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Packaging Data Specialists Point to Sustainability Being Back on Top of 2021 Agenda
Following a tumultuous year in which the global pandemic has caused unprecedented worldwide disruption, sustainability has returned to the top of the agenda for brands in 2021, according to packaging data specialists ecoVeritas. The company, which provides a range of tools and expertise to efficiently minimise the environmental impact of packaging, said as we enter…
The EU set to introduce £800 a tonne plastic levy
The European Union is to introduce a levy on all non-recyclable plastic packaging waste handled by its member states from 1 January 2021. The levy will be €0.80 per kilogram (€800 a tonne) and funds will be payable directly into the EU budget, rather than going to the governments which collect them. The levy was confirmed as part of the EU’s €750bn Coronavirus Recovery Strategy and will be applied…
Wrap’s Plastic Packaging Factsheet
Wrap’s Plastic Packaging Factsheet is now available online. Read it here. Below is a brief summary from the introduction about the aims of this document. The way a plastic is designed to behave alongside what material it’s made from, affects what it can be used for as well as how it can be recycled and…
How are supermarkets tackling the food waste problem?
According to the Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP), retail food waste accounts for only 2% of the total food wastage in the UK, with over 70% of post-farm food waste generated by households and the remaining 28% from manufacturing, hospitality and food service. It is clear, that alongside reducing and redirecting the waste produced…
The Cucumber Problem: Is Shrink Wrapping that Bad?
Major food and drink retailers, particularly supermarkets, are one after the other releasing statements of intent on reduction of plastic packaging. This was stimulated by public demand, but certainly encouraged by Iceland’s announcement of its intent to eliminate plastic packaging from its own-brand products by 2023. The stimulus created by Iceland’s announcement is to be encouraged…
Disposable Coffee Cups – the real enemy?
Apparently, fewer than 1% of the 2.5Bn disposable coffee cups we use each year in the UK are recycled. If an individual uses a single-use disposable cup every day of the year, that’s 10Kg of waste. The UK Environment Department is alleged to dispose of 1,400 cups per working day… and so on. The list…
The Tide is Turning on Plastic Pollution
ecoVeritas has been following the wave of stories about plastic pollution, especially in the oceans since November 2017. Two things seem to have kick-started national interest in this subject – in mid November, David Attenborough’s powerful series, Blue Planet II brought the issues of ocean pollution to the public consciousness. This influential national treasure gave…
A Life Less Plastic – tips to reduce plastic use
This article is reposted from the blog of artist Now Then, Sunshine, who is challenging herself and her family to a plastic-free Lent: A Life Less Plastic. Below are some top tips about how to reduce plastic. This is a topic close to us here at ecoVeritas. We are following news about government policy, supermarket…
China Plastic Import Ban
On 1st January 2018 China stopped importing 24 kinds of solid waste including plastic bottles and containers and mixed papers, saying that much of it is too hazardous to recycle. This is a wakeup call for the UK, which has traditionally exported the lion’s share of its plastic exports to China and Hong Kong. Some of the resulting…
South America Update
In our Summer newsletter we had an article assessing the Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) trends across South America. As the regulatory frameworks are in a period of fast development in this region, below we take a further look and provide some updates. Chile An Implementing Regulation to the EPR Law was finalised at the end…