There is no one-size-fits-all solution to our mounting plastic waste crisis, but with innovative approaches we can turn more of our trash鈥攊f not to gold鈥攊nto beneficial resources that promote circularity.聽
By Daphna Nissenbaum
The global waste management system is a complex web of private and commercial waste generators, collectors, sorting facilities, and final disposal sites such as composters, recycling plants, incinerators, and landfills. And while these players may be confined to cities or particular dumping sites, the effects of poor waste management know no boundaries.
Municipal solid waste generation is predicted to grow from 2.3 billion tons in 2023 to聽3.8 billion tons by 2050. The direct global cost of this waste generation is an estimated $252 billion. But factoring in the hidden costs of pollution, poor health outcomes, methane generation, and climate change resulting from poor waste disposal practices, the cost is much, much higher. The United Nations Environment Program estimates that the true global cost is closer to $360 billion, and this is projected to double to a staggering $640 billion by 2050.
The issue of plastic waste is a key example. Globally,聽9 percent of plastic waste is recycled, with 17 percent burned, 22 percent uncollected, and 46 percent dumped in landfills. All the plastic that does not get recycled either emits toxic fumes into the air while being incinerated, leaches chemicals into soil and groundwater inside landfills, or ends up in rivers, lakes, and the ocean, disrupting sea life and polluting the environment. Our plastic problem is so severe, that bits of it have been found in聽Arctic sea ice, in聽drinking water, and in our聽food.
Turning Packaging into a Resource: Compostable Plastics
In recent years, it has become clear that recycling alone cannot cope with the sheer amount of waste produced worldwide. To truly change the global waste management system, as Inger Anderson from the UNEP says, 鈥渨e need to redefine what waste is.鈥�
Removing unnecessary single-use plastics and flexible plastic packaging from the waste stream, which accounts for聽more than 40 percent of plastic waste, would be one of the biggest steps. This entails rethinking and redesigning ways we use, deliver, and package products and goods.
Composting, and the use of compostable packaging is quickly emerging as an innovative, and readily available solution for the packaging of clothes, food, and other items. Advances in technology now allow brands to choose an array of sustainable alternatives without having to sacrifice the many benefits of traditional plastic, which include transparency, durability, barrier properties, and food safety.
Supermarkets and food brands are particularly well positioned to adopt compostable plastic packaging, since consumers can use compost bins to dispose of both food scraps and the packaging they came in. The e-commerce fashion industry, which now accounts for聽20 percent聽of all U.S. online sales, could also greatly benefit from the switch. We have all received a clothing item with way too much packaging; but now, all those parcels and wrappings could turn into nutrient rich soil within weeks instead of clogging our waterways and polluting the environment.聽We have the technology and the means to fundamentally change the packaging industry and waste management stream; now, we need scale.
Where We Are and Where We Need to Go
Consumers, packaging producers, and waste disposal systems are heading in an encouraging direction, as the market for compostable packaging is growing聽6.2 percent聽per year, and is expected to be worth more than $84 billion by 2031. However, more action is needed to make compostable packaging a mainstream solution. This requires the public and private sectors working together to implement steps like policies that encourage the use of compostable packaging, clear labeling so consumers and composters know what items are acceptable, more compost facilities accepting compostable packaging, as well as consumer-education campaigns.
There is no one-size-fits-all solution to our mounting plastic waste crisis, but with innovative approaches we can turn more of our trash鈥攊f not to gold鈥攊nto beneficial resources that promote circularity.聽| WA
Daphna Nissenbaum is the CEO and Co-Founder of TIPA庐, a leading developer and manufacturer of compostable packaging founded in Israel in 2012. Before launching TIPA庐, Daphna was CEO of the Caesarea Center for Capital Markets and Risk Management at the Interdisciplinary Center (IDC), Herzliya. Previously, she held various management positions at SPL World Group Ltd, a provider of revenue and operations management software, prior to which she held the position of Project Manager at Whelty Lager Ltd., located in Boston MA. Today, Daphna is leading the TIPA庐 team in the movement to revolutionize packaging systems and rid the world of plastic pollution. TIPA庐 fully compostable flexible packaging replaces conventional plastic, turning waste into resource, a crisis into an opportunity. For more information, visit
Resources
www.unep.org/resources/global-waste-management-outlook-2024
www.oecd-ilibrary.org/environment/global-plastics-outlook_de747aef-en
https://edition.cnn.com/2024/01/08/health/bottled-water-nanoplastics-study-wellness/index.html
www.bbc.com/future/article/20230103-how-plastic-is-getting-into-our-food
www.unep.org/news-and-stories/speech/making-rubbish-resource-end-wasteful-culture
www.oecd.org/environment/plastic-pollution-is-growing-relentlessly-as-waste-management-and-recycling-fall-short.htm
www.databridgemarketresearch.com/reports/global-compostable-packaging-market