What to do with plastics?

Our August 6, 2022 write-up about donating/selling dry and clean plastics elicited feedback from our readers. Thank you very much for sharing your time and views with us!

We all need to be reminded about this information shared by an eco-advocate from Cebu:

“Over the last 60 years, 8.3 billion tons of plastic have been produced around the world, but only 9.5% of it has been recycled.  The remaining 7.5 billion tons has been left to pile up on land and clog waterways.  Furthermore, most plastic is for single use items - meaning it usefulness is very short but its life is very, very long.”

Should we continue allowing plastics to pollute and harm our precious water bodies (our rivers, seas and oceans) which eventually harm human beings as well?

Shall we allow so much plastics, among the disposed unsegregated waste, to continue to take over productive lands converted into dumpsites/landfills?

 Will we ignore how plastics, when produced and/or incinerated, can pollute our precious air?

Is it worth having our world, our resources, our people polluted, harmed, destroyed by seemingly convenient but in fact harmful plastics?

Are we ready to suffer the consequences of global warming because of unregulated plastic production and supply?

Remember and we stress this alert again: we have only till 2030, barely 8 years to avert the dire consequences of global warming for our planet and for people, for us all!

Should we not all join hands together and collectively address the plastic problem comprehensively, effectively immediately, soonest?

What then can we individually and collectively do with plastics?

These added views from our eco-advocate reader in Cebu: “Unfortunately, with the ineffective enforcement of ordinances by LGUs banning certain types of single-use plastics and the absence of a list of non-environmentally critical products and packaging (NEAPP), all efforts are focused on managing the huge volume of plastic wastes, majority of which can hardly be recycled, instead of turning off the tap of unabated production of plastics and plastic packaging. Please note that my observations above dwell on the inaction of our duty bearers (governments at the local and national levels) to enforce what is in the law, thus, the private sector, particularly plastic producers, pick up the slack by introducing their waste recovery programs.”

His serious concern, which should also be ours, is “what happens to collected plastic wastes donated/sold by citizens?”

You have heard of plastics like PET, HDPE, etc, turned into pellets.

Online check will show companies turning plastic trash into construction building blocks or some countries using plastics as road construction materials.

According to Greenpeace Campaigner Marian Ledesma in a November 2021 Greenpeace article, there are companies that: “tap third-party collectors that process plastic waste into construction materials or cement kilns used as alternative fuels, to attain 'plastic neutrality' or a scheme that offsets a plastic footprint by investing in waste collection or recycling. By relying on waste recovery programs and a co-processing scheme that essentially burns plastic, consumer goods companies are falling short when it comes to real, systemic solutions—plastic reduction at source and adoption of reuse models.”

While centralizing the collection of plastic wastes is certainly an important step to preventing plastics from ending in dumpsites or polluting water bodies, caution and vigilance are needed to ensure that the collected plastics do not end up in incineration which pollute the air and contribute to global warming!

From another eco-advocate in Luzon, local/global eco-advocates/groups call on all, including businesses/industries, to break free from plastic, to "turn off the tap" and contain/reduce the volume of plastics (including no value plastics like sachets/food packaging etc), and, to encourage/invest in eco-friendly alternatives to plastic production/products from natural/renewable sources/processes, not from polluting/global warming causing petroleum/fossil fuels.