ANTI-PLASTIC ZEALOTS
Last week I expressed concern that the proposed UN Plastics Treaty could be a very bad treaty if the UN pays too much attention to environmental zealots who wish to ban plastic for no good reason.
This week I have been reading an article in the US newspaper, “The Epoch Times,” which reports Patrick Moore, one of the founders of Greenpeace saying that his reason for leaving the NGO was that “the ‘environmental’ movement has become more of a political movement than an environmental movement.” “They are primarily focused on creating narratives, stories, that are designed to instill fear and guilt into the public so the public will send them money.”
He says “Plastic is not a toxic substance. That is why we package and wrap our food in it, to prevent it from becoming contaminated.”
When asked how Greenpeace utilizes its massive donations, Moore said it was used to pay for “a very large staff” (likely over 2,000) and extensive advertisements, and fundraising programs. And virtually all of the organization’s adverts for fundraising are based on narratives which he had thoroughly disproven in his books.
MORE ANTI-PLASTIC ZEALOTS
I have also been reading an article in “Packaging Insights” with the headline “Cut plastics to combat Putin: EU energy independence strategy must target packaging.” This was a report on statements by two NGOs and I thought it was nonsense.
They argue that Russia’s war on Ukraine has revealed the EU’s dependence on Russian oil and gas, leading to a crippled state of affairs in the union in terms of energy supply ahead of the winter season.
There is indeed a crippled state of affairs in terms of energy supply, but it has been caused by environmental zealots over the last 20-30 years, demanding that oil, coal, and nuclear power stations be run down or closed, or not built at all, long before other supplies of electricity were sufficiently available. Also by opposing development of domestic sources of oil and coal, and by opposing the use of coal, or plastic and other forms of waste, using clean-burn technology, as they do in Zurich.
In order to respond to this self-inflicted crisis the authors suggest that “the effects can be minimized if the energy consumption by plastic production is diverted by reducing output.” I don’t think so.
In Europe, it is estimated that between 4–6% of oil and gas is used for producing plastics, but this is hardly a “massive share” of the resources. In any event, plastic is made from ethylene and ethane, which are by-products of the extraction of oil and gas for fuels, and would arise even if plastic did not exist. It makes sense to use these by-products until the day – if ever- that oil and gas are no longer needed for fuels.
As the UK Environment Minister said in the House of Commons on 27th June “Plastics often get a bad name, but they are incredibly important and useful because their strength and versatility make them a very valuable material in many areas of life. For example, the plastic packaging that challenges us when we try to get rid of it, also preserves our food and plays a key part in extending the shelf life of some items and in reducing food waste.”
The only problem is that plastics will lie or float around for decades if they get into the open environment, but this can be substantially reduced by making the plastic with d2w technology.
Michael Stephen
Michael Stephen is a lawyer and was a member of the United Kingdom Parliament, where he served on the Environment Select Committee. When he left Parliament Symphony Environmental Technologies Plc. attracted his attention because of his interest in the environment. He is now Deputy Chairman of Symphony, which is listed on the AIM market of the London Stock Exchange, and is the founder and Chairman of the Biodegradable Plastics Association.
Earlier Postings in this Column
All articles of Michael Stephen can be found here
- 1/ 1/ 20 – Plastiphobia, Microplastics and A Throw-Away Society
- 7/ 1/ 20 – Recycling, Lab Testing, Bangladesh and the Right Bioplastic
- 14/1/20 – Plastiphobia and Bioplastics Definitions
- 21/1/20 – Composting, the European Union and Unemployment
- 30/1/20 – Plastiphobia, Malaysia and a Case Against Compostables and Paper
- 7/02/20 – Coronavirus, MPs Letter, Montreal, Australia and the Dominican Republic
- 14/02/20 – Oman, MacArthur Foundation, Stifling Innovation, South Africa and Compostable Plastics
- 24/02/20 – Serbia, India, Pakistan and European Bioplastics
- 03/03/20 – Plastic To Protect Health and Common Sense on Plastic
- 10/03/20 – Plastiphobia, Singapore, Compostable Plastics, Doorknobs and Carbios
- 17/03/20 – Greening our Way to Infection, Defra Warns Against Bioplastics and Montreal
- 24/03/20 – Ditch the Plastic Bag Ban and Inn-Probio
- 01/04/20 – The Come Back of Plastic Bags, Compostable Plastic Not Wanted and EASAC
- 16/04/20 – Coronavirus and Agricultural Plastics
- 11/05/20 – Coronavirus, Peru, Barbados and Recycling
- 18/05/20 – Say No to Plastiphobia, False Descriptions and the Recycling Myth
- 02/06/20 – Definitions and More Setbacks for Plastiphobia
- 11/06/20 – BBIA, Food Waste and Testing of OXO-Biodegradable Plastic
- 19/06/20 – Oxo Biodegradation, Independent Reports and Precautionary Principle
- 29/06/20 – Banana Republic, Why Turn Plastic into CO2 and Plastic Waste from Ships
- 13/07/20 – Running Scared, The Daily Telegraph and Market Report
- 20/07/20 – Tipa, Plastics Today and The American Genius
- 27/07/20 – Coronavirus, Plastic Litter, Bahrain and Polymateria
- 17/08/20 – Plastics Europe, Confusing Issues and Paper
- 25/08/20 – Professor Emo Chiellini, Plastics Today, Greenwashing and Coronavirus
- 28/09/20 – Kill the Virus, Marine Degradation, Airports, Brazil Retail, Plastic Growth and Face Mask
- 08/10/20 – Compostable vs Biodegradable, Covid 19 and New British Bioplastic Standard
- 27/10/20 – Power of Lobbying, Paper and Cotton Worse than Plastic
- 02/11/20 – Covid 19 and Five Myths About Plastic
- 09/11/20 – Support for OXO BIO, Westminster Forum, Euractiv and Covid
- 23/11/20 – Toxicity of Bio-based and Biodegradable Plastics, and Covid Scaremongering
- 15/12/20 – Recycling and An Article from Austria
- 21/12/20 – EU Scientific Advisers, China Chose Wrong Bioplastics and Covid Nonsense
- 05/01/20 – EU, Covid Lockdowns, WRAP, British Standards Institution and Polymateria
- 12/01/21 – Intertek and Composting
- 19/01/21 – Recycling and Exporting Plastic Waste
- 22/02/21 – Seaweed Plastic, Orange Peel and Xampla
- 02/03/31 – OXO Biodegradable Plastic
- 08/03/21 – EU Scientific Reports and Paper vs Plastic
- 15/03/21 – India, Australia and Dow Chemicals
- 14/04/21 – Oxomar, UK Government and Microplastics
- 26/04/21 – Plastic to the Rescue of Covid and More News from Brazil
- 04/05/21 – Packaging Digest
- 07/06/21 – Minderoo Report and Korea Herald
- 30/06/21 – Recycling, Is the Use of Biobased Plastics Increasing, Confused Australians and Biodegradable Future
- 12/07/21 – EU Flawed Directive, Thailand and Pakistan
- 21/07/21 – Directors Talk, Confusion, Stir Magazine and Dumping Plastic Waste
- 02/08/21 – Angry Farmers, DEFRA and Substitutes for Plastic
- 06/09/21 – Microplastics
- 13/09/21 – UK Government, Defra and David Newman
- 20/09/21 – Michael Stephen Video Interview on Antimicrobial and Biodegradable Packaging
- 05/10/21 – Freedom of Information and Plastic Waste Solutions
- 14/10/21 – Michael Stephen at Pack4Change Summit
- 22/10/21 – Plastic from Algae and Carbon Dioxide
- 15/11/21 – Defra
- 22/11/21 – Defra, India, Food Service Footprint Magazine and Waste 360
- 30/11/21 – RWM Digital Spotlight and Plastiphobia
- 17/12/21 – Disposal in the Right Way and Defra Consultation Responses
- 04/01/22 – Precautionary Principle, Anti Oxo Campaign and Defra
- 11/01/22 – Microplastics
- 17/01/22 – Michael Laurier, A Saucy Problem and Unilever
- 21/02 /22 – No Alternative for Plastic
- 08/03/22 – Sustainable Agriculture, Canada, Consequence of Banning, United Nations
- 14/03/22 – Plastiphobia
- 04/04/22 – Virgin Mobile, Defra, OXO, Microplastics, End of Life Options
- 11/04/22 – Ellen MacArthur Foundation
- 09/05/22 – Response to Association of Plastic Recyclers
- 16/05/22 – Wrap and More Bad News for Compostable Plastics in UK Parliament
- 30/05/22 – A Threat to Humanity and Market Research
- 13/06/22 – Recycling, OECD and the Ellen MacArthur Foundation
- 27/06/22 – Recyclass, Unilever, UK Plastic Packaging Tax
- 04/07/22 – Korea, Carbon 13 Study, Defra, Food Shortages and Biobased Plastics
- 09/08/22 – Oxford Analytica, Indonesia, Paper is not the Answer
- 16/08/22 – Video, Canada, The Guardian, Food Waste, Recycled vs Virgin Polymer
- 22/08/22 – Defra and Plastics in Agriculture
- 30/08/22 – Recycling and Food Waste
- 07/09/22 – Microplastics, Environmental Footprints and Coffee Waste
- 21/09/22 – DEFRA
- 4/10/22 – Agricultural Film and Global Plastic Treaty (FREE)
Interview with Michael Stephen
Disclaimer
The opinions expressed here by Michael Stephen and other columnists are their own, not those of Bioplasticsnews.com.