Not all plastic packaging is environmentally unfriendly
The word "plastic" is as pejorative today as the word "paper" was 10 years ago, says the president of ProAmpac. Plastic is also on the road to environmental protection, according to the production of raw materials, then the environmental protection of plastics can be divided into recycled plastics, biodegradable plastics, edible plastics.
- Recycled plastics refers to the plastic raw materials obtained again after processing of waste plastics through pretreatment, melt granulation, modification and other physical or chemical methods, which is the re-use of plastics.
- Degradable plastics are plastics that are more easily degraded in the natural environment by adding a certain amount of additives (e.g. starch, modified starch or other cellulose, photosensitisers, biodegraders, etc.) in the production process, with reduced stability.
- Edible plastics, a kind of edible packaging, i.e., packaging that can be eaten, are generally composed of starch, protein, polysaccharide, fat, and composite substances.
Is paper packaging more environmentally friendly?
Replacing plastic bags with paper bags would mean an increase in deforestation, which would basically be a return to the old ways of over-deforestation. In addition to the deforestation of trees, paper pollution is also easy to be ignored, in fact, the pollution of paper may be greater than the manufacture of plastic.
According to media reports, papermaking is divided into two steps: pulping and papermaking, and pollution mainly comes from the pulping process. At present, the vast majority of paper mills use the alkaline method of pulping, and for every tonne of pulp produced, about seven tonnes of black water will be discharged, seriously polluting the water supply.
The greatest environmental protection is to reduce the use or reuse
Disposable production and use is the biggest problem of pollution, reject "disposable", reuse is environmentally friendly. It is clear that we all need to take action to reduce our impact on the environment. Reduce, reuse and recycle are great ways to help protect the environment today. The cosmetics industry is also moving towards sustainable packaging that reduces, reuses and recycles.
Post time: Jul-12-2023