People are recycling too much garbage, and it's threatening the industry

Re:People are recycling too much garbage, and it's threateni... by majewsky on Thursday June 21, 2018 @05:17AM (#17363385)

The EU is actually pushing some of this. In Germany, stores used to offer plastic bags at checkout. But in the last year or so, nearly all of them switched to paper bags (with loud greenwashed advertising accompanying it) after the EU threatened to outlaw plastic bags entirely.

The EU is now also looking into outlawing some single-use plastic items like straws that contribute a lot to plastic waste. News media fabricated a public outroar over this, making it sound like the EU wants to outlaw childrens' birthday parties, when in actuality the EU focused on plastic items where there exist viable replacements made from decomposable plant-based materials.

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Re:People are recycling too much garbage, and it's threateni... by oldcynic on Thursday June 21, 2018 @08:52AM (#17364601)

UK ban of free plastic bags has been a resounding success if you go on the lack of bags littering streets and countryside. Surprisingly perhaps the UK media seems in favour of the straws and stirrers changes (possibly excluding the Daily Mail). Industry has lobbied against both.

It seems equally clear that in the absence of bans and heavy regulation no effort will be made to reduce use so I'd be in favour of everything that pushes back against the growth of single use plastics.

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