On Packaging Waste

 One of the rather interesting perspectives one gets as one travels across several countries in a short time is how waste is handled.

I know; it is a pretty obscure subject.  The thing that brought it to mind was coming home and being subjected to how the U.S. does it.

In Japan, at least where we were, items are separated into cans, plastic bottles/PET, and burnable trash.  In Europe, it was cans, Plastic/Pet, Paper, and "other".  In the U.S., it is separated into cans/bottles, generic "recyclables", and non-recyclable waste.

I suppose that it is of interest to me because we (of the Industrial and Post-Industrial revolution) are the first human civilization that has to meaningfully deal with this.

Plastic, of course, is probably the biggest difference. I did not think about plastic in great detail until a visit some years ago to Colonial Williamsburg.  There, the living historian in the leather shop pointed out that until the 20th century, leather served the purposes that plastic now does: it was available, readily malleable, and could be used for a variety of purposes (arguably, wood filled different niches but the same function).  The difference between us and them, of course, is that leather and wood are biodegradable.  Plastic, not so much.

When I purchase any typical item anymore, I have to go through at least one, possibly two, and maybe three levels of packaging to get the item.  That packaging has no inherent value after its initial use except in some odd situations, like building a cardboard fort or saving packing paper to use for rabbit cage lining.  That becomes even more pronounced in the food industry or my own industry of biopharmaceuticals, where we not only want the material packaged, we would prefer the packaging to protect the food from adverse substances or the materials used to make drugs to be sterile.

It interests me because, for all of the cry of "too much packaging" (and there is quite a lot), we have yet to strike the balance of what needs and does not need packaging.  Does my furniture from IKEA? No, probably - unless I want undamaged furniture when I get it.  Does my food need it?  Yes, probably - think of the issue of fruits and vegetables handled by everyone put to the extreme of every food.

I can cut down on the packaging I try to use, but every time I order something or purchase something - especially online - it will more often than not come in packaging that is oversized for the product.

Now, add to that all the money to manufacture the packaging - to make it from new or recycled materials, to form it, to label or mark it, to ship it to where it needs to be used, and then to dispose of it - and I suspect we are starting to talk about significant numbers.

Is there a solution?  I am not sure.  But it certainly seems like an area ripe for some kind of innovative thinking.