Plastics

27 September 2022

Plastic is one of the most used materials in our modern society and we can find it everywhere in our daily life. Although this material is undoubtedly extremely practical, its use is not without any grave consequences both for the environment and human health. Some of this plastic (between 2% and 5%) ends up in oceans, causing a dangerous pollution for the world marine flora and fauna. Another part of this plastic is simply burned, increasing the CO2 released in our atmosphere thus contributing to climate change. Finally, some of it is just landfilled, while only a small fraction (30%) is recycled.

Moreover, the everyday use of plastic in food packaging represents a real health issue as some of the substances present in this material (such as Bisphenol A) have been recognised as having potential adverse effects on human health. Plastic waste is indeed a severe problem nowadays. In 2016, about 42.4 million tonnes of domestic plastic packaging waste was generated in the entire European Union Single-use packaging, after serving its purpose, is often landfilled, burned, or thrown into nature, causing a huge environmental cost.

SAFE believes that reuse is a more fundamental solution to reduce the environmental costs relating to not only beverage containers but also for food and beverage packaging in general and that it is of the utmost importance to find solutions for food and beverage packaging which are beneficial for both the environment and consumers’ health.

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Plastics