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Rwy in Sight wrote: ↑

Tue May 14, 2019 6:48 pm

ian16th wrote: ↑

Tue May 14, 2019 12:13 pm

Cardboard tray of 4 x 6 pack, the six packs are plastic wrapped.

I must admit, I buy 500ml cans because they stack in the fridge easier than bottles..

That might be true but the 500 ml bottles are cheaper and returnable.

Not a size we use down here.

My environmentally aware grand daughter in Marks and Sparks yesterday pointed out some packaging nonsense.

Side by side were two packs of coca cola. One an aluminium 6 pack sealed in non recycleable plastic, the other a 4 pack of glass bottles in a cardboard carrier.

Apart from the obvious, the carrier made it easier to carry and you could take one out without destroying the pack.

Being old I can remember that during WWII a tin of sardines had the word 'Sardines' printed on the tin.

After the war, the tin was wrapped in paper, and the paper packet was then put in a cardboard box.

That brings up an observation:

Since more and more commerce is done on-line - I get much of my staple purchases delivered to my door, usually by Amazon, packaging is increasingly important. A square box of sardines is much more easily packaged and shipped than a traditionally shaped tin. That directs me to the idea that all consumer products should be packaged in easily recycled containers, suitable for the most efficient shipping, which should also be bio-degradible where that is more efficient.

If you ask me, waste detritus is a much more serious problem than climate change, which I've been reading is soon to become 'Climate Heating' so as to keep the perceived alarm level up.

Where does all the CO2 from fizzy drinks go?
Should we not be banning carbonated beverages?

Plastic warms the planet twice as much as aviation – here’s how to make it climate-friendly
May 15, 2019 4.22pm BST
Laurie Wright, Solent University

We’re all too aware of the consequences of plastics in the oceans and on land. However, beyond the visible pollution of our once pristine habitats, plastics are having a grave impact on the climate too.

Newly published research calculates that across their lifecycle, plastics account for 3.8% of global greenhouse gas emissions. That’s almost double the emissions of the aviation sector. If it were a country, the “Plastic Kingdom” would be the fifth-highest emitter in the world.

Read more: Plastic is now part of our planet's fabric – a scientist and archaeologist discuss what happens next

Demand is set to rise, too. At 380m tonnes a year, we produce 190 times more plastic than we did in 1950. If the demand for plastic continues to grow at its current rate of 4% a year, emissions from plastic production will reach 15% of global emissions by 2050.
Plastic across the lifecycle

More than 99% of plastics are manufactured from petrochemicals, most commonly from petroleum and natural gas. These raw materials are refined to form ethylene, propylene, butene, and other basic plastic building blocks, before being transported to manufacturers.

The production and transport of these resins requires an awful lot of energy – and therefore fuel. Greenhouse gas emissions also occur during the refining process itself – the “cracking” of larger hydrocarbons from petrochemicals into smaller ones suitable for making plastic releases carbon dioxide and methane. According to the study, about 61% of total plastic greenhouse gas emissions comes from the resin production and transport stage.

A further 30% is emitted at the product manufacturing stage. The vast majority of these emissions come from the energy required to power the plants that turn raw plastic materials into the bottles, bin bags and bicycle helmets we use today. The remainder occurs as a result of chemical and manufacturing processes – for example, the production of plastic foams uses HFCs, particularly potent greenhouse gases.
Ignition of trapped methane pockets in landfills can set off massive fires, releasing the carbon stored in plastic. SmerbyStudio/Shutterstock

The remaining carbon footprint occurs when plastics are thrown away. Incineration releases all of the stored carbon in the plastic into the atmosphere, as well as air pollutants such as dioxins, furans, mercury and polychlorinated biphenyls, which are toxic and damaging to human health.

As plastics take centuries to degrade, disposal in landfill makes only a small contribution to emissions in theory. However, as much as 40% of landfill waste is burnt in open skies, dramatically speeding up the release of otherwise locked-up carbon.
Making plastic climate-friendly

If we are to combat climate breakdown, reductions in plastic emissions are clearly needed. Thankfully, the solution with the biggest potential is already in motion, albeit slow. In showing that transitioning to a zero carbon energy system has the potential to reduce emissions from plastic by 51%, the study provides yet another reason to rapidly phase out fossil fuels.

Read more: New net zero emissions target won't end UK's contribution to global warming – here's why

However, beyond urgently required global decarbonisation, we need to reduce our seemingly insatiable demand for carbon-based plastic. Increasing recycling rates is one simple way of doing this. The highest-quality plastics can be recycled many times, and nearly all plastic can be recycled to some extent – but only 18% was actually recycled worldwide in 2015. Although each recycle process requires a small amount of new plastic, we can greatly increase the life cycle of the material by efficiently reusing what we make.

A more fundamental solution is to switch to making plastics from biodegradable sources such as wood, corn starch, and sugar cane. The materials themselves are carbon neutral, although renewable power is essential to eliminate the climate impact of energy costs during production, transport and waste processing.

However, a massive ramping up in the production of bioplastics – which currently make up less than 1% of total plastic production – would require vast swathes of agricultural land. With the population set to rise dramatically, increasingly coveted arable space may not be able to satisfy demand.
No fossil fuels required. Studio BKK/Shutterstock

The bottom line, therefore, is that we will need to reduce our demand for plastic. According to the study, simply reducing the annual growth in plastics demand from 4% to 2% could result in 60% lower emissions from the sector in 2050. While a life without plastics may seem unimaginable, its worth remembering that their prevalence is a relativity recent phenomenon. The first artificial plastic, Bakelite, was developed in 1907, but it wasn’t until the 1950s that the age of plastic began. If we show a genuine appetite to address plastic pollution, the world could change again just as quickly.

Governments, corporations, and individuals must make research into alternatives a priority, and support alternatives to needless plastic waste. Were most people to carry a reusable water bottle, for example, we could eliminate the need for the estimated 20,000 single-use bottles bought each second around the world.

Of course, any of these solutions alone will not be enough. As the recent study notes, only by combining reduction in demand, top-notch recycling, decarbonisation of energy, and large-scale adoption of bioplastics can we tackle plastic’s contribution to the climate crisis. But if we manage to do all of this, then we can cut plastics emissions to just 7% of current levels.

Plastics need not be completely demonised as environmental scourges. Affordable, durable, and versatile, they bring a raft of societal benefits, and will undoubtedly serve an important role where replacements are unable to be found. But decades of unbridled use and a throw-away culture are having grave consequences that go far beyond the visible pollution of our land and water. It is essential that we drastically reduce our use of avoidable plastics, and eliminate the carbon footprint of the ones we need to use. Our relationship with plastic may be toxic, but it doesn’t need to be forever.

The rancorous EU referendum campaign and Brexit negotiations have been marked by lies and half-truths from politicians happy to obscure the facts. Please support The Conversation to ensure our academic experts can continue applying cool analysis to the most heated of arguments.

Bravo Waitrose

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/articl ... trays.html

Is Lego green? How much Lego finishes up in land fill?

Look at the large Lego models. One in Swindon is in the form of a shoe, a very big shoe. AFAIK the blocks are actually glued together.

I doubt very little will end up in landfill. Folks hang on to their Lego. Go to any car boot sale and see if you can find any.

We've still got all ours (apart from what vanished into the vacuum cleaner) from when No 1 son was born - he's 38 now!

In the US you can buy 'slabs' of beer - 24 cans on a cardboard tray overwrapped in plastic. In UK you buy 4 or 6 cans secured with a plastic ring binding. Interesting that many continental ales come in cardboard boxes.

Those ring binder things are lethal to wildlife. I always cut through any sort of plastic ring before recycling, just in case it escapes into the wild.

Good for them! https://www.theguardian.com/environment ... -from-west

Did my bit today. Lulworth Cove, lots of trippers, ice creams for sale down the lane. Fast flowing spring disgorging into the sea.

Rescued a small plastic, fish lure size, plastic ice cream spoon. What's wrong with the wood scoops?

Pontius Navigator wrote: ↑

Tue May 28, 2019 5:50 pm

Did my bit today. Lulworth Cove, lots of trippers, ice creams for sale down the lane. Fast flowing spring disgorging into the sea.

Rescued a small plastic, fish lure size, plastic ice cream spoon. What's wrong with the wood scoops?

Even better, only serve ice cream take aways in edible containers.

Cones and sandwiches worked in my younger day.

When did you last see an ice-cream sandwich?

ian16th wrote: ↑

Tue May 28, 2019 8:01 pm

Pontius Navigator wrote: ↑

Tue May 28, 2019 5:50 pm

Did my bit today. Lulworth Cove, lots of trippers, ice creams for sale down the lane. Fast flowing spring disgorging into the sea.

Rescued a small plastic, fish lure size, plastic ice cream spoon. What's wrong with the wood scoops?

Even better, only serve ice cream take aways in edible containers.

Cones and sandwiches worked in my younger day.

Delicious tastes the sandwiches - maybe it is time for my annual ice cream.

Wafer in my day. For a treat, a wafer of marshmallow surrounded with chocolate and topped with ice cream slice and a third layer of wafer.

Pontius Navigator wrote: ↑

Tue May 28, 2019 9:37 pm

Wafer in my day. For a treat, a wafer of marshmallow surrounded with chocolate and topped with ice cream slice and a third layer of wafer.

Our sandwiches were made with 2 flat wafers.

For a special treat, we could get chocolate wafer sandwiches.

Amazingly, the same family business is still operating on the same site since before WWII!

.........maybe it is time for my annual ice cream.

You mean 365 times ? (like I have nightly ! )

Plastic bags shortly to be outlawed here, and automated checkouts are becoming ubiquitous. I brought my own bag and placed it in the bagging area - nope, won't let me "You have unchecked goods in the bagging area"
HOW F#CKING HARD IS IT FOR GROCERY STORES TO THINK THESE THINGS THROUGH????

The weight of reusable/recyclable bags is above its cutoff threshold, I guess.

Ice cream sandwiches are a favourite here, but Canada is largely stuck in the 1950's for many things. The most common is called s'mores - cracker/ice cream/cracker/toasted marshmallow/melted chocolate/cracker - or wafers for crackers.

This is truly eco unfriendly for several reasons; ready peeled garlic shipped to the UK from China and packaged in plastic pots imported from Belgium.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/articl ... -pots.html

Why do people need ready peeled garlic FFS.