How these companies tried to greenwash their plastic waste
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- Опубліковано 1 сер 2024
- Europe’s food and drinks companies make big promises to cut plastic waste. But they don't deliver. We checked. A story about ambitious commitments, hidden failures and how to hold firms accountable.
Credits:
Reporter: Kira Schacht
Video Editor: Frederik Willmann
Graphics: Therese Giemza, Christin Grothe & Jorana Paetz
Supervising Editor: Malte Rohwer-Kahlmann, Joanna Gottschalk & Kiyo Dörrer
We're destroying our environment at an alarming rate. But it doesn't need to be this way. Our new channel Planet A explores the shift towards an eco-friendly world - and challenges our ideas about what dealing with climate change means. We look at the big and the small: What we can do and how the system needs to change. Every Friday we'll take a truly global look at how to get us out of this mess.
#PlanetA #Plastic #GreenWashing
Read More:
Data and Methodology Behind This Analysis:
github.com/dw-data/plastics-p...
European Data Journalism Network:
www.europeandatajournalism.eu/
Online Database of Promises: docs.google.com/spreadsheets/...
Break Free From Plastic: Brand Audit 2021: www.breakfreefromplastic.org/...
Changing Markets Foundation, Reports on Plastic Waste: changingmarkets.org/portfolio...
Ellen MacArthur Foundation Global Commitment:
ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/...
UN Report on Single-use Plastic Regulations Around the World: www.unep.org/resources/report...
OECD: Plastic Production Policy Outlook Until 2060:
www.oecd-ilibrary.org/sites/a...
Chapters:
00:00 Introduction
01:16 Our Research Process
01:48 Danone's Promises
03:06 What We Found
03:31 Marketing Over Impact
05:08 Companies Pick Easy Battles
06:58 What is Changing: More Transparency
07:59 What Needs to Change: Legislation
09:21 Conclusion
What should your country do to hold plastic polluters accountable?
Prohibe, tax and concientize.
Educate the citizens that local food and beverage producers with multi use packaging are the better choice!
Jail and strip the assets of key executives that are responsible for generating non recyclable waste streams.
Packaging needs to go entirely. The entire food delivery system needs an overhaul back to the 70s or 80s (depending on which country you live in, maybe even the pre WW2 times).
Mandate transport and sale of beverages in tanker trucks with a set of cleanliness and safety guidelines and a network of food safety checkpoints and inspectors. We currently use these methods for drinking water and milk delivery with no health hazards. So why not other beverages?
Mandate measurement utensils to be purchased by the public and to be kept at shops by shopkeepers, supermarkets, etc. For example metal containers for liquids with 100ml, 250ml, 500ml ,1l, 5l markers, etc.
Mandate measurement utensils to be purchased by the public for solids, in weight like 100g, 200g, 500g 1kg, 5kg etc.
Mandate all glass and metal containers to always have measurement units, except maybe artistic cutlery / containers.
If all these containers are standardised, they should be exchangeable. Now you can just leave an empty container at the shop and take a filled container back home. You only pay for the food or beverage, not the container.
You could mechanise the process of filling up containers locally with the latest checkout robots or employ people to fill up containers.
Everyone needs to be responsible and carry a set of containers on their way to shopping. 3am impulse shopping should go. If you really need something at 3am, order a delivery and get the store delivery guy do all the hard work and you just sit at home and pay. Just don't travel at all.
Wild as this concept is, it was the norm till plastic came into being. We managed to live all but the last 70 years of human existence with this system, no reason we cannot switch back to it. Especially given the advances in automation, networking, apps, smartphones and delivery services. All of which were absent pre-plastic and all of which can help solve the problem. In the extreme case you could just shop online and have the whole thing delivered to you, zero plastic, from your groceries provider.
Tax tax tax! Also grocery stores could be subsidized for giving a BONUS to customers who bring their own reusable bags.
I thought that this would be important information to share. 35% of all ocean microplastics come from clothing/textiles, mostly polyester, but also acrylic and nylon as well. This is largely due to clothes made of these materials being washed, which causes these clothes to quickly erode, with the microplastic fibers entering the water system and eventually the sea. Ocean Hero is a great search engine that we can use to help clean up larger plastics before they disintegrate into microplastics.
People choose to ignore this major issue. Plastic clothing should be banned.
@@-opus agreed
@@-opus I didn't realize until just recently that plastic clothing + dryers is the recipe for disposable clothing. It's a scam, like the clothing described in Brave New World.
@@-opus Ok tell us an cheap and reliable alternative to plastic Fibre. Recognizing the problem and pointing fingers is only part of the work.
@@LinusIslamTips Cotton.
The focus on straws is also greenwashing. There is so much more to plastic than just straws and plastic cutlery etc.
I thought that this would be important information to share. 35% of all ocean microplastics come from clothing/textiles, mostly polyester, but also acrylic and nylon as well. This is largely due to clothes made of these materials being washed, which causes these clothes to quickly erode, with the microplastic fibers entering the water system and eventually the sea. Ocean Hero is a great search engine that we can use to help clean up larger plastics before they disintegrate into microplastics.
@@Servitor-lx1bu stop spamming.
I always have mixed feelings about straws. On the one hand, I agree 100% that there’s bigger fish to fry.
On the other hand: the plastic bag ban in CA led to me reassessing my trash can, taking on more zero waste habits, seeing that there’s no way to do this without government action, and eventually becoming way more politically involved than I ever thought I would be.
So I recognize that it has power as a “gateway action” since I feel that’s what it did for me. I just try to ensure that people know that we’re not done after getting rid of plastic straws.
@@SaveMoneySavethePlanet first plastic straws, then stop frying fish...
🌳🌳The Connections (2021) [short documentary] 🌳🌳
I remember studying the environmental impact of Walmart in North America of the late 2000s. The same is true here; those companies "doing good" for the environment are those which are causing the greatest harm. These companies need to be liable for their products beyond the sale.
🌳🌳The Connections (2021) [short documentary] 🌳🌳
You list a lot of demands, but you refuse the responsibility. Instead, you blame companies as if we are not part of companies.
@@VeganSemihCyprus33 the Soviet Union is the only country that doesn't use plastic. and they disbanded.
@@jonathanthink5830 Oh, excuse me, I guess I'll just spend an astronomical amount of time making my own stuff and researching so I never use anything with forever chemicals in them again. Not like I have a job or anything. Corporatist.
@@badmexican333 Anyone who could express their opinion online are guilty as charged for participating in the destruction of our environment ..... :-)
A prime example of the kind of journalism the world needs right now: holding large corporations with big advertising budgets to account for not delivering on their false promises.
Agree ! Name and shame companies who say they are green and don't. Make a ranking and publish it as many times as the companies who lie about it.
@@MrRofl131 yep
We need to focus on reusable and not recyclable.
Why should bottles be made of this thin one way plastic instead of sturdy plastic/glass/metal that can be refilled instead.
One way packaging should be banned where not necessary ex. groceries, clothing, cosmetics etc.
The only way we can accomplish something is if we do the 5 Rs in the correct order : Reduce, Reuse, Repair, Rot, Recycle
So in that order we should first ban one way packaging, create products that reuse stuff that can't be recycled, stop buying the newest shiniest tech and repair if broken, use compostable materials instead of plastic, and recycle as a last resource.
I agree. I thought that this would be important information to share. 35% of all ocean microplastics come from clothing/textiles, mostly polyester, but also acrylic and nylon as well. This is largely due to clothes made of these materials being washed, which causes these clothes to quickly erode, with the microplastic fibers entering the water system and eventually the sea. Ocean Hero is a great search engine that we can use to help clean up larger plastics before they disintegrate into microplastics.
Only problem is America has been the throw-away capitol of the world for a long time now. Corporations like their greedy profits & consumers will not sacrifice their convenience. Just look at the fact that we all botched about higher gas prices and many people want to blame the democrats rather then seizing on the fact we don't need cheaper gas bc people will never stop using gas cars until it finally hurts too much to stop.
Reminds me of a soda bottle from 1996 in one of my former schools. Its plastic is much sturdier than the current PET.
Multi-national corporations are not concerned about plastic pollution from their packaging (or its manufacturing) because by current accounting standards, dealing with pollution caused by manufacturing or packaging waste is an "externalized" cost that is paid, not by corporations, but by the end consumer population that purchases their products. If you seek a reduction in these pollutants, change the laws and force the corporations to "internalize" those costs; i.e., hold them responsible for cleanup. I predict you will realize pollution reduction on a massive scale if you can enact this real change.
I agree with you, r mutter. I thought that this would be important information to share with you. 35% of all ocean microplastics come from clothing/textiles, mostly polyester, but also acrylic and nylon as well. This is largely due to clothes made of these materials being washed, which causes these clothes to quickly erode, with the microplastic fibers entering the water system and eventually the sea. Ocean Hero is a great search engine that we can use to help clean up larger plastics before they disintegrate into microplastics.
I bet if they managed to pass laws that mandated corporations to absorb or internalize the cost of waste handling, they'd find a way to get rid of packaging tomorrow!
🌳🌳The Connections (2021) [short documentary] 🌳🌳
The bigger problem is that these external costs are paid, not by the consumers, but by other people: mostly future people. So even today's people are not incentivized to do something about it, so even regulation is hard to do.
@@Servitor-lx1bu the Soviet Union is the only country that doesn't use plastic. and they disbanded.
Here in South Africa Coca Cola has introduced reusable plastic and glass bottles at local supermarkets. The price of the coke in a reusable bottle is much cheaper than the one in the single use plastic bottles. However, in grocery stores and fast food stores, they only sell in single use plastic bottles.
Has introduced? I remember 20 years ago as a kid if we needed extra pocket money we'd go find glass bottles and hand them in at the 7/11 for 50c.
@@neildutoit5177 the Soviet Union is the only country that doesn't use plastic. and they disbanded.
This is the way things used to be when viva cola was introduced. In Mexico it’s still very common to buy the returnable bottles (you pay a small fee the first time you go to a particular store and when you want to buy another one you just bring your old one). Some are made out of plastic and some out of glass.
Wow, all of them are UK or EU and Switzerland based companies. None of them is a Chinese company.
@@carkawalakhatulistiwa Do you really have to keep posting the same comment over and over?
I live in India, where single use plastics are banned - in theory. In reality these laws are enforced on the poorest unorganized sectors. All food packaging from supermarket brands continue to use plastic. It's the street hawker selling cut fruit that can't use cheap plastic forks. The woman who sells flowers on the pavement who suddenly couldn't sell loose flowers in a bag - they can't afford paper packaging. But they have to circumvent it or be driven out of work trying, while there has practically been no attempt made to restrict plastic production by large companies - most of them American or European. While it does make a difference, the burden is borne disproportionately by those who contribute to the problem far less
In Australia, I was delighted to find Heinz Aioli in glass jars (as well as plastic squeeze bottles) and found that I preferred both the flavour and texture of the product in this packaging.
Unfortunately, this product is now only available in the plastic squeeze bottles, so we buy a different mayonnaise which is available in glass jars.
I wish you enjoy the better taste, however the green-house-gas impact of a switch from mayo in plastic to mayo in glass is unfortunately positive
@@sergeypopov5261 the Soviet Union is the only country that doesn't use plastic. and they disbanded.
Glass is so much worse for the environment lol
@@carkawalakhatulistiwa Also, they had an efficient metal scrap, paper and cardboard collection and recycling system, also known as "The Pioneers" (a.k.a schoolchildren with red ties who walked around the city and collected said materials from people to bring them to the reception points, and upon recycling a certain amount, they would receive certain benefits, such as free book coupons in Soviet bookstores).
and glass is better how exacly? You basically get a glass jar with each purchase? Do you know how energy intensive glass production is?
Even in a cardboard cereal box they no longer use wax paper bags. It's plastic.
What happened to the corn starch biodegradable packaging?
Biodegradability is also a lie actually. It is biodegradable, but the amount of time it takes is not worth it (>100 yrs). I do agree they just need to cut on the plastic.
Plastic is cheaper. But I agree, breakfast cereals should not have a plastic bag, but a waxed paper bag like in the old days. Also toilet paper could be wrapped in paper or cardboard.
🌳🌳The Connections (2021) [short documentary] 🌳🌳
@@davidlguerr Toilet paper is not hard to find unbleached and wrapped in paper, there are multiple companies selling it here, both timber and bamboo in Australia, and since it is sourced from China, it must be accessible elsewhere as well. The stuff we use is good quality, 3 ply, 400 sheet rolls at a good price, no reason to buy tiny rolls wrapped in plastic from the supermarket.
Environmental issues like this will take to long to be solved by competitive companies. Regulation by government on packaging materials is the only way to go. Don't blame a company for not taking the initiative of using a more expensive eco-friendly packaging material, which most consumers won’t pay for when presented with a cheaper alternative. Tax or ban the use of harmful materials to create an incentive to work towards better options, or even better, just reduce or eliminate the VAT/GST tax on more eco-friendly packaged/delivery alternatives to increase competitiveness. There are better solutions to just blaming companies for selling us items that we are all guilty of consuming...
You think govts are going to be the fast moving entity here? Good luck with that 💩
That's the same as blaming the consumers for a price hike in a product, of course if the demand was lower there wouldn't be any raising of prices therefore it's the buyer's fault as just like the individual buyer, a company also wants to get the most bang for its buck. This kind of rhetoric shifts the blame from the powerful companies to the consumers, with great power comes great responsibilities, a single company has far more market leverage than a single consumer. We also have some responisbilty in this matter of course but it just doesn't make any sense having a businessman in a fancy suit telling a blue collar worker that the planet is in disrepair because he choses to buy bagged bread in a walmart instead of driving to a bakery.
@@eumim8020 when you try to buy bulk in non plastic packaging or reusable buckets to do the right thing cost per pound is more expensive. I’m thinking the powerful are doing the driving in this matter. We should have affordable sustainable options.
For me its a scandal, that it is even allowed to make packaging that is not fully recycable. I really don't get that :(
The trick is really that the infrastructure for recycling is a complex thing that also varies all around the globe. Something recyclable (to be collected, sorted and recycled) in one country, or even one municipality, is not always the same as in another. So much more could be done. Sometimes though, to make sure a product is protected (products usually holds a LOT more of the carbon emissions and water usage, etc., than the package it comes in), a multipack is needed not to add a crazy amount of monomaterial instead or use more than necessary. Reuse and Reduce is still deemed more important than Recycle.
These companies did not expect people to remember that they were promised lies
I like to shop in the local open-air market for groceries. No plastic packaging, I bring my own shopping bag. However, the market opens only twice a week.
We must choose alternative recyclable packaging material. We must abolish single use plastic.
Agreed. I thought that this would be important information to share. 35% of all ocean microplastics come from clothing/textiles, mostly polyester, but also acrylic and nylon as well. This is largely due to clothes made of these materials being washed, which causes these clothes to quickly erode, with the microplastic fibers entering the water system and eventually the sea. Ocean Hero is a great search engine that we can use to help clean up larger plastics before they disintegrate into microplastics.
Yes, there needs to be more zero waste shops and products around the world.I'm excited about care products that are on the rise regarding this movement since i've been using some for a while.If it's not plastic free, ethic, vegan, fairtrade etc then it should not be produced in the first place.
Excellent. I love this series. Getting this info out in an digestible and engaging way is a real public service. Thank you very much.
These companies have the money to change all packaging to plastic-free but are just too greedy.
When I was young beer, milk, soda, vodka, wine was sold in glass bottles which you could sell back and it would be washed and cleaned to be used again. Now we are drowning in plastic instead because we and the manufacturers are too lazy to create efficient logistics.
I really appreciate this channel, the more I watch, the less faith I have in humanity’s future, then the more carefree I become. Good for my mental health while my physical health being poisoned by those ‘loving caring corporations’.
Read What We Owe The Future by William MacAskill! It'll restore your faith haha
What really pisses me off is that you could easily reduce packaging by 50% tomorrow by omitting useless parts that only make the product look good or "bigger". You buy air and plastics and a tiny big of product in there. I have been avoiding those products for decades now but what use can it be if NOBODY else cares? I mean it is the SUBSTANTIAL of all products and sometimes it is not easy to just live without them.
I mean just think of a shirt wrapped in plastic. And whole thing is shipped in anther plastic bag. Why?? Imagine it becoming... wet when you throw the package into river. I mean you gotta be prepared for that!
Thank you for providing excellent reports like this.
There is a company called Lam'on which is creating packing foil made out of corn. It's 100% biodegradable and it doesn't have any plastic. Unfortunately it's not on the market yet but it has big potential.
You need only visit south or central American country to see the plastic rubbish lining the roads, empty lot or beaches to see this incredible catastrophic.
We have the same problem in eastern Europe
I'm from the UK where supermarkets do not give plastic bags freely (you must buy them). I am currently in Kuwait where lots and lots of plastic carrier bags are given free by the supermarkets - and they really don't like me bringing back my plastic bags to reuse.
Thank you very much for your informative series and for having both the courage and the resources to do the research and hold these giant corporations to account. They have been allowed to get away with littering the world for far too long.
Once again, thank you for such a well researched video!
Thanks for this informativ piece.
We need to restrict the variaety of plastics in use drasticly, then maybe the recycling efforts may have an effect. I also wouldn't mind certain bans of plastics which carry a higher health risk than others. Companies are looking at their bottomline, so we and our states have to look at them.
Recycling is a proven failure
@@cavegirl3712 The only thing proven is that it is not allways efficiently done and that regulations are missing if not prevented which would make them more viable.
F.e. plastics. In principle you could make out of all used plastics granulate that then would be reused in new protucts. Problem there are sheer endless different formulas for plastic and they are not only not compatible but would form even different molecules if put together. Therefor we would need regulations that would reduce the different available plastics for use and/or make it mandatory that their formular would be on the packages(if only by bar code or sth similar but more cryptic that protects the rights to the formular)
Here in germany, what works great are glass bottles where you pay a little for returnable bottles or use color coded glass containers for non-returnables. Both are recycling methods which are well establisehd and work just fine.
Then we have socalled Werkstoffhoffe, which are basicly collection sites for old ressources. They admittingly do not work perfectly for all goods, but it is getting better as companies find ways to extract the ressources.
So no, you are incorrect and i fullheartidly disagree with the generalized sentiment. There still is a ton to do and to improve, i give you that. Many things that currently end up in landfills could be handled better and i am confident a time will come where that will be done. Just one exampe of whats in the pipelines but still has a long way to go. In australia a company developed a high pressure method to reforge crude oil out of plastics(no matter the plastics, it breaks down all molecules), problem is the energy consumption. One could argue freely available sun could to the trick, which when looking at the rising oil prizes and sinking solar energy prizes might be correct, but i think we may still need to wait for something like fusion energy for this to be effeciently used though i might be wrong as i did not do the calculus on this.
@@kinngrimm how about what you said for plastics that are useful for example what is on my chainsaw after it bites the dust that would go to land fill but completely remove by laws all one time plastics in connection to food and drink industry. I’d like to continue to enjoy the benefits of plastic but as a consumer I’d simply rather not be forced down my throat just because I need to eat. In the food and drink industry it needs to be completely removed at the tap because we currently depend mostly on the industrial food system. Let’s give plastics industry something better to do roofing for underground houses maybe ? one look at all those coke and Pepsi and water bottles filling landfill oceans etc to much for me just screams this is wrong flat wrong.
In my country, Afghanistan, the government does nothing to reduce plastic wastes and everyday - I don't know how much but - a lot of plastics are used.
We have too much problems having plastic pollution added to it.
The beverages I like happen to be bottled in glassware (Bundaberg, Fentimans, Fever Tree), and I usually get cans for other beverages because they'll go stale before I'd finish a bottle. Now, can't say buying glass and cans was a deliberate choice for me, but I do wonder how glassware and cans stack up with PET and Tetra for recyclability and energy efficiency during production. Would it be better to make those packaging types the only legally allowable ones? We did fine that way before the 90s.
Big companies respond to consumer demand. Governments do a lot of things, but without public pressure to ensure changes, they will still keep doing the same practices that have brought us to this situation. If we, as consumers, want to tackle down the climate issue, maybe, we should first improve our habits of consumption, what means using less of these companies products, if it is possible.
Well companies still don't even do the obvious solutions - like most of the eggs in my country are sold in plastic holders, when the cardboard option has been there forever. I get annoyed but I buy them cause there's no alternative
Dont buy eggs, go vegan
A large proportion of plastic waste is shredded and used for fuel to fire cement kilns.... Ever lives near a cement plant ?. Local residents experience ash fallout over their houses and experience serious health problems. Some of the plastics burned for fuel where once exposed to very dangerous chemicals.
Which country you’re talking about?
@@dromeozaur Pick one. If there's a cement kiln, theres a very likely that the cement kiln uses plastic waste as one of its fuel sources. These plastics include bottles , chemical drums , buckets and bulk IBC's. Most cannot be recycled. They are shredded and sent to cement kilns. Sure it avoids landfill expansion but we and just pumping more toxins into our atmosphere. ua-cam.com/video/LgO8sIDDxks/v-deo.html
@@dromeozaur Plastic is as you know made of oil and thus have a very high energy content. Burning it in a controlled manner is not a bad way of getting rid of it. Sweden burn a lot of its household waste to generate heat.
In fact only 10% or less of the packaging plastic is ever recycled. The rest is either burned or goes to the landfill. Where I live there is only collection of some plastics. They won't accept a plastic flower pot or a plastic bucket. You have to throw those plastics to the regular household garbage.
As far as I'm aware there is a not insignificant health risk by recycled plastic bottles (and to a lesser extent new ones), due to plastic getting into the water, so glass bottles are definitively better, as they are also completely reusable
I thought that this would be important information to share. 35% of all ocean microplastics come from clothing/textiles, mostly polyester, but also acrylic and nylon as well. This is largely due to clothes made of these materials being washed, which causes these clothes to quickly erode, with the microplastic fibers entering the water system and eventually the sea. Ocean Hero is a great search engine that we can use to help clean up larger plastics before they disintegrate into microplastics.
Glass is fragile though.
@@anxiousearth680 Yes, but if you are carefull they can last a while, unlike single-use plastics. I've had my glass bottle for about six years now. But of course some will break, but I think that is still better than a plastic bottle ending up in nature
🌳🌳The Connections (2021) [short documentary] 🌳🌳
I am reusing glass bottles for preserving and canning. There is a company that uses bottles, once thoroughly cleaned, can fit the standard small mouth lids. It's a pasta sauce brand.
Plastic constitutes almost all of my waste in the trash, especially food packaging. My freezer is full of this, none of it can be recycled due to what the industry calls "food contamination".
why do companies let their marketing departments deal with this topic? Their goal is to embelish everything. Governments should facilitate as much as they can and if they don't, be held accountable too
Thank u for this overview!❤
Really useful information. Sadly my country Guatemela has the most polluted river in the world (Motagua River) and the govenment doesn't do much about it.
"We need to close the tap" what a true line but sadly nobody is interested to do it...
Why don't they make(invent) plastic alternatives which are truly environmental friendly...
I thought that this would be important information to share with everyone here. 35% of all ocean microplastics come from clothing/textiles, mostly polyester, but also acrylic and nylon as well. This is largely due to clothes made of these materials being washed, which causes these clothes to quickly erode, with the microplastic fibers entering the water system and eventually the sea. Ocean Hero is a great search engine that we can use to help clean up larger plastics before they disintegrate into microplastics.
I believe the science is working on it, but it's not an easy challenge. Moving entirely away from plastics potentially may mean compromising on our quality of life globally, as products have reduced shelf life or more greenhouse gases from heavy packaging like carton
Was there not a health risk of plastics highlighted a short while ago? Because that is another angle that can be used to reduce plastic. Sadly I do not see much progress in the uk but there does seem to be more awareness.
the whole plastic straw thing ended up with people harassing disabled people who had to use plastic straws due to drinking slowly from physical disabilities and those with tremors who hurt themselves on harder, reusable straws
Yeah, you can see this with professional abortions and politicians too.
Either everyone gets it or no one does. If anything should have abortions, it's those that were sexually assaulted or/and may die from birthing. But then they'll use that point to mean everyone deserves it, even if more than 90% had sex willingly and can't take their own responsibility.
Politicians are the ones that should use jet planes the most, but for some reason they're the ones that gets crapped on for doing it. Sure, they could lower their time spent flying, but it's not them that's the issue. "Lead by example" doesn't work in every little corner nor does "it's all or nothing". Because apparently everyone has to be able to do something or no one gets to.
Plastic straws is just the new thing where braindeads can't understand who should get it and who should not. I don't need plastic straws, I don't need straws at all. It's not all or nothing.
They could just use aluminum cans instead of Plastic they already do it and the cost is the same. So the fact they say "Its hard and will take time" is an absolute lie. They could stop Tomorrow, they just dont want to stop
When I was a kid (early 90'), water & other drinks were sold only in glass bottles. We should go back to this.
Nice investigation!
Please help me. Start writing to such companies demanding to make their packages refillable!! Remember milk and the milk man, you would leave your bottles on the porch and those were taken?? Why not take back your empty bottle to the store and take a refilled one? Only one person can't do much! It's not just the consumer responsibility but these corporations too
Hi Sue - yes to your last point. We have actually looked into this phenomenon in the following video "why big Oil loves to talk about your carbon footprint" ua-cam.com/video/vqZVCEnY-Us/v-deo.html 🌍
My grandparents house is in the Village of first Danone Aqua manufacture plant, it was mountain village, we have several fish pond, mostly use for daily food resource, and the water source is never a problem, you don't even need to dig, the water just came out from land, and when I grow up, things gradually change, more bottled water manufacture came, almost all major brands in Indonesia, and clean water just disappear, you need to make deep well to have it, and it's not even mention that we only have a nice asphalt road until the manufacture plant, exactly after that, it was just dirt road, it's a lot of pain that I just realized, and people in the village never questioning, because they don't know what's wrong, things change slowly, but it's end ups really massive.
Is there any research on the sustainability of switching all plastic bottles either to glass or aluminum cans? We can recycle those materials well. I know there is an issue with added weight in transport, but that seems surmountable as we switch to greener energy sources.
It depends whether there is an aluminium resmelter nearby. I live in New Zealand and we have no national aluminium resmelter, so ours goes to landfill unless the price is high enough to ship it in containers elsewhere. Glass we can recycle: mostly as basecourse on our roads...
Glass has 2 major disadvantages: weight and fragile. Also it is more expensive than plastic. So there is no incentive to switch from plastic to glass. I remember when all olive oil bottles were glass, but now more and more are plastic.
@@SamYoungnz If New Zealand does not have the capabilities, the Aluminum should be coming to Australia to be processed.
If u dare to carry a LCA life cycle analysis, highly likely plastic will be the best option compared to aluminium/glass (in terms of energy use and co2 emissions etc). However I do agree plastic recycling is more complicated than the others. People see plastic as 😈, but never admit they buy too much and enjoy the convenience!! Typical plastic packaging (food) contributes 5-10% of energy consumption/co2 emissions of the packed item. Whereas Content = +80% , 10% on distribution!!!
@@hkareno plastic is pollution
We need to change our perception about plastic. Nowadays plastics are always associated with the idea of clean and sanitized. We just need to acknowledge plastic is extreme dirty and should have avoid it at all cost.
There was a campaign to mail plastic packages back to their manufacturer. I'm not sure what the results were.
Believing companies in their promises to cut down on anything to the most naive thing to do ever. Like have you been paying attention at all?
Finally an update from this channel!!! 🎉
I thought that this would be important information to share. 35% of all ocean microplastics come from clothing/textiles, mostly polyester, but also acrylic and nylon as well. This is largely due to clothes made of these materials being washed, which causes these clothes to quickly erode, with the microplastic fibers entering the water system and eventually the sea. Ocean Hero is a great search engine that we can use to help clean up larger plastics before they disintegrate into microplastics.
Make your own yoghurt (with milk from a local farmer - so easy) and drinks (kombucha, tea, oat milk, lemonade, cola is pretty much water + nutmeg syrup). Saves so much money and plastic.
👏🏻👌
tell the algorithm to show this video to more and more sheeple
@DW Planet A, as much as i agree with companies requiring to be accountable bigger question is why are the companies failing to do so? Is it just that they do not want to get the recycled plastic or is recycled plastic not available in enough quantity?
As far as I know, all these companies are not plastic manufacturers but rather the end user for their packaging purposes. If they have been putting in the commitment to their shareholders, then how come still there are no big recycled plastic manufacturers?
I believe not just corporation it needs to be a collective effort with plastic manufacturers and legislators forcing the entire cycle of proper collection, segregation and recycling of materials that needs to contribute.
Would love to see that before 2025, how is the plastic manufacturing industry responding to this form of crisis.
1. Penalty of 10% of Gross Revenue for non compliance with 2025 mandatory targets; and
2. Criminal penalties (jail time) for the board of directors for the said non-compliance
No surprises here. The same big greedy companies remain to be greedy and big.
First the packaging should be designed to be easy to recycle. Now often labels are so difficult to remove that getting clean plastic is almost impossible or would take more energy then to make new plastic and burn the old one. The solution is to use metal or glass packaging which is much easier to recycle.
There is a saying called “kicking the can down the road”. But it’s a plastic bottle not a can.
I think we should switch back to glass bottles. They only problem is that glass is fragile. Aluminum cans are highly recyclable, but many aluminum cans have a plastic lining to protect product from the metallic taste.
Companies should adopt plastic free packaging like 20years back
I would love to see a video about FSC and their greenwashing techniques
Thanks for the suggestion!✨ We'll take a look into it for future videos.
@@DWPlanetA Great! Can't wait! There is barely any Content about that on UA-cam and I hope you will change that!
This is a really important video that needs to be spread
It used to be that many products came in glass containers and required a deposit. They really wanted their containers back as it was cheaper to clean and sanitize them and REUSE them. We should get back to that as much as possible. It is very wasteful to produce something for just one use, then destroy it just to try to get back the raw material. Recycling is wasteful compared to reuse.
These companies should pay % of their annual revenue to fund the river cleanups globally
As always DW great piece 👍. And I believe this decade will be a very important one, the climate change issue needs to addressed from all fronts not just energy, manufacturing, transportation, but consumer goods too.
Our consumer society has most all grocery stores devoting a complete isle to plastic bottled beverages. So the solution to the problem is very simple: People shouldn't buy this crap. Amnesia makes it difficult for most people to remember that there was a time not too long ago when the idea of bottled water not only didn't exist but the idea of it would have shocked people. Our consumer society is driving the thirst for all sorts of plastic packaged products. RRR = REDUCE, reuse, recycle: The REDUCE part often be replaced with the word ELIMINATE. Just don't buy it in the first place. Don't worry about your unemployed public relations neighbors in the soda pop industry, they can be re-training to become landscapers.
Don't forget toy manufacturers like mattel and lego
Who tosses this plastics into the sea? The consumers! Teach people to recycle!! Or just switch most plastics to #1 and #2 types. I find #5, foam, and the caps to be impossible to recycle.
Why not have "dispenser" machines in supermarkets for things such as body wash where you bring your own container and pay per weight/volume? This could be also extended to other products such as rice or pasta? In German Aldi+Lidl they don't have so many different brands anyways so it would be easily achievable. Cleaning of these machines may be an issue but I think with smart manufacturing for easy cleaning this could reduce overall necessity for packaging in the first place. (I know these stores already exist but they're specialised and only big supermarket chains could drive the change as when one adopts it, this may attract more customers and lead to a "new standard".)
You still have the alternative cost of such an approach. People cleaning their own containers before refilling them would both increase water and energy use as well as the energy needed for transportation to and from the store. Today I can walk to the store, buy groceries in its plastic packaging and walk back home. Would I be forced to bring my own metal/glass/sturdy plastic jars to the store I would just use my car instead since it would be the only resonable solution.
The thing is that I wouldn't trust it. You would be paying for Pantene shampoo, but maybe the supermarket would cheat by putting a lower quality brand in there. The future of body wash is bar soap.
@@SweBeach2023 There is still a massive amount of water and energy required to extract and refine the petroleum used to create plastic, though yes, this does move it down the chain. For certain items, I've swapped to cotton weave bags (for produce), ziploc bags (for some dry goods), and occasionally glass jars.
Before we'd consider it as the only choice, I think it would be fair to try and make it a choice for those who want to try it out - unfortunately for many who want to try that, they have to walk/bike/bus far to find a store who's willing to give them that option.
This makes sense for dry produce and there are places that do this in hipster parts of cities but the hygiene issues make it uneconomical for liquids and so that means a different supermarket trip so that inconvenience often kills it when tried in mainstream outlets.
There are zero waste stores which function similarly to what you describe.
As it was with straws I am sure everyone will be glad to report to have delivered the absolute minimum.
I don't use any of those brands. Why would I? Consumers have ways to avoid plastic - just do not buy!
Wow, all of them are UK or EU and Switzerland based companies. None of them is a Chinese company.
There should be a deposit on all packaging. 5 cents for chips/bags, 20 cents/plastic bottle. 5 cents for bottle cap.
Introduce significantly higher taxes for non recyclable plastic. That is the way to bring the cost to the bottomline and make investment in recyclable plastics more attractive.
Governments should use the income to build recycling capacity.
Nothing will change until legoslators act seriously on this topic and take ownership of the infrustructure related issues.
Water bottles and even cocacolas were made of glass until the early 90s and there was a thriving infrustructure that incentivised cuatomwrs to return glass bottles or recycle them. We were able to do it once, we could do it again. Some states still do it for beer bottles
cigarrete butts are certainly the top offenders in microplastics, its all plastic fibers, travels easily in waterways and most people dont even think about them.
HDPE is easier to recycle the PET. It doesn’t absorb water. PET on the other hand needs to be dried. Just look at the prices at the scrap yard. PE is actually worth something. That’s why people collect HDPE caps for charity.
Great research / journalism! Would legislation requiring all company pledges to be included in annual reports in this way be a start? Consumers, investors, and journalists shouldn't have to dig for this information; companies should be required to publicly report the claims they are making and supply evidence for the claims for the claim period. 5 year claim? 5 years of evidence reporting your progress in your annual reports.
Similarly I would expect annual reports to include environmental impact research (not just direct impact but indirect... e.g. how much of your produced material is NOT recycled) for large corporations.
Please make a video about the company ALPLA in Austria. They are one of the world’s biggest plastic packaging producers. Have companies around the globe. They work with massive brands and greenwash their own products by saying that there items are possible to recycle and move the full responsibility to the consumers.
There's a new way this week to mix types of plastic for simpler reuse.
some of these companies used to use glass but they cheaped out.
Great video, Kira!
I thought that this would be important information to share. 35% of all ocean microplastics come from clothing/textiles, mostly polyester, but also acrylic and nylon as well. This is largely due to clothes made of these materials being washed, which causes these clothes to quickly erode, with the microplastic fibers entering the water system and eventually the sea. Ocean Hero is a great search engine that we can use to help clean up larger plastics before they disintegrate into microplastics.
Yes, corporations are guilty of not doing enough...but don't forget about the consumers, who drive the need for all this plastic. Get a water bottle with a filter and refill, or add a dehydrated powder for flavor. Everyone seems to be skipping the most important part of the three R's... REDUCE, reuse, and then recycle.
Thank you
We could also bring in better slow but enforced legislation regarding the recycling and sales of plastics in Australia. Even if that’s for sales in supermarkets this will cause manufacturers to change their ways too. And of course better recycling infrastructure
Corona is not anheuser busch, it's Grupo Modelo. Anheuser busch is busch, budweiser, nautral, michelob, stella, landshark, and others.
Ocean microfiber pollution from clothes and other soft goods, causes recycling plastics into fabric to become, yet more of the problem.
Imposing in all EU countries Pfand or Deposit system for plastic bottles( as the one in Germany) this would improve the recycling process and will provide food and drink safe recycled plastic which could be easier to incorporate in the plastic used for food and drinks packages.
This is by no means the ultimate solution as we definitely need to reduce and almost eliminate (with the exception for medical equipment) our plastic consumption , but it can be a huge step towards reusing the plastic.
I asked a person what the recycling triangle means and they didnt know. This is at a university too...
Its reduce, reuse, recycle.
coco cola company started recycling and environmental practices by replacing glass bottle with palstic bottle for 250 ml. we were so used to glass bottle now they use plastic bottle lol
I drink about 2 liters of Coca-cola Zero each week, poured each day from a single large bottle. I would use postmix, if small scale machines were made available. However, such a system would undercut the firm's profits, like they do seltzer companies'.😞
@@karolinakuc4783 Not an option in Kazakhstan.
As for packaging on the beach, changing the content of the bottles doesn’t stop careless, wasteful citizens. People have no regard for the recycle icon on the bottles they buy. The attitude of citizens should be scrutinized while the companies start changing their production. The companies have a responsibility to say something about citizen waste, clean up where they can, and stay ambitious.
Beside that, I wish there was more direct recycling opportunities in store, and more recycling infrastructure.
The effort is to always shift the blame to the consumer. Plastic, oil, electricity, all of it
Great observations, Ioannis! Have you seen our video before about how big oil companies love to talk about your carbon footprint? You can check it out here: ua-cam.com/video/vqZVCEnY-Us/v-deo.html 🌍
If Euro can enforce car to meet emission by date, I failed to see why it can't be done the same to these packaging company
is there an economically sound way to make virgin plastic resin more expensive, or at least cost almost the same compared to recycled plastic?
Hi there, we have looked into questions like these in the our "Is bioplastic the 'better' plastic?" video. You can watch it here: ua-cam.com/video/-_eGOyAiNIQ/v-deo.html 💧 🌍
A carbon tax perhaps?
We have to buy less plastic, way less.
1) Just stop buying.
2) How about stop littering?
3) How about sorting your trash?
Thanks :D
Tbh a great part of the problem is not the companies' activities, it's the population that can't throw the trash where they must, and governments that don't have good waste management politics.
The real issue is people buying these products in the first place, recycling is not the answer.
The correct thing to do is of course to burn the plastic. It’s a pity that so many “greens” are adamantly against it :(
Hi Peter, we have looked into burning plastic and trash before on this channel. You can watch the video here ≠ "Why don't we just burn our trash?" ua-cam.com/video/OPVUrO-_7SM/v-deo.html 🌍
sometimes these things are not on consumers fault. it's the company who has way more power to dictate everything but they didn't utilise it...
LDPE and HDPE have the same monomers... Why would you show the chemical structure in a different way? :D
I like this report highlighting the role of legislation. I would like it even more if it would find more words to spare about consumers' share of responsibility