{"id":564,"date":"2017-12-11T15:53:33","date_gmt":"2017-12-11T15:53:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.plastikcity.co.uk\/blog\/?p=564"},"modified":"2026-03-04T10:30:49","modified_gmt":"2026-03-04T10:30:49","slug":"is-plastic-the-recycling-pantomime-villain","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.plastikcity.co.uk\/blog\/is-plastic-the-recycling-pantomime-villain\/","title":{"rendered":"Is Plastic the Recycling Pantomime Villain?"},"content":{"rendered":"

Pressure Grows on Plastics and the Environment<\/strong><\/p>\n

In 2017 the media has gradually increased the pressure on the plastics industry by highlighting the effect of waste plastic in our global environment.\u00a0 This focus shows no sign of going away, with the UN oceans chief stating that\u00a0Ocean plastic is a \u2018planetary crisis\u2019<\/a>.\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Ironically, in many cases plastics are primarily used because they reduce weight and thus save energy and our natural resources.\u00a0 Plastic packaging also significantly reduces food waste by keeping it fresh and is used when transporting food around the globe.<\/p>\n

The world\u2019s first fully synthetic plastic dates back to 1907 when the material\u00a0bakelite\u00a0<\/em>was\u00a0invented in New York by\u00a0Leo Baekeland<\/a><\/strong>.\u00a0 He also\u00a0coined the term \u2018plastics\u2019.\u00a0 Since then plastic has become one of the most versatile and used materials on the planet.<\/sup><\/p>\n

So why have we fallen out of love with plastic?<\/p>\n

In July,\u00a0we reported that academics were\u00a0predicting that there would be 12 million metric tonnes of plastic being in landfill or the natural environment by 2050<\/a><\/strong>.\u00a0 The recent David Attenborough nature series\u00a0Blue Planet II shown on BBC1<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0has shown how waste plastic is found in our oceans, even reaching the depths of the Mariana Trench.<\/p>\n

However, as highlighted by the\u00a0British Plastics Federation<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0at the\u00a0UK\u2019s waste and recycling show RWM<\/a><\/strong>\u00a0(held in Birmingham, UK September 2017), the \u2018plastic waste\u2019 problem is complicated.<\/p>\n

The fundamental global problem is that 2 million people do not have access to solid waste collection (United Nations).\u00a0 The properties of plastic that make it so useful in our everyday lives also makes it difficult to breakdown and easy to get blown and transported away from the rubbish dump and into the local environment.\u00a0 Gradually, this plastic waste will migrate down to the sea.<\/p>\n

The larger problem is the origin of plastic waste.\u00a0 In the developed world of the USA and Europe, investment in research and technology means that those countries only contribute approximately 2% of the plastic found in oceans.\u00a0 82% is estimated to originate in Asia (The British Plastics Federation<\/strong><\/a>).<\/p>\n

The problem is not just a \u2018plastic waste\u2019 issue but a \u2018waste\u2019 issue in general.\u00a0 Plastic is not the only product being thrown away and ending up in our oceans.\u00a0 Industrial waste is a huge problem, but is presently not the focus of attention.\u00a0 In many developing countries dealing with waste is simply not their most important problem to address.\u00a0 Malnutrition, housing, transport, jobs are all higher on the list of priorities.<\/p>\n

Plastic has become waste\u2019s \u2018pantomime villain\u2019.<\/p>\n

This global problem needs a global solution.\u00a0 There is no doubt that the designers of plastic products have a huge responsibility and need to consider the consequences of ideas such as introducing\u00a0plastic microbeads into cosmetic products<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n

In the UK, we presently recycle 29% of our plastic and our target for 2020 is 57%.\u00a0 The figure is so low due to the complexity of the process and economics.\u00a0\u00a0Magnetic Separators<\/strong><\/a>,\u00a0Eddy Current Separators<\/a>\u00a0<\/strong>and\u00a0Metal Detectors<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0remove metal and there is other technology to sort by colour and plastic type.\u00a0 However, producing a useful plastic from waste that can be introduced as a raw material into primary plastic production (such as happens with aluminium and steel) is presently exceptionally difficult.\u00a0 Until that happens, plastic waste will continue to pose a problem.<\/p>\n

For further information on separating metal from plastics during the\u00a0production of the virgin product<\/strong><\/a>\u00a0or during the\u00a0recycling process<\/strong><\/a>,\u00a0please contact the Bunting team\u00a0on:<\/p>\n

–\u00a0\u00a0sales@buntingeurope.com
\n<\/a>\u00a0 –\u00a0 call us on +44 1442 875081
\n–\u00a0\u00a0Send an enquiry via our website<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Bunting<\/p>\n

Bunting Magnetics<\/em>
\n+44 (0) 1442 875081<\/em>
\nWebsite<\/em><\/a>
\nEmail<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Pressure Grows on Plastics and the Environment In 2017 the media has gradually increased the pressure on the plastics industry by highlighting the effect of waste plastic in our global environment.\u00a0 This focus shows no sign of going away, with the UN oceans chief stating that\u00a0Ocean plastic is a \u2018planetary crisis\u2019.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":101012,"featured_media":3047,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[244,233,245,236,12],"class_list":["post-564","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-plastikcity-blogs","tag-blue-planet","tag-bunting-magnetics","tag-marine-waste","tag-plastic-recycling","tag-plastics","post-preview"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.plastikcity.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/564","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.plastikcity.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.plastikcity.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.plastikcity.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/101012"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.plastikcity.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=564"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.plastikcity.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/564\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3036,"href":"https:\/\/www.plastikcity.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/564\/revisions\/3036"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.plastikcity.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3047"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.plastikcity.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=564"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.plastikcity.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=564"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.plastikcity.co.uk\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=564"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}