![]() In 1969 an oil spill on the Santa Barbara coast inspired Earth Day, held the next year. Images of once-pristine wilderness and coastlines were now in the news shellacked in oil or covered in garbage. But it wouldn’t take long to see the repercussions, and by the early 70s, a movement aimed at calling attention to the worsening state of the planet started to grow.Įnvironmental disasters like oil spills, mine explosions, and deadly smog galvanized many into taking action to curtail destructive practices. One could understand the reluctance to acknowledge the potentially destructive nature of this reliance on plastics, especially when used to make disposable items, people were ready to live it up a bit. That life of convenience came with a hidden or perhaps ignored, consequence to the environment. Synthetic materials such as plastic helped create a life with more conveniences than ever before, and consumers, tired of austerity, embraced the new age of plastics. Those that had survived the first half of the century were ready for happier times, taking advantage of the advancements in industry and technology. The start of the 20th century started precariously enough, as the geopolitical machinations of the world’s superpowers eventually led to a series of wars, plagues, and economic calamity that would culminate into World War II and the ushering in of the nuclear age. You can find the first chapter on the invention of throwaway living here and the second part on McDonald's role in the single-use plastic crisis here. For example, as the number of electric vehicles grows in Europe, how will we recycle their batteries? Products need to be designed in a way to allow the recycling and reusing of their components.This is the third part of our series, The History of Plastic. The way we manage our waste also needs to account for new waste streams. Non-recyclable products need to be phased out, and waste should be collected separately so it can be recycled. Still, achieving the EU’s waste objectives requires significant effort. Overall, the EU is slowly showing improvement toward recycling more and landfilling less. Metals in electronic waste, such as from computers, gadgets and batteries are recovered and can be used in new devices.Secondary materials are created from building waste. ![]() Biowaste is turned into biogas and fertiliser.Reuse centres and second-hand shops make old products available to new users.Many reuse and recycling initiatives can contribute to reducing the loss of resources in the EU: Policies and initiatives also focus on preventing waste generation in the first place by, for example, reducing food waste and making products easier to repair. That is why the EU developed a waste policy that keeps products in use for as long as possible and sets strict standards for how to responsibly dispose of them when they can no longer be used. For example, incinerating waste can contribute to air pollution, landfills might contaminate water and land. In addition to l osing valuable resources, waste can have significant negative impacts on human health and the environment. The EU generates massive amounts of waste from manufacturing, food, construction, electronics, textiles. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |