, he said. A simple example of bad design is colourful, single-use bottles: many companies won’t recycle coloured bottles because the pigments they contain are difficult to remove, and can reduce the value of recycling by as much as 50%, he said. The issues ...
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Subscribe now to unlock this article.
Support BusinessLIVE’s award-winning journalism for R129 per month (digital access only).
There’s never been a more important time to support independent journalism in SA. Our subscription packages now offer an ad-free experience for readers.
Cancel anytime.
Questions? Email helpdesk@businesslive.co.za or call 0860 52 52 00. Got a subscription voucher? Redeem it now.