Single-use plastics are everywhere, with most of us regularly relying on the convenience of products such as plastic bags, straws, utensils, takeaway coffee cups, food packaging and water bottles. Clarissa Morawski But it’s also becoming clear we have made, used and disposed of too many. According to one recent academic analysis, only 9 percent of […]
Dispatches from Europe
In Our Opinion: Why Deposits Make Sense for Retailers
Note: This article was originally featured on Resource Recycling’s website and published on September 11, 2018. To view the original article, click here. There’s no denying it; the world is experiencing a plastic waste crisis and it’s growing – but so is public awareness and action. Clarissa Morawski In June 2018, as part of its […]
In My Opinion: A Business Case for Deposit Return
In an effort to reduce litter and increase recycling, more and more jurisdictions are turning to deposit return systems for the recovery of beverage containers. These systems require consumers to pay a small deposit at the point of purchase, and they get the deposit back when they return the empty container for recycling. Despite the […]
It’s Time for Recycled-Content Mandates
In the latest issue of Resource Recycling, Clarissa Morawski, Managing Director of Reloop Platform, discusses how implementation of recycled-content mandates for plastic packaging could increase the demand for recycled plastics, which would be an essential part of a move towards a circular economy. Read the article here: https://resource-recycling.com/recycling/2017/11/28/opinion-time-recycled-content-mandates/
Opportunities Amid the Uncertainty
It’s no secret that China is a leader in international world trade. For years, the country has been a major importer of many types of foreign goods, including timber, dairy products, and petrochemicals. China is also the world’s largest importer of waste. Last year, Chinese manufacturers and recyclers imported 7.3 million metric tons of waste […]
Dispatches from Europe: Are we ready for reusable packaging?
20 June 2017 – Single-use packaging is easy to spot. A short walk along a beach, anywhere in the world, will reveal the consequences of our throwaway culture as each tide brings in a fresh layer of debris, most of it single-use plastics. In some countries, the growing pressure to do something about single-use packaging has […]
Dispatches from Europe: The uncertain future of waste-to-energy
21 February 2017 – Anyone engaged in waste-reduction policy has surely witnessed the intense debate that has been raging for decades around the notion of burning municipal solid waste to create power. Active lobby groups around the world regularly campaign for additional incineration capacity, citing the importance of reducing waste to landfill and finding ways […]
Dispatches from Europe: Why Deposit Return is EPR
6 December 2016 – More than two decades ago, Thomas Lindhqvist, a Swedish professor of Environmental Economics, coined the term extended producer responsibility, or EPR. At the time, Lindhqvist defined EPR as an environmental strategy that makes producers responsible for the entire life cycle of their products, especially takeback, recycling and final disposal. There are some […]
Dispatches from Europe: Getting tough on food waste
19 September 2016 – Food waste has become an increasingly hot topic in recent months and for good reason. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), about one-third of all food produced in the world for human consumption – approximately 1.3 billion metric tons – ends up as waste each year. In […]
Dispatches from Europe: Is Brexit bad news for an evolving industry?
27 July 2016 – Last month’s decision by U.K. voters to withdraw from the European Union has generated a lot of questions over the potential impact on jobs, the economy and trade within the U.K. But for those in the U.K. waste management sector, the greatest concern is the potential impact of Brexit on both national and […]
