I noted a comment from Tesco yesterday. They are apparently going to review packaging in their supply chains. As CEO Dave Lewis told the Guardian:
We can't overlook the fact that for too long, packaging on consumer goods has been excessive. We have all looked at the settled contents of a cereal packet and puzzled over the comparative size of the bag and box. Or opened a bag of crisps and wondered why the packaging is twice the size of the contents.
Tesco is reserving the right to remove products that do not meet new standards from the store and I welcome that.
But much more interesting was this comment:
We need a standardised national collection and a truly complete and national recycling infrastructure. Today, recycling rates vary across local authorities from 65% to 14%. Without a national infrastructure, industry efforts to improve the recyclability of materials used in packaging will not have the impact we need.
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It would be nice if the intellectual minnows that are our Government could think like this.
Fat chance.
But apparently Free Market Competition will make the system as efficient as possible , oh, hang on, are we talking efficiency of the recycling system or efficiency of return on capital. A hard one to fathom there.
the time it took the govt. to implement charging for plastic bags : decades.
the size of the public backlash against the measure : non existant.
I’m confident it isn’t the public holding back long overdue change.
Yes, standardisation of *how* packaging is recycled will be massive. In one city shredded paper is recycleable, in another it isn’t. In some it should be free of plastic, in others must be contained within a plastic bag.
Whether admited or not, recycle activities are outsourced by public bodies. Thay are told that they are so grossly inefficient and incompetent and are financed only to outsorce the problem to eager, efficient private sector players keen to make profit from waste as they sell it on to Malaysia, China, Indonesia, etc. etc..
Dave Lewis and Tesco are to be commended.
” We need a standardised national collection and a truly complete and national recycling infrastructure. Today, recycling rates vary across local authorities from 65% to 14%. Without a national infrastructure, industry efforts to improve the recyclability of materials used in packaging will not have the impact we need.”
Now it’s up to a Corbyn government (and its electorate) to allow local councils to *not* outsource and wash their hands of this important issue and instead set SMART objectives.
Schools, housing, utilities and packaging. Time to free-up local authorities and stop them throwing-out budget and efficacy.
Laws mandating action & setting targets work. Voluntary stuff does not. Thus I agree with “standardised national collection and a truly complete and national recycling infrastructure” _ I would also suggest that relying on commercial approaches i.e. companies – to undertake sorting and disposal – leads to a focus on profitability rather than “best outcomes”. State owned & operated systems- might thus be best. I recommend the recent Private Eye article on Viridor – to give you a feel for what happens at sorting/incineration centres.
That said – better to also address symptoms & that is where laws come in. These could stipulate maximum packaging – with a ratchet mechanism that reduces amounts over time – coupled to taxation on packaging which is hypothesised to fund re-cycling centres. As for Tesco – it might like to reflect on the societal impacts of having whole isles dedicated to selling ……..crisps (& in common with other companies in the “grooming” business – doubtless it will claim that it is only meeting customers “needs”.)
Less, and more basic, packaging costs less.
More profit.
It also leads to a reduction in sales.
Balance.
Noticed that Tesco “value” branded lines have disappeared?
Well, they haven’t. They’ve been renamed (T.E.Stockwell & Co etc) (T.E.S.Co) (not that they seem to be flying off the shelves either).
People buy glossy. People buy well-known.
Brand-name paracetamol sells the same as basic paracetamol, but at 3x-4x-10x the price.
“Orange” bins are also full of things not wanted, which takes time and money to filter out, and dispose of.
S’Life
I buy generics….unless they’re grim
Most are fine
I only found out recently that the interlocked yin yang like green swirling arrows symbol on packaging ( the green dot ) does not mean it is recyclable rather:
The Green Dot is a symbol used in many European countries. It shows that the producer of the packaging has made a financial contribution towards its recovery and recycling, in the country of origin or sale. This symbol has no relevance in the UK, and does not indicate that the item can be recycled locally.
https://www.sussexgreenliving.co.uk/recycling-zone/recycling-symbols-explained/
I’d like to see more paper & cardboard used instead of plastics,
unfortunately it mostly comes from wood that takes decades to regrow,
hemp is an annual crop, it’s fibres are excellent for paper making,
hemp was a very important crop used in the manufacture of numerous products for centuries but was pretty much outlawed by draconian anti drug legistlation in the early 20th century.
hemp based single use packaging and products can have a secondary use as a fuel for electricity generation and district heating products with it’s CO2 emissions being negated by the fresh crop grown annually.
the first step to the reintroduction of hemp as an industrial feedstock is the removal of legal restrictions on growing it.
I saw in the papers recently that an enterprising farmer in the UK who was trying to kick start the return of hemp growing was forced to destroy his crop because of quibbling about the negligable THC content of his crop.
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/jul/30/oxfordshire-hemp-farmers-devastated-after-being-forced-to-destroy-crop
I have heard that black plastic isn’t currently recycled as the machines can’t read the recycle code. Perhaps Tesco could stop selling items that include black plastic packaging, including their own branded products.
I think there is a very strong argument for that
This means flower pots are not recycled, for example….
Matt B coincidentally one of Corbyn’s sons (and their partner) is opening a shop devoted to hemp products of all sorts. In a cheaper north London postcode than glam Islington.