this post was submitted on 24 Feb 2025
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You don't need to ban plastics, you just regulate the people making things to have to ethically dispose of the waste generated by their products. They will pretty rapidly switch to something they can actually dispose of. The manufacturer needs to be responsible for the full life cycle of their products.
They don't actually have alternatives in the single-use realm. The result must be an end to it, bankruptcy from their perspective.
If we replace plastic containers with containers that are paper covered in PFAS and similar substances, we're not solving the problems.
I mean if they have to dispose of it properly then they are either going to try it on with PFAS coated paper and realise there's no way to get rid of it or they are going to find better alternatives. It hinges on real penalties, fines for companies, fines and jail time for CEO and wider C-suite for breaches.
If we know that there are basically no alternatives, then we don't have to waste time and misery chasing after each CEO and corporation in detail.
I disagree that full responsibility needs to go on the manufacturer. An undeniable issue with our current system is that consumers expect to throw all plastic in one bin that isn't the garbage and be done with it. There are lots of different ways to set up responsibility, but on top of production changes plastic "recycling" will need to change significantly from the user perspective. Things like stronger deposit programs would be a bare minimum to start addressing the consumer side (in tandem with measures addressing production of course)
Arguably the manufacturers should be responsible for paying to collect the waste generated by their products and that in itself should be regulated to ensure they don't take the piss. Industry has proven time and time again that they can't be trusted with self regulation and will always choose the maximal short term profit path.