Should Packaging Companies Promote Recycling?

yes, definately yes!!!! please make packaging that doesn't poison the planet and it's inhabitants....England has a plastic bag that just disentegerates after a couple years...you ask who's responsibility is it? i'm amazed...I don't believe we need any more federal government laws except maybe make it illegal to sell poison packaging .it is EVERYONE"S responsibility!and for those who aren't getting it ...then they should be educated on the matter buy companies commercials, friends, advertisements...we don't have a lot of time to get this together. We are about to go extinct because of big buisness and techknology without a conscience. dumping in the oceans, land fills, poisoning th air, the water...the very things that sustain life on this planet...even deep space is now polluted...the bees are dissapearing because of cell phone towers...is anyone working on a cell phone that doesnt' pollute the energy waves? The whales are beaching themselves because of sonar...are they stopping the practice? no stop! wake up!

If you mean the bags that decompose in sunlight, they don't get much of it in landfill sites ! Re-usable string bags are possibly the way to go. Since the introduction of 'wheelie bins' many people use plastic supermarket bags to wrap waste in (to keep smells down), so that particular move may be a bit of an own goal. In (I think) Denmark many households keep a freezer where smelly waste is stored until collection day (failure to do so carries penalties) - again a bit of an eco own goal in terms of energy/pollution. Some stores now charge a small amount for plastic bags (typically 5p), but it's not much of an incentive. Store loyalty cards that accumulate points for product purchase seem to attract many people, awarding points for a 'bagless' shop might encourage people to use their own (re-usable) bags. The problem with plastic is the wide variety of types, and the ability/willingness of individuals and waste plants to sort/recycle it.

Whoa there big fella!

I recycle things like motor oil and batteries, old paint and similar stuff, and I send the remainder to the "Damb" expensive class three land fill that my tax dollars are paying for with out my approval. AND: this land fill accepts contraband from surrounding areas, and that helps to pay for the land fill employees and management, and fills this huge cell up three times faster than was expected and now we are going to need another one and the first one isn't paid for yet. Go Figure.

Fewer people make less trash" so why don't we close the borders to all illegal immigration, deport every one who isn't a natural born citizen, find some other country to accept our prison population, and never let them return, and offer a good by subsidy to all those who will leave of their own accord and never return, citizen or not. It really would not be all that expensive in the long run as we could then reduce the number of Representatives in the House, and save millions.

Think About that, and then we would not need all those Damb wind turbines that the Green Heads are calling for! Around the Jersey Shore, a Green Head is a pain in the ass biting fly!

TMF

The biggest problem with recycling plastics is that it is not cost effective.

For each color plastic there is a separate process involved because each plastic consists of a different compound.

None of your plastic recycling facilities are working at a profit and most of them are subsidized by the government to keep them in business so people can continue to recycle.

I'd also like to add that on most of the plastic bottles that I've seen for beverages do promote recycling.

It's your plastic bottles used for motor oil and such that recycling companies don't accept.

At least all the plastic packaging used in Amway products are biodegradable.

Lets go back to glass for containers and quit being so lazy. Almost the entire packaging industry is focused on convenience (except when you try to remove the packaging, when its impossible to remove). Anyway, the cost of packaging is way too high making many products too expensive because of the need to recoop the costs for packaging.

No. everybody should encourage recycling, putting the responsibilliyty on a firm is wrong in my opinion, they should have the infrastructure to make packaging from recycled material, but if the consumer still throws his garbage al together in one big pile,then you cannot blame the producer, large part of the problem lies with the consumer.

The local government is there to make the rules and the capabilities to make it easier for people to sort their garbage, but also to make people aware of the importance of recycling

I think there are several premises that can be stipulated, but as TMF has pointed out, there is a web of interconnected issues, so that principles must be well thought out and experimented with.

1. Less is more. (we hope)

2. What chemicals are in the packaging, and how does it break down in the environment?

3. What are the benefits/issues that drive packaging decisions?

4. What political considerations are involved?

Based on the above short list, I propose a International Standards Council be formed, that will address and answer each issue, for each material, process, and breakdown, what the pros/cons are. Additionally, it would provide studies to help manufactures do more with less, and inform consumers how to ask for less. Additionally, it could foster initiatives for better recycling in the biggest issues.

Government, if it is to act responsibly, needs to have some data that is beyond question. When I go to use a chemical in my workspace, it is subject to WHMIS, and every single product must be labelled, and have an MSDS close by, and the users must be trained in the system.

If we had a breakdown (like msds) sheet available for every bit of packaging material, and it was studied and stored by a sufficiently empowered organization, then that would be a driver for the future in changing this situation to a more optimal, and hopefully managagble situation. The organization would be required to build a comprehensive knowledge system around each packaging waste offender product.

I think that efforts so far have tended to focus on companies that produce the offending products, but the solution is more likely to be found in connected the consumer with the reality of the waste products, through a broad program of education and research into better ways, best practices, and alternative choices. That way, the change becomes market driven, rather than government forced. After all, the reason that the companies are producing those products in the first place is largely the economics of the market.

Chris

Glossary:

WHMIS = Workplace Hazardous Materials Information System

MSDS = Material Safety Data Sheet.