May 2018 – Enviro-Mentalist

Plastic, food waste and cucumbers

There is quite a backlash about plastic at the moment, particularly in the media. Most of it relating to food as this is probably the most visible and to many people (myself included) the most pointless use of single use plastic. As I have mentioned before, the response of the supermarkets in the main has been to pledge to make their packaging recyclable and any reductions mentioned are usually about weight – which means they will make the packaging thinner, not change it altogether. It might even mean substituting plastic for other packaging such as glass.

However, I have recently heard several people complain that the general consensus of opinion is that all plastics are bad, whereas this, they say, is clearly not so. Plastic wrapped cucumbers are the proof, if any were needed, that plastic packaging reduces food waste (but then so does other types of packaging). And, with around 100kg of food wasted per person in the EU, we certainly need to reduce such waste. But, just because the shelf life of a half cucumber is extended by about a week, this doesn’t mean that it the answer. Back in the 1930s only a few percent of food was wasted. Since the 1950s plastic packaging use has increased and now about 33% of our food ends up uneaten. In fact, a recent report (1) has indicated that in some cases such as trimmed green beans, there is more food waste because the beans don’t naturally conform to the size requirements imposed by a plastic tray. More is cut off in production than would be if the beans were taken home in their natural state and prepared when required. Equally, food in packaging is of a fixed amount – if you are a household of one or two, then the chances are you will struggle to get through a whole bag before it goes off, increasing the likelihood of waste.

In Defra statistics from a couple of years ago the main reason cited for food wasted at home (where the majority of food waste apparently occurs) is, for fruit and veg because they were not used in time. (I think that a lot of this will be salads, but perhaps that’s because I don’t like lettuce, refuse to pay £1 for a bag of leaves that are simple to grow at home, don’t like the massive amount of packaging for just a small amount of nutrition or the idea of the chlorine added to keep them ‘fresh’ and they are prone to give you food poisoning.) But, for home made meals, and for meat, the biggest reason is that too much was cooked. Generosity or eyes bigger than tummies?

Tesco announced this month that they are going to remove the best before date from some of their fruit and veg in a bid to reduce food waste. However, these still remain sweating in their packaging, whereas the loose apples and potatoes et al don’t have any best before dates. It would be easier if they just got rid of all the packaging – but if they did that then there would be extra costs for someone on the checkout to weigh the food – or am I just being cynical? Perhaps supermarkets could start to co-operate and only provide some fruit and veg without the packaging option. After all, a few years ago you couldn’t buy apples in packs of six, so I am sure we can get used to putting them in a paper bag ourselves if that was the only choice.

1. http://zerowasteeurope.eu/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Unwrapped_How-throwaway-plastic-is-failing-to-solve-Europes-food-waste-problem_and-what-we-need-to-do-instead_FoEE-ZWE-April-2018_final.pdf

Reasons for optimism.

A couple of weeks ago I had a conversation about energy (the type typically generated in a power station, not the personal type) that got me thinking. This person was in their 80s and had worked in engineering when younger. He was of the opinion that we (as in the UK) would always need fossil fuels because it wasn’t sunny enough. It wasn’t a long discussion, and a few years ago I would have been in agreement with him. But, it occurred to me, for once I was more optimistic than someone else about a sustainable future.

The reason for my optimism is the pace of change we are seeing. Despite the government for their own peculiar reasons doing everything in their power to stop renewables and promote fossil fuels (see the latest move where they have decided to fast-track fracking planning applications) it would seem that renewable energy in this country and around the globe is on the rise. I personally think renewables will come into their own with improved battery technology, although I admit that brings with it another set of sustainability issues.

So, in the spirit of optimism I thought I would share some recent good news stories that show that there is a momentum growing out there and that we probably do have a lot of the answers, even if we are told things aren’t possible (in no particular order).

1. Windpower generated more electricity than nuclear power in the first quarter of 2018. 18.8% of the UK’s energy was produced by wind; providing up to 43% of electricity on some days. Whilst this was helped by some of the nuclear power plants being turned off, it follows on from the last three months of 2017 where wind and solar combined produced more electricity than nuclear power. It shows what can be achieved despite government policy and a collapse in clean energy investment. Imagine what could happen if we had a government that wasn’t so obsessed with the fossil fuel industry or that believed that renewables were the way forward?

2. A new labelling system is out that allows consumers to be able to identify items in packaging that doesn’t contain plastics. The first use of it has come from Iceland, which has already shown the way by announcing, unlike any of the other supermarkets, that it will remove single use plastic packaging by 2023. This has shown the power of social media and consumer pressure.

3. The EU have voted to keep the ban on the neonicitinoid pesticides that have been linked with the decline in many species of pollinator. An appeal by the manufacturers Bayer and Syngenta has just been turned down. (Although the caveat is that the ruling states that bees must only be exposed to ‘negligible’ levels of harmful pesticides.) Again, huge amount of pressure in the media and by NGOs.

4. More than 10 million people are now employed in the renewable energy industry around the world. In the US, where there has been a recent focus on pushing the fossil fuel industry on the promise of more jobs, there are more people employed in renewables than in fossil fuels in nearly every state. Meanwhile Costa Rica has pledged to ban fossil fuels and New Zealand is banning offshore extraction of fossil fuels.

5. 85% of milk distributing businesses have seen an increase in glass milk bottle sales. MilkandMore, the largest distributor, has seen an increase of 15,000 customers since the beginning of the year – 90% are buying milk in glass bottles.

So, whilst I admit that it was a bit difficult to find positive news stories in the mainstream media, there are a lot of changes out there. From Tesla and batteries, to the Circular Economy efforts of Dame Ellen McCarthy, from smaller organisations finding a market for their more sustainable options to Unilever stating that their sustainable living brands are their fastest growing for the second year in a row, the momentum is growing and, every now and again, even I feel a small tug of optimism that perhaps we can overcome those that don’t think change is possible.

Plastic Pact – is it all its cracked up to be?

On the 25^th April 2018 42 leading companies and a number of industrial organisations launched the Plastic Pact in conjunction with WRAP and the New Plastics Foundation.

4 pledges are to be realised by 2025:

100% of packaging to be recyclable, reusable or compostable
70% of packaging effectively recycled or composted
Eliminate problematic or unnecessary single use packaging
30% recycled content across all packaging

Amongst the signatories were the major supermarkets (with the exception of Co-op and Iceland) and some other big name brands including Pret and Unilever.

A cynic might wonder how much of this is down to China’s ban on all imports of plastic and other waste. The result is that a UK market for recycled material needs to be created (30% recycled content across all packaging) to stop waste management costs escalating and recycling levels stalling or falling. It also requires means waste streams to be easy to recycle so it is worthwhile investing in the recycling infrastructure and technology (eliminate problematic packaging).

Having already looked at the supermarket packaging a few weeks ago I wondered how much of this was new, or was already in their plans?

The first pledge regarding the recyclability or otherwise of the packaging is, for the majority of supermarkets at least, nothing new. Most of the supermarkets, with the exception of Sainsbury’s, Morrisons and Asda had already pledged they were going to do just that. (Can one assume that the details of the Plastic Pact were already signed and ready for delivery earlier this year?)

As for the recycled content, this is generally an increase. Aldi and Lidl had already pledged to go further, with 50% made from recycled plastic by 2025, Waitrose were looking at the feasibility of increasing the recycled content, but there wasn’t much from the other supermarkets.

The goal to eliminate problematic or unnecessary single use plastic I think this, if it is monitored and the definition of unnecessary or problematic is not too loose, could be a positive outcome. There had been some plans to remove hard to recycle items such as black plastic trays (which of course will have to go if they are to meet the 100% recyclable, compostable commitment), or to trial some plant based cartons for tomatoes, but, with the exception of Iceland, there had been no plans to eliminate any packaging, just reduce it – this usually comes by reducing weight and making the plastics thinner. If interpreted in the spirit of the commitment, this could really push a change in the supermarkets’ attitudes. But, I don’t think it will mean glass milk bottles back on the shelves or cardboard punnets and paper bags in the fruit and veg aisles.

They haven’t yet said how they are going to do this, and I can’t find details of who will be monitoring it all (hopefully the New Plastics Foundation), but it does hopefully mean that some of the suppliers to the supermarkets will also be working to eliminate some plastics. Of course, this is just a first step and I would personally like to see the use of plastics stopped wherever possible as soon as possible. Whilst I don’t expect to be able to go to Waitrose and buy much other than onions and carrots free from added packaging in the near future, I shall be watching with interest to see whether the promises made last month are kept and whether there is any significant reduction in the almost 1 million tonnes of plastic packaging coming out of the supermarkets each year.

Every Breath You Take – Is Probably Killing You

The World Health Organisation recently released figures showing that worldwide there are 7 million deaths each year due to indoor and outdoor pollution (almost split 50/50). The same report states that ‘9 out of 10 people breathe air containing high levels of pollutants’ with women, children and those working outdoors being the worst affected.

The main cause of outdoor air pollution in urban areas is the burning of fossil fuels, whereas in rural areas it is the use of fertilisers and other agrochemicals. The increase in air pollution also puts a burden on the health services; with air pollution linked to stroke, cancer, heart disease, breathing difficulties and possible brain diseases such as Alzheimers.

The main urban air pollutants of concern are NO_x and PM_2.5 (PM standing for particulate matter). Not too many years ago, diesel cars used to throw out black soot from the exhaust. Now, the particles are too small to see, which means they can get past the body’s barriers and make it further down into the lungs. The fact that the particles are often covered in chemicals and might have metals adsorbed onto them can also promote an immune response, and lead to heart attacks and strokes. The small size of the particles also allows them to cross the barrier into the brain, suggesting a possible link with degenerative brain diseases such as Alzheimers.

Within most towns and cities there will be some level of pollution monitoring, whether it is published or not is a different matter. Although, in the UK the main focus is London, as the headlines show, nearly all of us are breathing health threatening levels of major pollutants. In Northampton, the Green Party recently measured the air pollution across the town and found levels of NOx above legal limits right outside the General Hospital. In 2016 the Royal College of Physicians released a report stating that there are 40,000 excess deaths each year in the UK due to air pollution. In addition it causes 6 million sick days a year and has a social cost of £22.6 billion.

You would think that with the overwhelming evidence collected concerning the health impacts of air pollution the governments around the world would be making a big effort to cut pollution. Not so, particularly not in the EU. Whilst there have been some noticeable changes; e.g. congestion charges in London, in the main there has been little movement. Indeed, in the UK, the government has spent £500,000 of tax payers money defending its inaction to provide plans to bring levels of pollution down to those specified by the EU – levels that should have been reached by 2010. The government’s latest move has been to leave the issue up to local councils to resolve in their area. Nor do I see the NHS as a whole making big changes. There are some electric vehicles, lots of travel plans, some car share schemes and quite a few members of staff who cycle or walk to work. But within most Trusts the majority of the conversation is about how to find more parking spaces for staff and visitors, not about how to reduce pollution or find innovative solutions to reduce car usage.

There is perhaps some hope on the horizon (although you will need a powerful telescope to see it) with surveys showing that younger people are less likely to want to buy a car, more people are working from home and the increase in the use of electric cars (up by 11% in the UK last year). Statistics also show a slight reduction in the miles travelled, although the number of cars registered keeps on rising – I have a suspicion that a lot more shorter journeys are being undertaken. But with powerful lobbying from fossil fuel companies and car manufacturers, weak promises from governments to ban the sale of fossil fuel cars some time after they are likely to have stopped being made, and very little commitment to invest in public transport (particularly buses, use of which outside London has declined by more than a third in the last 30 years) I am not convinced that much will change any time soon in the UK.

Disclosure: yes I do have a car, I do drive to work and I hate it (my request to work from home 1 day per week was refused).