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隐藏的挑战:您是否定义了塑料?

Instead of focusing just on fossil fuel-reliance or just on waste, look more holistically at environmental and human health concerns across the life cycle to prevent unintended consequences.

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塑料策略的一个隐藏挑战是缺乏清楚的材料被认为是塑料和首选解决方案。图像艾米丽·伯纳尔(Emily Bernal)Unsplash

塑料是许多公司可持续性战略的首要任务之一。竞彩足球app怎么下载越来越多的公司具有减少塑料使用的目标,以确保可回收塑料包装并对无塑料产品和包装提出主张。这些努力的隐藏挑战是缺乏清楚的材料被认为是塑料和首选解决方案。

美国化学委员会tracks these resins: polyethylene (LDPE/LLDPE/HDPE); polypropylene (PP); polyvinyl chloride (PVC); polystyrene (PS); expanded polystyrene (EPS); epoxy; isocyanates; and polyether polyols. While these materials are often the focus of corporate plastics efforts, questions arise such as: Are bio-based versions included? What about alternative resins or compostable items?

如果没有深入了解哪种材料的重点,如何采取行动并取得进步?解决方案很简单:定义塑料对公司的努力意味着什么。要获得有效的定义,重要的是要考虑驱动因素并瞄准该计划。

您是否想转移材料的来源?

Traditionally, plastic resins are manufactured from fossil fuels, oil and gas. Converting these materials to plastic is an energy and温室气体密集型过程。此外,它们来自有限资源,其生产与有毒污染有关 - 这种人类健康的影响可能不成比例有色社区.

Because packaging is the top use of common resins and these are largely designed to have a limited useful life,绿色和平其他人则呼吁公司改用不依赖化石燃料的包装。一种常见的解决方案是使用再生塑料。但是,重要的是要深入研究此选项。一些emerging recycling technologies(such as pyrolysis) rely heavily on fossil fuels for energy and inputs. So, companies need to clarify the boundaries for shifting away from fossil fuel reliance when that is an aim and explore broader solutions.

对塑料废物有担忧吗?

Over 85 percent of plastic packaging is wasted and not recovered for another use in the U.S. Even the most common packages, PET and HDPE bottles, are回收less than a third of the time by Americans. Thus, most plastic packaging can escape into the environment, polluting natural areas when it does not make it to the landfill or get incinerated. As a result, plastic packages are最重要的项目found in litter audits, and the U.S. is a顶级来源影响全球社区的塑料污染。

对塑料废物的关注是行动越来越多的驱动因素。新法律(包括专注于扩展生产者的责任)和自愿努力(例如新塑料经济全球承诺)以这个目标为中心。欧盟指令2019/904在一次性塑料上指出,其目的是“首先,最重要的是减少产生的废物数量”。

这Pew Charitable Trustsstates that solutions for plastic waste, "require reducing plastic use, finding substitutes for plastics, improving recycling practices, expanding waste collection and ensuring that disposal facilities prevent plastic leakage as a transitional measure."

However, waste-driven initiatives for plastic do not have a single approach to identify — which may be a concern and may be a solution. Some initiatives find bio-based plastics that are industrial-compostable for any product to be acceptable, despite限制规模作为广泛的废物解决方案支持这一点。另一种方法仅接受自然发生的聚合物,假设这些聚合物对废物管理不善的关注更少。还有其他方法可以在塑料材料周围划定界限来解决浪费问题。

在欧盟,一次性法规指导points out that typical fossil fuel sources are considered plastics and regulated but so are many bio-based plastics when they are not natural polymers. That means packages made from polylactic acid (PLA) are considered plastic. In addition, natural polymers are regulated as single-use plastics when they have been chemically altered. The EU goes further to consider natural polymers that are industrially produced to be regulated as plastic (such as polyhydroxyalkanoates, or PHA). This broader approach is likely different from how many companies are working.

有更广泛的生命周期驱动因素还是目标?

塑料(例如人类健康和微型污染)还有其他考虑因素,可以扩大塑料公司工作的定义或范围。

清洁生产动作的化学足迹项目,并集中于塑料记分卡highlight the material health considerations of plastics. The group points out that hazardous chemicals are typically used in plastics such as benzene, Bisphenol A (BPA), styrene and vinyl chloride monomer. It notes, "Exposure to a wide array and high volume of chemicals of high concern during manufacturing, usage and disposal poses a significant risk to the health of workers, communities and the global environment." The Plastics Scorecard underscores that bio-based plastics do not necessarily use safer materials than their fossil-fuel alternatives.

Microplastics are the small pieces of resins and polymers that pollute the environment. They are found across the环境- 影响野生动植物和生态系统,并最终进入我们的食物和饮用水。这main sourcesof microplastics are washing synthetic textiles and the abrasion on tires from driving vehicles, along with other sources (such as encapsulated ingredients).

Google通过定义塑料的目标表现出进展,但还有更多要做的事情。该公司有一套goals以塑料为中心,以朝着循环经济开车,以减少对有限资源的依赖并避免浪费。手机app买球靠谱吗在其目标是在2025年使用其消费者硬件产品组合中使用的至少50%的塑料中使用可回收或可再生的材料,该公司指出,基于生物的塑料被接受为可再生材料,但没有阐明此类塑料的其他标准作为其寿命末要求或可能可以接受的原始生物基材料的转换水平。

公司是探索化学回收选项以支持回收内容的目的,包括上述目标,以及在2022年及其后每年推出的Google产品制造产品中还包括回收材料的其他目标。在这一点上,尚不清楚化学回收方法是否有其他环境标准可能适合公司的需求和整体可持续性战略(例如气候考虑因素)。竞彩足球app怎么下载

很明显,有不同的方法来定义和范围塑料公司努力中包含的内容。在我们与公司的合作中,它有助于确定该计划的目标,以确保目标适当定位。然后,它有助于确定范围和范围内的内容(或什么是可接受的解决方案,什么不是)的标准。

Further, a more systemic view of plastic programs is a more effective approach. Instead of focusing just on fossil fuel-reliance or just on waste, look more holistically at environmental and human health concerns across the life cycle to prevent unintended consequences. With whatever approach you choose, a clear definition of what plastic means for your business will help to ensure progress and drive to more sustainable solutions.

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