16 PW FEB2022
BY THE NUMBERS
40%
The average price increase at which U.S. and U.K. consumers say they will stop buying a food, beverage, or nutrition item, with the exception of milk (52.4%), bread (51.8%), coffee (48.3%), bottled water (46.7%), fresh vegetables (47.2%), and fresh fruit (45.3%), according to a survey from Ingredient Communications
25x
The number of times unfinished or uncoated cartonboard can be recycled with “no negative effect on the mechanical properties,” according to research from Graz University, in Graz, Austria
30
The number of fruit and vegetable types weighing less than 1.5 kg that can no longer be sold in plastic bags in France; the ban is part of a multi-year program to phase out plastics
90%
The percentage of public sustainable packaging commitments, focusing on 100% of packaging being reusable, recyclable, or compostable by 2025, that won’t be met, according to Gartner
QuotablesBTN_0222.indd 16
QUOTABLES
“Do we have a global plastic waste problem? Yes. I represent the plastics industry and I readily admit that fact. The emphasis, however, should be on ‘waste,’ not ‘plastic.’ What we really have is a recycling participation and recycling infrastructure problem. A recycling system is only as strong as its inputs and capacity to process those inputs. The plastics industry has invested and continues to invest billions of dollars into new recycling technologies and programs at home and abroad. Our industry is constantly innovating to increase the viability of recycling plastics and using recycled plastics in more and more products.” –Tony Radoszewski, President & CEO of the Plastics Industry Association (PLASTICS), in a press release from the association, “Plastics Industry Association CEO: Bring on the competition”
“We found multiple lines of evidence supporting the fact that the global microbiome’s plastic-degrading potential correlates strongly with measurements of environmental plastic pollution. The work is a significant demonstration of how the environment is responding to the pressures we are placing on it.” –Aleksej Zelezniak, a biologist at Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden and co-author of a study on new plastic-degrading enzymes, as quoted in an article from Smithsonian Magazine, titled “Plastic-Degrading Enzymes May Be Increasing in Response to Pollution”
“Congress can reduce food waste, support immediate relief for people experiencing food insecurity, and limit our emissions through legislation that clarifies our confusing food date labels. Congressional action is imperative as our country struggles with high rates of food insecurity and faces devastation dictated by climate change. We trust Congress to lead on these issues today and help deter them tomorrow.” –Emily Broad Leib, Clinical Professor of Law and Faculty Director of the Food Law and Policy Clinic at Harvard Law School, in a release from FLPC, “Harvard Law School Food Law and Policy Clinic Calls on Congress to Standardize Food Date Labels”
“Advanced recycling is critical to realizing sustainability and recycling goals, including the EPA’s goal of recycling 50% of post-use materials by 2030 and America’s plastic makers’ goal of reusing, recycling, or recovering all U.S. plastic packaging by 2040. EPA’s National Recycling Strategy, released last month, recognizes the potential of advanced recycling technologies to transform plastic recycling rates in the U.S. Regulating these technologies as solid waste incineration would be a step backwards.” –Joshua Baca, Vice President of Plastics for the American Chemistry Council, in a press release from the organization, “EPA Should Encourage, Not Discourage, the Acceleration of Advanced Recycling”
1/26/22 2:30 PM
