Alternative to plastic packaging

[ozboz]

Just heard that some UK mob are going to somehow try and replace plastic types with seaweed for packaging , got to be a good move , but if the seaweed is not farmed for this purpose , is there a chance that taking it from the coastline will it interfere with the eco-systems,

 

[wafter]

Sounds like a nice idea on the surface but there's probably some down-side; no such thing as a free lunch and it seems that many "envirnomental" arguments are deeply flawed in reality and just another cynical exercise to appease another agenda - PR, marketing, continued consumption, control....

 

[ozboz]

Sounds like a nice idea on the surface but there's probably some down-side; no such thing as a free lunch and it seems that many "envirnomental" arguments are deeply flawed in reality and just another cynical exercise to appease another agenda - PR, marketing, continued consumption, control....

There is some discussion on LBC tomorrow morning , I will listen on the replay later in the day ,

 

[Electric_Andy]

It is a good idea but only for things that absolutely need packaging. I think in line with this, suppliers need to be forced to remove packaging where possible. Perhaps bulk deliveries should have outer plastic packaging to keep the food free of damp, dust and airbourne particles. This means that the supermarket (for example) can sensibly dispose of the plastic, and the individual packs that go on the shelves can be either seaweed-derived or package free. I think there will have to be a lot of trials before it goes ahead i.e. will some foods degrade within a usual delivery-to-consumer timeline?

I can only see the seaweed being farmed, but the cost for doing things in the sea is very high with regard to maintenance and trying to stop things from succombing to salt water. This is one of the main reasons why marine hydro electricty generates a loss, it's just so hard to maintain and the video I read (Toom Scott I think) suggested that it takes more energy to run and maintain it than energy produced from it. If done in a commercial growing setting, you'd then have to pipe the water from the sea or create your own salt water which again would push costs up and that's a perfect excuse for people not to use it.

 

[DCLane]

I once interviewed someone who had developed biodegradeable food packaging from waste potato starch left over after oven chip manufacturing. He turned pig food into packaging.

Supermarkets wouldn't pay the extra 0.25p it cost to make at a small scale.

 

[Archie_tect]

I once interviewed someone who had developed biodegradeable food packaging from waste potato starch left over after oven chip manufacturing. He turned pig food into packaging.

Supermarkets wouldn't pay the extra 0.25p it cost to make at a small scale.

They have to if you don't give them a cheaper alternative.

Naturally they will pass every overhead onto consumers but the costs will soon tumble if everyone has to do it.
Magazines are routinely delivered in paper or potato-starch based shrink-wrap these days- plastic has had its day.

 

[Ridgeway]

There's a lot of paper/carton based alternatives to plastic packaging that will be showing up on supermarket shelves during the next 12-24 months. The SUPD (single use plastics directive) is the big driver to this and although it has been approved in Brussels already last year the definitions are still being worked on, it was supposed to be clarified by Sept/Oct this year although i guess it will be later now. In essence though the tax levy on packaging manufacturers is dramatically increase depending upon materials used, recyclability of pack and actual recycling rates by us the consumer, not sure how the last one will be managed.

Today the main issue is the recycling rate of a pack ie not the can you recycle it but the do you recycle it, the UK is far behind most European countries on the "do you" bit (considering the complete recycling chain).

There's a simple number that needs publishing (we'll start to see it more) and that's your volume of NON recycled rubbish you get rid of each week, that's the bit that counts.

How much do you NOT recycle each week in litres ? (how many bags and of what size)

 

[Once a Wheeler]

I once interviewed someone who had developed biodegradeable food packaging from waste potato starch left over after oven chip manufacturing. He turned pig food into packaging.

A lot of subscription magazines are now delivered in potato-starch translucent wrappers which are compostable. Looks like a good idea at first glance; but one needs to bear in mind that those pigs might then be fed on synthetic pellets of some kind if the supply of potato waste suddenly disappears. As always, no part of a cycle is independent of the whole.

 

[Mike_P]

Main problem with plastic recycling is the amount of different types and knowing where to recycle it.
Shopping bags and plastic bags coded 4 are fine in the recycling bins at supermarkets but what of the bags coded other than 4.

 

[Ridgeway]

Main problem with plastic recycling is the amount of different types and knowing where to recycle it.
Shopping bags and plastic bags coded 4 are fine in the recycling bins at supermarkets but what of the bags coded other than 4.

and hence it comes down to the "do we recycle" as opposed to can the material be recycled, in truth it takes quite a serious effort to recycle all these different things.

Each week we probably invest 1-2hrs of time into sorting and recycling and working out into which of approx 35 recycling categories things actually go

But the question is how many litres of "stuff" do you throw away each week ?

 

[Electric_Andy]

But the question is how many litres of "stuff" do you throw away each week ?

We only have green bins (recycling - all) and brown bins (landfill). I rarely fill the green bin every fortnite. I have a brown bag becasue I don't fill the bin in 2 weeks, and I make probably 3 small bin bags of landfill per fortnite. I use the charity bags that they put through the door, so at least I'm not buying extra bin bags