Starlinger intern, 2024/01 - Issue 36

PLASTIC AND ITS ALTERNATIVES ARE THEY REALLY MORE ENVIRONMENTALLY FRIENDLY?

priority. We also need functioning collection systems so that the resource plastic can be recycled and used not just once, but several times. The economical use of natural resources is one of the most important ways to ensure that the world will be worth living in for future generations.

Few materials are criticised as harshly in the media as plastic. We see alarming images almost every day: Huge amounts of rubbish are being dumped in landfill sites around the world, dead fish are being washed up on littered beaches. The blame for all this is directed at plastic. Such one-sided reporting results in a distorted perception among the general public. The fact that huge quantities of textiles, glass, metals, construction waste and chemicals also end up in landfill sites, that fish die as a result of toxic wastewater and warming of the oceans, and that many popular holiday destinations do not have a functioning waste management system is much less widely reported. Plastic is not the problem: It is how we deal with it, that is the issue. Plastic is actually a fantastic material. It can be moulded into almost any shape, is unbreakable, lightweight and transparent. Depending on what is required, it can be hard, flexible or brittle and at the same time impervious to heat, light and weathering. This makes plastic the ideal material, not only for packaging, but also for many other areas of application, such as medicine or the automotive industry. By now it is impossible to imagine our modern world without it. Global plastics production has been growing steadily for decades; in the 1950s it was at 1.5 million tonnes per year, today it is 350 million tonnes per year. Around 36 % of this goes into packaging, 16 % into the construction sector, 14 % into textile production and 7 – 8 % into the automotive industry. Plastics account for at least half of the materials used in aeroplanes and cars. 1 A more detailed analysis shows: Plastic has many good properties which, if used correctly, can make it an environmentally friendly alternative. Plastics are neither good nor bad: They have advantages and disadvantages. Obvious benefits of plastics. They are highly flexible and mouldable. They are also lightweight, cost-effective and durable. However, this durability becomes a disadvantage if the material is released into the environment: It can take several hundred years for plastic to decompose completely. Unfortunately, plastic ends up in the environment every day. The world’s biggest rubbish dump is the sea. Many of the plastic fragments end up in the stomachs of sea creatures, bind to algae or decompose into microplastics. Therefore: Preventing plastic from entering the environment must be a top PROS AND CONS OF PLASTICS

PAPER INSTEAD OF PLASTIC? THIS DOESN’T ALWAYS MAKE SENSE

Companies that want to promote themselves as being particularly sustainable and environmentally friendly like to replace plastic packaging with alternative materials such as paper and glass, which, so they claim, are more ecological. In many cases, this is not true. A study 2 conducted by the Germany-based GVM Gesellschaft für Verpackungsmarktforschung mbH in 2023 found that the material efficiency (the ratio of the packaging weight to the weight of the packaged contents) of plastics is twice as good as that of paper, and even 22 times better than glass (see Figure 1). 3

MATERIAL EFFICIENCY OF DIFFERENT PACKAGING MATERIALS IN g/kg OF PACKAGED PRODUCT IN COMPARISON

45

Aluminium Ferrous metals Plastic PPC Glass

114

24

51

572

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

Figure 1: The material efficiency of plastic is twice as good as that of paper. If PET bottles are used instead of glass bottles, the material efficiency is 22 times better. © GVM

Furthermore, the study investigated the effect on material consumption and thus also on the volume of waste if some of the plastic packaging were replaced by glass, paper/ paperboard/cardboard and packaging made of ferrous metals and aluminium. The results show that the amount of packaging generated in households would increase by 18 % if, for example, 10 % of plastic packaging were replaced by glass (share of 15 %), paper/paperboard/cardboard (PPC – share of 45 %), ferrous metals (share of 20 %) and aluminium (share of 20 %) (see Figure 2, Alternative B) 4 .

1 N.N. (13.06.2024). Is plastic good after all? How plastic benefits the environment. Werner & Mertz GmbH. https://initiative-frosch.de/ist-plastik-doch-gut-was-kunststoff-der-umwelt-bringt/

2 N .N. (May 2023). Material efficiency of packaging materials in comparison. GVM Gesellschaft für Verpackungsmarktforschung, on behalf of IK Industrievereinigung Kunststoffverpackungen e.V., Mainz, Germany 3 Ibid., p. 11

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