We are all in agreement that far too much one use plastic is used on a daily basis and no one wants to see a floating island of plastic in our oceans or our wildlife suffering because of plastic waste but ditching plastic all together in the cleaning industry could actually be an unsustainable response.
Items such as bin liners make a huge difference to the effectiveness of the cleaning industry, not using them would create more waste and mess and would make it much harder to manage, especially for example hazardous waste. Disposable PPE (personal protective equipment) is common place in the industry and without further developments, gloves couldn’t be sustainably made from an alternative product.
Card and glass may be suggested as being more ‘green’, however an increased use of these materials could lead to CO2 emissions rising and without plastic to protect and display food, food waste will rise.
Used properly, plastic could continue to offer a convenient cost-effective solution to many modern day issues especially in the cleaning industry. The problem of plastics in the ocean comes about because of ineffective waste management, anti-social behaviour and littering and around 85% of the plastic in our oceans comes from developing nations so a ban in the UK alone is not the answer.
Recycling plastic products effectively or using them to generate energy and build roads etc. is a more effective use of our resources and helping others to do likewise is the way forward, the headlines are frightening but this would mean that the oceans would not be under threat and nor would the plastic industry.
