Tag: plastic

The impact of banning single-use plastics on the Canadian fast food industry

Once in a while, however, this change comes from government legislation, and usually ends up creating significant evolution in the foodservice landscape. Some readers may remember the upheaval of the front of house model when smoking bans began nearly two decades ago, redesigning dining rooms and removing smoking and non-smoking sections of the restaurant.

Industry analysts are watching as a newly announced potential single-use plastics ban in Canada may create similar changes, especially in the fast food segment. In early June, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that the government will ban single-use plastics as early as 2021 and introduce standards and targets for manufacturers of plastic products or those companies that sell items with plastic packaging.

Some chains, like Tim Horton’s and A&W, have started making changes to their supply chains in preparation

For the fast food industry, plastic has traditionally played a large role in the take out order, from plastic bags to straws, cutlery, plates, and stir sticks. In recent years, in recognition of mounting consumer pressure and the ongoing shift away from plastic, some chains have started making changes to their supply chains in preparation.

Read entire post The impact of banning single-use plastics on the Canadian fast food industry | Lesli Wue | Forbes
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Connecting the dots in a circular economy: a new ISO technical committee just formed

The solution is a circular economy, where nothing is wasted, rather it gets reused or transformed. While standards and initiatives abound for components of this, such as recycling, there is no current agreed global vision on how an organization can complete the circle. A new ISO technical committee for the circular economy has just been formed to do just that.

G7 Plastics Charter Canada 20180611
See also: Canada to ban single-use plastics as early as 2021

It’s a well-known fact that the rise in consumerism and disposable products is choking our planet and exhausting it at the same time. Before we reach the day where there is more plastic in the sea than fish, something has to be done to ebb the flow. According to the World Economic Forum, moving towards a circular economy is the key, and a ‘trillion-dollar opportunity, with huge potential for innovation, job creation and economic growth’.

A circular economy is one where it is restorative or regenerative. Instead of buy, use, throw, the idea is that nothing, or little is ‘thrown’, rather it reused, or regenerated, thus reducing waste as well as the use of our resources.

Read entire post Connecting the dots in a circular economy: a new ISO technical committee just formed | Clare Naden | ISO.org

Canada to ban single-use plastics as early as 2021

The Trudeau government will ban single-use plastics as early as 2021, CBC News has learned from a government source.

Plastic straws, cotton swabs, drink stirrers, plates, cutlery and balloon sticks are just some of the single-use plastics that will be banned in Canada, according to the source.

A full list of banned items isn’t yet set in stone, but a government source told CBC News that list could also include items like cotton swabs, drink stirrers, plates and balloon sticks. Fast-food containers and cups made of expanded polystyrene, which is similar to white Styrofoam, will also be banned, said the source.

Read entire post Government to ban single-use plastics as early as 2021: Source | Hannah Thibedeau | CBC

The solution to cutting plastic pollution? Bring back the milkman!

New service backed up multinational organisations aimed at reducing plastic: Goods like orange juice, shampoo & laundry detergent to be delivered to doors.

It wasn’t too long ago when the milkman delivered to your door, and it seems like a return to the good old days might be just around the corner as part of a drive to slash plastic pollution.

An e-commerce service is launching a new era of the home deliveries of old – with goods like orange juice, shampoo and laundry detergent delivered to your door in glass and metal containers. Loop, which is aimed at curbing plastic consumption, was announced at the World Ecomomic Forum in Davos and has a number of high-profile backers, including Coca-Cola, PepsiCo and Tesco.

Read entire post The solution to cutting plastic pollution? Bring back the milkman! | Charlie Bayliss | Supply Chain Dive

How to Eliminate Single-Use Plastics on Vacation | National Geographic

17 pounds of plastic waste kills pilot whale

Last week, a male pilot whale was seen floating strangely in the waters off Southern Thailand. Government veterinarians and conservationists arrived on the scene, propped the whale up on buoys so it wouldn’t drown, held an umbrella over its head to shield it from the sun and started giving it medicine and fluids.

For five days, they tried to save the animal. But the whale did not improve. On June 1, it began vomiting up pieces plastic.

See also World Environment Day 2018: Join the global game of #BeatPlasticPollution tag!

World Environment Day 2018: Join the global game of #BeatPlasticPollution tag!

This universal concept will be given an innovative twist for this year’s World Environment Day: UN Environment is launching a global game of #BeatPlasticPollution Tag to showcase positive behaviour change around how we consume plastic.

Winning the battle against plastic pollution with International Standards on World Environment Day

Plastic is an important material in our economy and daily lives.

It has multiple functions that can help tackle a number of the challenges facing our society, be it packaging that ensures food safety and reduces food waste, light and innovate materials that lower fuel consumption, or bio-compatible plastics in medicine that save human lives.

On the other side, there is an urgent need to address the environmental problems that today cast a shadow over the use of end products. The million tonnes of plastic litter that find their way into our oceans are one of the most visible and alarming signs of these problems.

> Read entire article Winning the battle against plastic pollution with International Standards on World Environment Day | Elizabeth Gasiorowski-Denis | ISO.org

World Environment Day 2018: Everything you need to know

Happy World Environment Day 2018!

An event designed to raise awareness of environmental protection issues and implore people around the world to take action to protect the environment, the day will see people from more than 100 countries participating.

Notably, this year’s iteration of World Environment Day comes as more and more cities, nations, companies and individuals have moved to phase out one-use plastic materials, a fact reflected in this year’s theme.

Here’s all you need to know about what World Environment Day is, when it is, who the host city for 2018 is and what the theme for this year is.

­> Read entire article World Environment Day 2018: Everything you need to know | Steve Longo | Daily Mail

Coca-Cola announces plan to recycle bottles, Greenpeace criticizes

Long the target environmentalists for the waste its products create, Coca-Cola announced last week a plan to recycle as many beverage containers as it produces by 2030 – but not necessarily all of its own cans and bottles.

Posted on Green Supply Chain

The goal is what the company calls the centerpiece an overall sustainability initiative titled “World Without Waste” that was announced by Coca-Cola last week.

The other primary thrust of the program besides the recycling goals is what it calls “investments in packaging.” Under that element of the initiative, Coke says it will continuing to work toward making all of its packaging 100% recyclable globally, and building better bottles, whether through more recycled content, developing plant-based resins, or reducing the amount of plastic in each container.

By 2030, the Coca-Cola system also aims to make bottles with an average of 50% recycled content. It did not provide the current level of recycled content in its packaging.

Environmental group Greenpeace, however, was not impressed with the news.

Read entire article Coca-Cola Announces Massive Plan to Recycle Bottles Globally, Greenpeace Promptly Criticizes | Green Supply Chain

Plastic food contact materials: clearer guidance for applicants

Updated guidance provides applicants with clearer advice on how to submit dossiers on plastic food contact materials before they can be put on the market in the European Union. Previously covered in one guidance document, EFSA has now published separate scientific and administrative documents.

The scientific guidance includes updated information on the dataset required to assess the genotoxic potential of a substance. These specifications are aligned with the current requirements as described in the 2011 EFSA Scientific Committee opinion on genotoxicity testing strategies.

The administrative guidance details the application procedure and introduces new forms applicants should use when preparing and presenting an application. The document also describes the different ways to interact with EFSA during the evaluation process.

Source: European Food Safety Authority

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Warnings over children’s health as recycled e-waste comes back as plastic toys

A trend towards using plastic parts in electrical and electronic goods is causing a headache for the recycling industry

Flame retardants used in plastics in a wide range of electronic products is putting the health of children exposed to them at risk, according to a new report (PDF).

Brominated flame-retarding chemicals have been associated with lower mental, psychomotor and IQ development, poorer attention spans and decreases in memory and processing speed, according to the peer-reviewed study by the campaign group CHEM Trust.

“The brain development of future generations is at stake,” says Dr Michael Warhurst, CHEM Trust’s director. “We need EU regulators to phase out groups of chemicals of concern, rather than slowly restricting one chemical at a time. We cannot continue to gamble with our children’s health.”

The issue poses questions about recycled products that have been imported from countries with less robust recycling rules, such as China.

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A 2015 study found traces of two potentially hormone-altering flame retardants in 43% of toys surveyed.

In 2014 China generated 3.2bn tonnes of industrial solid waste, of which 2bn tonnes was recycled, recovered, incinerated or reused, according to a study in Nature. But concerns about its waste treatment standards were heightened by the discovery of some of the highest concentrations of PBDE chemicals (a group of brominated flame retardants) ever recorded in the food chain near the country’s e-waste recycling plants in the same year.

A trend towards using plastic parts instead of metals in electrical and electronic goods is also causing a headache for the circular economy because so many plastics use toxic flame retardants.

RELATED: Germany bans internet-connected dolls over fears hackers could target children

One 2015 study found significant traces of two potentially hormone-altering brominated flame retardants in 43% of 21 children’s toys surveyed, including toy robots, hockey sticks and finger skateboards. The substances are often found in the recycled plastics first used in electronic products.

Last month the European commission moved to restrict the use of one such substance, DecaBDE, but also allowed exemptions for spare car parts and aviation, and longer deferral periods for recycled materials containing the substance.

Source: The Guardian

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