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The recycling process is important and has a part to play in sustainability.  However, currently it is still only a partial solution because the recycling operation is not environmentally friendly and  there is a net environment cost.  Plastic is where recycling gets most controversial and r ecycling plastics mitigates carbon impacts only to a limited extent.

Disposal methods – Which is the current least harmful to the environment?  

We are inundated with the ubiquitous disposables especially foodware and packaging and because of their everlasting negative impact on our environment, suppliers, users and takeaways get questioned all the time about their sustainability. It’s a great question and there are no simple answers.  

The various disposal methods include incineration, recycling and the landfill; and they all have their pros and cons. So which is the least harmful method to the environment given the current situation? The answer to this complex question lies not only in the type of disposal method but the type of waste.

Mushroom packaging - it looks like Styrofoam but is made of fungus roots and residues from farming.  A 100% biodegradable and renewable material that can be ‘up-cycled’ directly back to nature by providing agricultural waste with home composting. Packaging has been using more plant-based materials and the technology has come a long way in using plant-based materials. One of the latest works is a substance called MycoComposite.

Climate change was one of the top three environmental issues  facing Britons in 2019, our hottest decade and Climate Action is the theme for Earth Day 2020.  A study in 2013 found that 97% of climate scientists agree that climate change is occurring and greenhouse gas emissions are the main cause.  And suddenly, we have clearer skies and reduced carbon emissions  because of the global lockdown caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Reduce your Plastic Footprint

Calculate your plastic on-the-go footprint

In the last blog we talked about the urgent need to be socially responsible in order to combat COVD-19.  Similarly, we have another contagion which we have nursed and encourage all these years and which is causing great and lasting undesirable impact and harm to our planet to combat – plastics!

Since we use plastics in almost every part of our lives, we may not be ready to break up with plastic altogether, but there is some low-hanging fruit that can make a big difference in reducing the amount of disposable plastic in our lives.

Each and everyone one of us have and are still adding one drop at a time to this vast ocean of environmental disaster! One drop, every small action which seams inconsequential really, do slowly add up.  Given the serious, widespread and long-lasting effects of our actions on the planet, any discussion on eco issues necessitates looking at not just 2020 but beyond.

Waste disposal - the current most environment-friendly method

Of all the waste disposal methods, recycling is regarded as the most effective current method. Recycling serves to transform waste into products of their own genre through industrial processing. It is environmentally friendly to reuse the wastes instead of adding them to nature.

However, recycling technologies are complex and costly. The recycling operations themselves are not environmentally friendly.

 What about composting and biodegrading?

We have witnessed unprecedented weather conditions, such as the hottest July this year, caused by our actions and the resulting global warming. There are currently seven and half billion people on the planet and by 2050 there will be an extra two billion people to feed! Aside from cutting carbon emissions from cars, factories and power plants, one other major piece of the whole pie is our food supply and consumption. Our diet is among lifestyle changes urgently needed if developed nations are to have a hope of meeting targets for reduced carbon emissions and a reduction to global temperatures.   

By the year 2050, the world’s oceans will contain more plastic waste than fish – ton for ton. This speaks volumes of the food and beverage industry and the urgent need to reduce the single-use plastic food packaging. One way in which  food and beverage providers can effectively reduce their contribution to plastic waste is by using plant-based food packaging that are easily compostable and degradable and thus does not leave nasty footprints behind unlike plastic packaging.