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Plastic: Can You Go Zero?

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Without a doubt, the invention of plastic was a revolutionary event in industrial history. Thanks to this material, there are many long-lasting, durable products that are inexpensive to produce. Plastic has revolutionized our world. Cars, televisions, mobile phones, computers, refrigerators, washing machines, microwaves, airplanes, trains… the list of products made possible with plastic is endless. When you think about it, it’s hard to imagine living in a world without it, isn’t it?

And yet this controversial product seems to be overtaking our planet; piles and piles of it are drifting up on beaches daily, choking waterways, causing floods, killing wildlife, contaminating our food—it’s even in the air we breathe. What can we do?

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle?

For decades, solutions to the plastic waste problem have been focused on consumers. The three Rs, we have been told time and again, are the key to solving our “litter” problem—with the greatest emphasis on the last: recycle. For years people lived with the perception that plastic was infinitely recyclable, if only we’d do our part. Now of course, we know better. The term “single use plastic” has made its way into almost everyone’s vocabulary and the fact that we’re surrounded in what has been dubbed a “sea of plastic” waste is almost impossible to ignore.

And yet, we can’t help but feel as if we’re wholly responsible, and that’s no accident; this framing of the problem has been carefully cultivated by the packaging industry for over 60 years. 

In the United States it took the form of the Keep America Beautiful organization—founded in the 1950s by beverage and packaging corporations in response to the obvious growing garbage problem. It’s sole purpose was to let American consumers know that packaging was not the problem—they were. Backed by environmental organizations like Sierra Club and Audubon Society, Keep America Beautiful aired public service announcements in conjunction with government organizations and launched campaigns in schools to spread its anti-litter doctrine with the clear message that it was each American’s personal, civic responsibility to keep America clean.

And this sway that the plastics industry has is not a uniquely American phenomenon; to this day food and drink companies lobby aggressively—and very successfully—worldwide against regulations that hold producers responsible for packaging as well as against return and deposit schemes aimed at reducing packing production. Even though it’s widely acknowledged that recycling is not the answer, it’s still pushed as the first priority by governments reluctant to hold manufacturers accountable. But that’s slowly beginning to change.

America Last?

There is no nationwide ban or tax on plastics in the United States, but there are more than 400 laws and ordinances that either tax or ban plastic bags. At the state level, currently eight states have banned single use plastics and/or plastic bags: California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, New York, Oregon and Vermont. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, lawmakers introduced at least 95 bills related to plastic bags in 2019, most of which either ban or place a fee on plastic bags. But, some even go the other way and actually prevent local governments from enacting any kind of regulation on use or sale of plastic bags or “auxiliary containers.” That may seem crazy—and maybe it is. But studies have shown that while banning plastic bags may in fact reduce the number of bags we see in the garbage and littering the streets, it doesn’t reduce plastic waste—for example people who previously reused their plastic shopping bags for other purposes still needed bags, so they just bought garbage bags instead. Many others traded in their plastic bags for paper, but paper is terrible for the environment, too. 

On the national level, legislation was introduced in the US in February 2020 that takes a stab at shifting the responsibility from the shoulders of the consumer. With no Republican sponsors, the Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act has little hope of passing, but its aggressive attempts to force the plastics industry and packaging manufacturers to be accountable for dealing with the waste they produce reflects the frustration that many Americans feel and indicates a change in attitude about just who is accountable for the mess we find ourselves in right now.

Data from Eurostat, image courtesy of the EU Commission.

Baby Steps in the EU

This way of thinking has been present in the EU for a while, and though the EU Commission has not passed legislation to tax plastic packaging, it has created incentives for its member states to do so, and a number of them have. 

Here in Spain, legislation that holds the packaging industry accountable for the waste it produces lags behind other European nations. But, on June 2, 2020, the Spanish Cabinet approved a draft law that includes a tax of €0.45 per kilogram of plastic packaging produced, introduces a ban on single use plastics like plastic cutlery, phases out single use takeaway food containers and makes provisions for the implementation of deposit and return schemes.

Photo by Slastic, public domain.

The Here and Now

The fact that Spain’s government is decentralized adds further challenges to an already complicated issue. Household waste is the responsibility of each municipality. In Barcelona's current recycling model, there are separate collection bins for the disposal of recyclable materials, and, according to the city’s website, there is a recycling collection point within 100 meters of every home. Plastics collected in the recycling containers are sent to sorting plants which separate and categorize the waste. Materials which have not been sorted correctly, are contaminated with food or are too small to recycle are separated and either incinerated at an “integral waste recovery plant” or sent to a landfill. Products that are deemed recyclable are packaged after sorting and sent to recycling centers. 

Barcelona has three ecoparcs where the mixed trash (from the grey bins) is sorted for recyclable materials as well. Once sorted, only 10%-12% of recyclables are recoverable for recycling, and the quality of the recyclable materials is generally lower, so most of it is downcycled. The majority of the plastics tossed into the grey bins are not recyclable and are either incinerated or landfilled.

Barcelona’s Zero Waste Plan

The total amount of municipal solid waste (MSW) collected in Barcelona's recycling containers has been hovering around 35% for nearly 10 years. (Spain as a whole is at 30%.) Realizing that it was going to miss the EU targets for recycling MSW, Barcelona developed a zero waste plan—the Metropolitan Agreement for Zero Waste—which targets a 55% separate collection rate by 2025. To achieve its goals, the new program plans to scrap the current collection system and move to a system of individualized waste collection which identifies both the kind of waste and the volume that each household disposes of. The systems proposed to implement its plans include door-to-door collection as is currently being piloted in the porta a porta program in Sarrià, the installation of smart containers with microchips and control systems with camera and access cards and a specific commercial collection program. The idea is to create a pay-as-you-throw system which the city plans to implement for both household waste, which accounts for 60% of MSW, and commercial waste, which makes up the remaining 40%.

The zero waste plan includes the phasing out of the ecoparcs which are slated to be converted into specialized treatment plants, primarily for organic material. Further, the plan calls for a reduction in waste sent to landfills as well as a reduction in waste incineration; to that end the integral waste recovery plant in Sant Adrià de Besòs will shut down two of its furnaces.

While the ajuntament’s website outlining the city’s zero waste plan does mention the possibility of introducing a deposit and refund system, the city’s strategy to reduce waste generation remains firmly focused on recycling, stating that, “The City Council is committed to continuing to foster policies aimed at making progress in the main challenge that has guided municipal actions in recent years: reducing the generation of municipal waste, by fostering selective collection, prevention, recovery and reuse of raw materials and resources.”

A Focus on "Reduce"

According to the Àrea Metropolitana de Barcelona (AMB) website: “Plastic packaging represents 14% of MSW. Separating recyclables correctly and depositing them in the correct recycling container is the first step in managing this waste sustainably.”

But is it really?

Clearly, recycling hasn't come anywhere close to solving the problem. While these programs do need improvement, separating recyclable waste has forced consumers to come face to face with the sheer amount of plastic packaging brought into their homes on a daily basis, and many people are asking, “Is this necessary?”

Heightened awareness coupled with recycling fatigue has spurred many consumers and business owners to seek ways to tackle the problem at the source. While we can’t hold plastics manufacturers accountable for the packaging they produce, we can avoid buying products that use them. As the increasingly alarming environmental and health hazards of plastics becomes more evident, many are looking for ways to truly go zero waste—or at least zero plastic far a start. 

Going zero waste takes planning and commitment because the idea is to shift the focus to reducing the amount of waste you generate in the first place—no more bottled water, convenience packs of lettuce, shrink wrapped veggies, plastic packs of herbs, meat on Styrofoam trays wrapped in cellophane, vacuum sealed cold cuts, sliced, prepackaged cheese, or pre-made anything. Full-on zero waste means no paper packaging either, and no single-use glass bottles. This can be a real challenge if you’re used to shopping in the big supermarkets. But there are already several shops and restaurants in Barcelona that offer plastic-free products and a growing number of them are fully committed to the zero waste concept, so it's getting easier every day.

Plastic Facts

Plastic Free Shops in Barcelona

Personal Care Items & Household Goods

Dry Goods

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