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Our Ocean Conference: ‘Recyclable’ is dangerous dream: Activists

“When your bathtub is overflowing, you don’t run for a mop before you turn off the faucet

Gemma Holliani Cahya (The Jakarta Post)
Tue, October 30, 2018

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Our Ocean Conference: ‘Recyclable’ is dangerous dream: Activists

“When your bathtub is overflowing, you don’t run for a mop before you turn off the faucet. Recycling is the mop. We need to turn off the faucet,” Canadian actor and ocean advocate, Joshua Jackson, said in front of the delegations and media on the first day of the 2018 Our Ocean Conference in Nusa Dua, Bali, on Monday.

“We’ve heard the commitments made by companies to increase recycling. But I am sorry to say, recycling alone is just not enough to solve the plastics crisis. We need to start with the first ‘R’ — Reduce. We need companies to reduce plastics by eliminating unnecessary plastic and finding alternatives for delivering products,” said the actor, who is well-known for his role in American TV series Dawson’s Creek.

Activists and civil society organizations have used the conference to send the message to the government, companies and public that “recycling alone is never enough to combat marine pollution”.

Under a business as usual approach in addressing plastic waste, scientists have estimated that the global quantity of plastic in the ocean will nearly double to 250 million tons by 2025.

The 250 organizations taking part in the conference include many of the world’s largest packaging producers, brands, retailers and recyclers, as well as governments and NGOs that have signed a global commitment to eradicate plastic waste and pollution at the source.

The commitment is led by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, in collaboration with the United Nations Environment Programme.

Their pledge includes eliminating problematic or unnecessary plastic packaging and moving from single-use to reusable packaging models, as well as ensuring that 100 percent of plastic packaging can be easily and safely reused, recycled or composted by 2025.

The pledge also includes circulating plastic by significantly increasing the amounts of plastics reused or recycled and made into new packaging or products.

However, many activists are not satisfied with the commitment, which does not have a specific timeline and does not focus on reducing the amount of single-use plastic at the source — in the factory — before it reaches consumers.

“If they don’t really commit on the reduction specifically then we don’t expect that there will be any reduction. Without clear targets they will not be under pressure to achieve them. The year 2025 is 15 years from now. Do we have to wait for 15 years to find out that this commitment really works?” said Jacqueline Savitz, the chief policy officer of Oceana, a conservation and advocacy organization.

She expressed hope that the companies that signed the declaration would commit to meaningful, time-bound and specific reductions in the amount of plastic put on the market, and to find alternative ways to package and deliver products.

“A circular economy is a nice utopian idea, but this crisis is unfolding today, and we need to see meaningful commitments made to end the plastics crisis that these companies have created.”

Savitz added that offering the idea of recyclable plastic products is dangerous because it will give people a false sense of security, in that the plastic waste problem will be solved if they buy a recyclable bottle.

“People believe in this recycling dream and this is dangerous [...]. But the truth is, recyclable plastic bottles pile up on the beach,” she said.

Greenpeace Indonesia global plastics project leader Ahmad Ashov agreed that the recycling idea has mislead many.

He said the plastic waste that can be seen floating in the ocean is only the tip of the iceberg as more than two thirds of plastic in the ocean ends up at the bottom of the sea.

A recent Greenpeace report found that only 2 percent of 141 million tons of global plastic waste in 2015 was effectively recycled. The study also found that the recycling rate in developed countries with more advanced waste management systems rarely reached 50 percent.

“Microplastics have also been detected in our food, like fish and salt. We are really in a crisis and we can’t solve it with a business as usual approach. We can’t recycle our way out of this plastic pollution crisis. Recycling alone won’t solve this problem,” Ashov said.


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