Solutions to plastic pollution as we see it.

Often we see that plastic product is simply produced with aesthetics in mind rather than thought to our planet's health. Plastics are churned-out and chucked away by the hundreds of millions and present a much bigger problems than coffee cups for recycling plants.

There needs to be a rethink to the variety of plastics we use. Less different types of plastics and simpler product design would mean rapid improvements in recycling rates. Economic incentives also need to be radically altered. Manufacturers must be encouraged to use recovered material in new products and a move towards biodegradable plastics from starch polymers.

Our ever-expanding appetite for food on the go is one of the biggest sources of problematic plastic waste. Top offenders of these plastics include wet wipes, sandwich boxes, drinking straws and pet food pouches. Pouches used for soups, pet food and Capri-sun use two types of plastic with a foil layer inside, making them 'completely unrecyclable' unless they are entirely segregated out from other items and then put through a complex process using microwaves to cook off all of the different materials at their respective boiling temperatures. Needless to say, that’s expensive and uses up a lot of energy. Another bugbear for recycling plants are sandwich boxes. Not only are these made from laminated card that makes separating plastic from paper extremely difficult, but they have a see-through window made from an entirely different type of plastic. Wet wipes are basically a woven plastic so they don’t break down. Much of the problem isn’t down to the fact that individual items can’t be recycled, but that they just aren’t being sorted properly due to the complex make-up so get sent to an incinerator or end on landfills.

We continue to bring awareness to Governments that if plastics are not easily recyclable, then they not helpful and so making them unsustainable, so ban it.