Now it's time deal with 'plastic footprint'

HONG KONG (Scrap Monster): Companies around the world are now called on for using plastic much more wisely so as to deal with the rising plastic footprint on earth, which has turned out to be a big threat for the planet earth.

Plastic pollution is a major global phenomenon that has crept up over the decades, which requires a global and comprehensive solution that includes systemic rethinks about usage and production.

While carbon emissions and water use are pretty firmly embedded in the consciousness of most organizations, the use of plastic generally is not.

Companies should realize how much plastic they use, what processes they have for recycling and what policies they have to reduce their plastic consumption or to increase the proportion of recycled or biodegradable plastic within their organizations in order to cut the plastic wastage.

Scientists are increasingly sounding the alarm over the amount of plastic that is used wastefully (think of single-use drink bottles and packaging), or that ends up as trash in rivers and oceans. Many say that plastic pollution has swelled into a major threat for the world’s oceans and for the global environment as a whole.

About 300 million tons of plastic is produced globally each year. Only about 10 percent of that is recycled, of the plastic that is simply trashed, an estimated seven million tons ends up in the sea each year.

Collecting, reusing or recycling plastic trash; stepping up the use of recycled plastic or of more easily biodegradable materials; and modifying product designs to minimize plastic use could be most effective way to deal with increasing plastic wastes.

Some companies have already made progress on those fronts. Electrolux, the Swedish appliance maker, for example, introduced a range of vacuum cleaners in February that are made from recycled plastic. Coca-Cola has devised a plastic bottle that also contains plant-based materials. And Procter & Gamble has the long-term aim of using 100 percent recycled or renewable material in its products and packaging.

It is believed that the time may come when plastic trash is seen as something that has greater commercial value. After all, plastic, which is petroleum-based, can be converted into fuel. The technologies to do so exist, but trash-to-cash projects are mostly still small because the recycling and collection programs needed to give them a reliable supply of plastic waste are insufficient or completely absent, New York Times reported.