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The EU Wants to Ban Single-Use Plastics and Other Waste Killing Our Oceans

posted by CoolHand on Wednesday May 30 2018, @02:45PM   Printer-friendly
from the taking-care-of-the-place dept.

Arthur T Knackerbracket has found the following story:

The European Commission has proposed new rules to ban certain plastic products in order to reduce the waste filling our oceans, it announced Monday.

The EU's measures tackle the top 10 plastic products that wash up on Europe's beaches and fill its seas, including a ban on the private use of single-use plastics like plastic straws, plates and utensils and containers used for fast food or your daily takeaway coffee.

The measures would also have each country in the EU come up with a system that would collect 90 percent of plastic bottles by 2025.

"The proposed ban in the European Union of single use plastics, notably plastic straws and cotton buds, is welcome and very promising news," said Dr. Paul Harvey from Macquarie University in a press release. "Single use plastic pollution is one of the biggest environmental catastrophes of this generation."

You can see why the EU is making the proposal. Single-use plastic objects and fishing gear account for 70 percent of waste in the ocean, according to the EU. In 2017, researchers found 38 million pieces of plastic waste on an uninhabited South Pacific island. Figures from the same year showed that a million plastic bottles are bought around the world every minute, a number predicted to jump 20 percent by 2021.

Fortunately, others are tackling the plastic problem, including scientists and environmentalists who've come up with one solution involving mushrooms that can eat plastic.

Original Submission

 
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  • (Score: 4, Interesting) by FatPhil on Wednesday May 30 2018, @05:14PM (4 children)

    by FatPhil (863) <{pc-soylent} {at} {asdf.fi}> on Wednesday May 30 2018, @05:14PM (#686355) Homepage
    Just earlier this year, I noticed a pub in the UK that said "don't ask for straws unless you're prepared to put down a deposit of #1 for a metal one". So I think the migration has already begun, even if it's just scratching the surface. Once you've got McDonalds playing ball, then the thing's taken off. And the only way to get McDonalds to play is to threaten harsh monetary penalties. Some places where I've lived have had a "McDonalds is responsible for all McDonalds litter within 50m of their restaurant" law, which noticeably cleaned up the area once the fines started rolling in.

    I have no idea why more places, at least in urban areas where the offence rate would presently be quite high, and an improvement would be both noticeable and appreciated, haven't gone the on-the-spot-fines-for-littering route. (Maybe because the enforcers would shoot too many of the perpetrators who were waving their straws in a threatening manner?)
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  • (Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 30 2018, @07:01PM (3 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 30 2018, @07:01PM (#686410)

    What's wrong with paper straws? They used to be the norm up until 20-30 years ago.

    • (Score: 2) by FatPhil on Thursday May 31 2018, @11:54AM (2 children)

      by FatPhil (863) <{pc-soylent} {at} {asdf.fi}> on Thursday May 31 2018, @11:54AM (#686682) Homepage
      I vertainly remember those as the norm - people didn't like how they got soggy ends, I think.
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      • (Score: 2) by Nuke on Thursday May 31 2018, @01:00PM (1 child)

        by Nuke (3162) on Thursday May 31 2018, @01:00PM (#686707)

        I dont remember soggy ends. If you took long enough to go soggy you can't have been very thirsty, and you'd be better off drinking from a mug/glass/the can which I prefer to do anyway..
         

        • (Score: 2) by FatPhil on Thursday May 31 2018, @02:00PM

          by FatPhil (863) <{pc-soylent} {at} {asdf.fi}> on Thursday May 31 2018, @02:00PM (#686730) Homepage
          I suspect it was exascerbated by the nipple reflex - kids chew on anything put in their mouth. But yes, I agree, these devices are a solution to something that's never actually been a problem.
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