Recyclers say they hear all the time from people who want to recycle more of the
plastic containers they get from the store. But it’s not easy. In many places,
bottles are the only plastic packaging that’s accepted for recycling. Rebecca
Williams reports some people are looking for ways to give plastic packaging a
new life:
Transcript
Recyclers say they hear all the time from people who want to recycle more of the
plastic containers they get from the store. But it’s not easy. In many places,
bottles are the only plastic packaging that’s accepted for recycling. Rebecca
Williams reports some people are looking for ways to give plastic packaging a
new life:
Maybe you’ve noticed most of the bottles you buy have either a number 1 or a number 2 on the bottom. The number ones are usually things such as water or soda bottles… the number twos usually hold products such as milk or laundry soap.
You’ve might’ve also noticed some other products have other numbers on the
bottom. But your town probably won’t take anything for recycling that’s not a
number one or two and a bottle.
Part of the problem is that most of the time when people design plastic
packaging, they’re usually not thinking about recycling. They’re thinking about
making it lightweight and convenient and making it look good on the shelf.
Some people think that’s not enough. That’s because plastic is mostly made from
oil and other fossil fuels. And someday we’re going to run out.
Anne Johnson directs the Sustainable Packaging Coalition. She’s working with
about a hundred companies to rethink the way they package their products.
“Using a resource that’s 100 million years old for something with a 60 day shelf
life is not very temporally compatible.”
Johnson says plastic packaging should be designed to be more easily recyclable or
reusable, or made out of renewable materials. She says right now, we just think
of plastic wrapping as something to rip off and throw away to get to the good
stuff.
“It’s the wrap around the bread or bottle around the shampoo we’re interested in
and we don’t convey the value of the materials – the fact they’re made from
nonrenewable resources – to consumers.”
Johnson says of course companies still have to think about cost and performance.
But she says making packaging more recyclable or reusable is a smart business
decision.
“If you invest in a resource but you can extend the value of it over a longer period
of time, your money’s working harder for you and I think it is going to make
sense for the future. We’re talking about a lot of people cohabitating the planet
with us and demand for resources and energy is going to soar.”
Some analysts say packaging changes are already being driven by the world’s
biggest retailer. In 2005, WalMart announced plans to rate its 60,000 suppliers
on their packaging choices.
Patty Moore is president of Moore Recycling Associates. She’s a plastics recycling
consultant.
“We’ve seen WalMart get very serious about requiring their suppliers to provide
them with packaging that is sustainable. That has had a lot of ripple effects out
into the marketplace and folks are now looking to source recycled content
whenever they can.”
Moore says technically most kinds of plastic packaging could be recycled. But
there are lots of obstacles.
“If we collect all this material do we just then hope there will be a market for it?
Or do we try to develop a market for it and then try to collect enough to make it
worthwhile?”
Besides the chicken and egg question of recyclables and markets… there are also
the design challenges. Packaging is designed to look good and to protect the
product. Sometimes that might mean there are layers of different kinds of
material in plastic packaging. And that can make the package harder to recycle.
Sue Selke is a professor of packaging at Michigan State University.
“We do have a lot more complex packaging structures and very often that’s what’s
permitting us to use less material to make packages. So there’s an inherent
conflict between minimizing materials going into the package and maximizing
the recyclability of packages.”
So companies actually want to use less material in packaging but sometimes it
means using material that’s not recyclable.
Some environmentalists say companies should work harder to use packaging that
performs well and can be recycled.
Manufacturers might be looking at that idea a little more seriously. That’s
because as oil prices rise, the price for virgin plastic will also go up. And that
might create a stronger market for recycled plastic.
For the Environment Report, I’m Rebecca Williams.