Robert Spencer, AECOM (Credit: BusinessGreen)
Why “a holistic strategy” on the usage of plastics is becoming a must for companies.
Robert Spencer of AECOM has penned an opinion piece for BusinessGreen in which he explains the importance for major organisations and businesses of being “proactive” when it comes to their use of plastics.
As Spencer describes, the time is ripe for instituting key measures to handle plastic waste, what with Theresa May’s target to eliminate “all avoidable plastic waste by 2042” as part of her 25-year environmental plan, not to mention the recent Chinese ban on imports and the highlighting of the impact of plastic waste by David Attenborough’s Blue Planet II series.
In addition, the UK government made an announcement as part of its Autumn Budget that it would be investigating the introduction of a tax on single-use plastics, as one method of tackling the growing waste problem.
These developments, coupled with “multiple external pressures from public concern, turmoil in recycling markets and new regulations” should spur companies on to developing their own “holistic strategy” for tackling plastics. Spencer explains that organisations “need to consider how to facilitate recycling”, including engaging with the supply chain, challenging suppliers on their use of plastic materials, and considering new technologies “for recovering value from plastics”.
The manufacturing industry provides “good lessons” in responsible plastic usage according to Spencer, who cites the example of HP Inc., which has “produced more than three billion ink cartridges using post-consumer recycled content”. Additionally, Japanese company Ricoh “remanufactures its old copiers and printers”, thereby lowering the cost of manufacturing new ones by 40 percent, and “reducing its environmental impact by 38 percent.”
He concludes by saying that, despite our current “flippant” attitude to plastic waste, “there’s a real opportunity for industries to take the lead and cut back on plastic waste before it’s too late.”
