Plastic and Sustainability form a Central part of the Circular Economy
On Thursday the 4th of February I attended the virtual Circular Economy Action Agenda launch. The circular economy is one that aims for the elimination of waste from production chains. The circular economy is one which replaces the linear concept (MacArthur, E, 2013). The principles of the circular economy have been founded on the three R’s which are reduce, reuse and recycle, but just adhering to the three r’s isn’t sufficient, because there can be social and economic problems (Banaitė, D., 2016). The main objective of a circular economy that there is no end to a product. There is need for society to move away from the use and throw away mentality. During the circular economy launch, there was a lot of focus placed on the actionable agenda of a more effective circular economy. The actionable agendas are 1. Food 2. Electronics 3. Textiles 4. Plastics and 4. Capital Economy (Pace, 2021). The Circular Economy I believe offers great opportunities for sustainability throughout the world. At the conference it was interesting to hear from the CEO of Philips which has become one of the first technological company to adapt to the circular economy
Plastics:
Plastics can be form part of the circular economy. It is undeniable that there a lot of plastics wasted throughout the globe everyday. This is having an effect on all aspects of the environment e.g. on aquatic life. Plastic packing accounts for the largest column of the plastic economy. It accounts for 26% of the total packaging (Kaur et al., 2018).
It is necessary to phase out plastic waste from society. Plastic packaging is often discarded after use and this causes enviromantal problems (Guillard, V. et al., 2018). There are many idea and actions that can be used to reduce the amount of plastic that is used throughout the world. In Chilli they have already banned the use of plastic bags, this has been a big step. As part of the Galway Climathon 2020 in November myself and six other colleagues from NUIG developed the idea “Green Rewards”. This is an initiative by where you get a finical benefit by returning plastic packing to the shop and you also get a benefits when you purchase items that are not in plastic containers. Perhaps the 100 % compostable bags now available in Aldi and other supermarkets will become the way of the future and phase out non recyclable plastics.
Its not just food plastic packaging that is a problem. A very relevant examples in terms of plastics and the circular economy is the use of surgical masks vs reusable masks. Surgical masks are single use and often that is the end of the cycle.
The reusable mask can be used multiple times and when the mask is no longer used it could be made into another item of clothing starting the cycle again. Environmentalists are urging people to use reusable masks and frequently wash their hands instead of using gloves. More information can be found by clicking on the following link: https://weather.com/health/coronavirus/video/face-masks-other-covid-waste-polluting-the-ocean
There are man aspects that need to be considered moving forward in the case of plastics and the circular economy there needs to be an upgrade in the scale of polymer recycling centers. There needs to be more awareness of how plastics can impact on the environment (ERM, 2021).Single use plastics are effecting marine ecosystems, biodiversity and human health, hence they pose a threat to sustainability. (European Commission, 2020).
Sustainability
Sustainability is the idea that future generations will be able to have the same quality of life as this generation. Living sustainably ensures that a good standard of living can be provided for future generations. It is clear that without a circular economy in terms of plastics the future generations are likely to be severely impacted.
I believe that the Covid_19 Pandemic offers us a great opportunity to improve sustainability and promote and encourage circular economy. Until next time!!
References
Banaitė, D., 2016. Towards circular economy: analysis of indicators in the context of sustainable development. Social Transformation in Contemporary Society, 4(9), pp.142-150.
Guillard, V., Gaucel, S., Fornaciari, C., Angellier-Coussy, H., Buche, P. and Gontard, N., 2018. The next generation of sustainable food packaging to preserve our environment in a circular economy context. Frontiers in nutrition, 5, p.121.
Kaur, G., Uisan, K., Ong, K.L. and Lin, C.S.K., 2018. Recent trends in green and sustainable chemistry & waste valorisation: rethinking plastics in a circular economy. Current opinion in green and sustainable chemistry, 9, pp.30-39.
MacArthur, E., 2013. Towards the circular economy. Journal of Industrial Ecology, 2, pp.23-44.
Additional Information
https://www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/circular-economy/concept
https://pacecircular.org/action-agenda
Creating a Circular Economy for Plastics (sustainability.com)
Plastics in a circular economy | European Commission (europa.eu)