It’s because we want to have the appearance of being environmentally friendly without the cost or inconvenience.
Most recycling actually isn’t recycled, it just goes to the dump to be buried. Plastic checkout bags only account for a fraction of all grocery store plastics (and glass containers would be too “expensive” says producers). Recycling centers in some areas are few/far between. Raw materials are also not always accepted (especially curb side pickup)?!?!
Plastic on food is something I have railed against for years and I heard a boffin walking through the numbers and it’s not as clear as people make out and I’ve seen the topic in a new light. The amount of wastage reduction that plastic saves is huge and that then saves shed loads of inputs (oil, fertiliser, water, land) that have an environmental impact. Remove the plastic and you get a load more food heading to the bin.
Anyone remember the ‘outrage’ of the plastic bag charge? I do. I worked behind a till in Tesco. First day alone some of the ‘hard’ lot came in and thought I personally cared, so they grabbed a handful and said “what are you gonna do about it”…honestly pal, I don’t give a shit. Even now, when I visit the shops I hear silly buggers still get a bit annoyed at paying 10p cos they forgot their own bag (sorry, that’s a you problem).
Now try extrapolating this to telling customers they now need to bring more of their own bags…
Honestly I’m all for the French way, or for using containers you take to the shop and fill with cereal etc.
I however doubt, that groups of people in this country will like it. There’s still a subset of people who don’t like kg and grams fgs.
There’s a lot of general attitudes in this country that need proactive changing. On the base level and from gov.
P.s in before “yOu DuRnT LuFf BrItUn”. I very much do, that’s why I welcome and propose positive change.
Because the tories everything is because them…genuinely!
The plastic manufacturers lobby for recycling as the solution as they don’t want to stop making money from the problem. They know better than anyone that recycling isn’t a solution.
Sadly the UK government is just a workforce maintenance program for big business so nothing will change.
How’s about a UK wide recycling policy. Plus the reduction in unneeded plastic wrapping. Also how about tackling the source of the plastic. The corporates who waste so much more with products they discard. I’ve seen pallets and pallets of cereal, drink etc all thrown away because they were left over from a promo…
Isnt it actually better for fruit and veg to not be in plastic? I was always told to remove all plastic from it ASAP so it doesn’t go off as quick
Because there’s probably some Tory MP who owns a packaging company
Fact of the matter is that the French state is far more willing to impose it’s will, if they want high speed trains they get high speed trains, if they want nuclear power plants, they get nuclear power plants, if they want a ban on plastic packaging, that’s what happens. They had their high speed train network ready in 1994, and we got HS-1 in 2007, every bloody complaint from anyone who half read their copy of the Sunday Telegraph gets an 18-month government inquiry over here, French get stuff done.
You’ve more chance of getting jabba the hut to use a skipping rope.
Change in this country can sometimes be very, very slow….
A lot of veg actually keeps better in breathable kraft paper bags, but changing things takes willpower and we’ve got a national deficit of that
To be honest they are four things
1. Fuck the possession with shape and form of fruit and veg (you have no Idea how much they throw away .. Germany and Switzerland have already lots of companies dealing with this like [https://uglyfruits.ch/](https://uglyfruits.ch/) but they are many more)
2. stop the plastic shit (I am aware that some fruits benefit from it in regards to longevity but hey really fuck it not worth it)
3. don’t put fucking best before dates on fruits
4. Supermarkets should give whatever is not sold to Foodbanks instead of putting it in the garbage ….
Everyone keeps saying it’s banned in France, but I was in a supermarket in France Tuesday and fruit and veg was still in plastic, maybe it’s until the stock of plastic covered stuff runs out. I dunno, maybe it’s be different next week. Honestly the organic veg here (in the supermarket – not at the market/straight off the farm) is the worst for plastic packaging, however counter intuitive that sounds. Hopefully it’ll change that.
If only we had a Tory donor who does eco friendly paper packaging instead of plastic 🤔
The promises of ‘war on plastic’ spewed by the royals, what, 2 years ago, have proven pathetic and hollow. And the government has been beyond toothless on this issue.
Unlike fossil fuels, plastic is a relatively easy issue to solve: we simply do not need it on all our shit. Cardboard is sufficient basically always.
So why the fucking fuck does nothing fucking change?
And then you order home delivery sans bags and get a garlic bulb in a paper bag
In before tories start putting crowns on plastic packaging
Baby steps…things that come in rugged outer shells you don’t eat (e.g. avos)…don’t need to be in plastic. The tray the stuff comes in can be cardboard not plastic/styrofoam etc.
100% is very hard but there are some really quick wins available if there was even a tiny bit of will
>Meanwhile, over 50 per cent of household packaging waste that most believe is recycled is actually sent abroad and dumped or burned
Yep. I separate it on the chance that I’m in the right 50% but ugh…that’s still quite demotivating
I’d love this. It’s rare to see scales in supermarkets anymore
Aldi UK is switching out as much plastic as they can right now. They are going through all of their product lines and are taking it out.
A lot of plastic has already been replaced by paper/carton.
Is there a petition to sign so they can debate this in parliament? Should’ve been banned in about 1973.
It is criminal that my fruit and veg is wrapped in plastic.
All our grandparents managed to get their shopping without plastic, why can’t we do the same.
It really felt so weird and pointless to see plastic packaging everywhere in the UK. I didn’t know it was outlawed back in France
Cos apparently we’re the problem, not the people using it on their merchandise..
Recycling is a good enough solution and we have the infrastructure to make it work.
There’s a generational mindset at play here. Older gens were taught extensively about the benefits of recycling in education, and most just assume (including a shocking number of politicians) that everything in the green bin goes away and gets remade.
It’s been a disaster, because older people will point to using their recycling bin as a justification for not needing to do anything else for the climate *because I’m doing my bit already*.
Everything in the UK is about causing the least inconvenience to the individual. Nothing else will be tolerated by the voting public.
25 comments
It’s because we want to have the appearance of being environmentally friendly without the cost or inconvenience.
Most recycling actually isn’t recycled, it just goes to the dump to be buried. Plastic checkout bags only account for a fraction of all grocery store plastics (and glass containers would be too “expensive” says producers). Recycling centers in some areas are few/far between. Raw materials are also not always accepted (especially curb side pickup)?!?!
Plastic on food is something I have railed against for years and I heard a boffin walking through the numbers and it’s not as clear as people make out and I’ve seen the topic in a new light. The amount of wastage reduction that plastic saves is huge and that then saves shed loads of inputs (oil, fertiliser, water, land) that have an environmental impact. Remove the plastic and you get a load more food heading to the bin.
Anyone remember the ‘outrage’ of the plastic bag charge? I do. I worked behind a till in Tesco. First day alone some of the ‘hard’ lot came in and thought I personally cared, so they grabbed a handful and said “what are you gonna do about it”…honestly pal, I don’t give a shit. Even now, when I visit the shops I hear silly buggers still get a bit annoyed at paying 10p cos they forgot their own bag (sorry, that’s a you problem).
Now try extrapolating this to telling customers they now need to bring more of their own bags…
Honestly I’m all for the French way, or for using containers you take to the shop and fill with cereal etc.
I however doubt, that groups of people in this country will like it. There’s still a subset of people who don’t like kg and grams fgs.
There’s a lot of general attitudes in this country that need proactive changing. On the base level and from gov.
P.s in before “yOu DuRnT LuFf BrItUn”. I very much do, that’s why I welcome and propose positive change.
Because the tories everything is because them…genuinely!
The plastic manufacturers lobby for recycling as the solution as they don’t want to stop making money from the problem. They know better than anyone that recycling isn’t a solution.
Sadly the UK government is just a workforce maintenance program for big business so nothing will change.
How’s about a UK wide recycling policy. Plus the reduction in unneeded plastic wrapping. Also how about tackling the source of the plastic. The corporates who waste so much more with products they discard. I’ve seen pallets and pallets of cereal, drink etc all thrown away because they were left over from a promo…
Isnt it actually better for fruit and veg to not be in plastic? I was always told to remove all plastic from it ASAP so it doesn’t go off as quick
Because there’s probably some Tory MP who owns a packaging company
Fact of the matter is that the French state is far more willing to impose it’s will, if they want high speed trains they get high speed trains, if they want nuclear power plants, they get nuclear power plants, if they want a ban on plastic packaging, that’s what happens. They had their high speed train network ready in 1994, and we got HS-1 in 2007, every bloody complaint from anyone who half read their copy of the Sunday Telegraph gets an 18-month government inquiry over here, French get stuff done.
You’ve more chance of getting jabba the hut to use a skipping rope.
Change in this country can sometimes be very, very slow….
A lot of veg actually keeps better in breathable kraft paper bags, but changing things takes willpower and we’ve got a national deficit of that
To be honest they are four things
1. Fuck the possession with shape and form of fruit and veg (you have no Idea how much they throw away .. Germany and Switzerland have already lots of companies dealing with this like [https://uglyfruits.ch/](https://uglyfruits.ch/) but they are many more)
2. stop the plastic shit (I am aware that some fruits benefit from it in regards to longevity but hey really fuck it not worth it)
3. don’t put fucking best before dates on fruits
4. Supermarkets should give whatever is not sold to Foodbanks instead of putting it in the garbage ….
Everyone keeps saying it’s banned in France, but I was in a supermarket in France Tuesday and fruit and veg was still in plastic, maybe it’s until the stock of plastic covered stuff runs out. I dunno, maybe it’s be different next week. Honestly the organic veg here (in the supermarket – not at the market/straight off the farm) is the worst for plastic packaging, however counter intuitive that sounds. Hopefully it’ll change that.
If only we had a Tory donor who does eco friendly paper packaging instead of plastic 🤔
The promises of ‘war on plastic’ spewed by the royals, what, 2 years ago, have proven pathetic and hollow. And the government has been beyond toothless on this issue.
Unlike fossil fuels, plastic is a relatively easy issue to solve: we simply do not need it on all our shit. Cardboard is sufficient basically always.
So why the fucking fuck does nothing fucking change?
And then you order home delivery sans bags and get a garlic bulb in a paper bag
In before tories start putting crowns on plastic packaging
Baby steps…things that come in rugged outer shells you don’t eat (e.g. avos)…don’t need to be in plastic. The tray the stuff comes in can be cardboard not plastic/styrofoam etc.
100% is very hard but there are some really quick wins available if there was even a tiny bit of will
>Meanwhile, over 50 per cent of household packaging waste that most believe is recycled is actually sent abroad and dumped or burned
Yep. I separate it on the chance that I’m in the right 50% but ugh…that’s still quite demotivating
I’d love this. It’s rare to see scales in supermarkets anymore
Aldi UK is switching out as much plastic as they can right now. They are going through all of their product lines and are taking it out.
A lot of plastic has already been replaced by paper/carton.
Is there a petition to sign so they can debate this in parliament? Should’ve been banned in about 1973.
It is criminal that my fruit and veg is wrapped in plastic.
All our grandparents managed to get their shopping without plastic, why can’t we do the same.
It really felt so weird and pointless to see plastic packaging everywhere in the UK. I didn’t know it was outlawed back in France
Cos apparently we’re the problem, not the people using it on their merchandise..
Recycling is a good enough solution and we have the infrastructure to make it work.
There’s a generational mindset at play here. Older gens were taught extensively about the benefits of recycling in education, and most just assume (including a shocking number of politicians) that everything in the green bin goes away and gets remade.
It’s been a disaster, because older people will point to using their recycling bin as a justification for not needing to do anything else for the climate *because I’m doing my bit already*.
Everything in the UK is about causing the least inconvenience to the individual. Nothing else will be tolerated by the voting public.