It takes a brave man to show anything less than reverence for the god-like figure of David Attenborough – but Dermot Gates was clearly feeling brave.
Or possibly just fed up.
As managing director of Boxmore Plastics in Ballyconnell, Co Cavan, he has little time for those who seek to villainise his products in the way he feels Attenborough’s ‘Blue Planet’ special on ocean pollution did.
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“‘Blue Planet’ set out to create a shock reaction, which it did, and press pressure since then makes it difficult for anyone to stand up here and say plastics are good,” he said.
“It’s currently good PR to be anti-plastic but there have been knee-jerk reactions. You have to ask, is this the best environmental solution or is it being driven by marketing?”
He wasn’t alone in questioning responses to the plastic problem or in suggesting firms purporting to tackle the scourge may have little to offer except fake policies, lip service and those knee-jerk reactions.
A conference heard some ‘solutions’ could in fact use more energy than plastic and have a greater impact on the environment.
Mr Gates said EU rules for 2025 requiring ‘tethered’ lids on plastic bottles – lids attached to the bottle so they don’t come loose and end up in the ocean – would use more plastic than screw tops.
He said companies swapping shrink-wrap for cardboard sleeves and holders – Coca-Cola has just announced a switch from shrink-wrap to paperboard – or choosing paper-based cartons instead of plastic were using heavier packaging that needed more energy to make and did not always degrade cleanly.
“Just because a material degrades in the natural environment doesn’t mean it’s harmless. Plain paper packaging is a composite of wood, fillers and chemicals. It’s got resins, polymers, dyes, clays, etc. Printed paper packaging has more on top of that.”
The solution, he said, was better waste management systems with incentives for recovery and recycling.
Professor Gordon Chambers, of Technological University Dublin, also knows plastic – he’s been studying its devastating effects on marine life and probing what it might mean for our own health.
But he too doubts the efficacy of current responses.
“We need legislation, not levies,” he said. “We seem to think in this country that the way to address environmental concerns is to put a tax on it. If you are a low-income family and most of the food you can afford is wrapped in plastic, you do not need a levy added.”
He said legislation was needed to ensure genuine corporate responsibility. “It really irks me when I see companies coming up with fake policies while profiting from plastic pollution,” he said.
He cited stores selling loose fruit while offering plastic bags for carrying it, or selling long-life bags that were also plastic-based. “That’s not reducing our addiction to plastic, it’s reinforcing it,” he said.
He said while many businesses and institutions offered segregated bins in their public areas to encourage separation of waste for recycling, the reality was that most of it would be mixed, compacted and sent to landfill or incinerated.
“It’s lip service. Ultimately, we need to stop the flow of plastic into the environment.”
The fact two speakers with very different experiences of plastic agree that responses are flawed makes their points worth examining.
It raises the question of whether businesses are greenwashing products while brainwashing customers. Or will cynicism around corporate responses obscure genuine efforts and leave ethical firms to flounder?
Dr Pamela Byrne, chief executive of conference hosts the Food Safety Authority of Ireland, stressed the importance of plastic for the food industry.
But she acknowledged the problem with the fact only a third of the 300,000 tonnes of plastic packaging produced in Ireland each year was being recovered for recycling. Some 150 tonnes is estimated to go into our own seas.
“Plastic is not going away. It’s what we do with plastic that’s really important,” she said.
Records released under Freedom of Information and published by a Brussels-based NGO show that who tells the Government what to do with plastic is also important. The documents showed the plastics lobby had easy and regular access to Irish officials while EU negotiations were happening.
Mr Gates may disagree, but when it comes to moulding the future of plastic, a little Attenborough helps balance the scales.
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Home » Analysis & Comment » Caroline O'Doherty: 'Are businesses really going green or is corporate concern for the environment plastic?'
Caroline O'Doherty: 'Are businesses really going green or is corporate concern for the environment plastic?'
It takes a brave man to show anything less than reverence for the god-like figure of David Attenborough – but Dermot Gates was clearly feeling brave.
Or possibly just fed up.
As managing director of Boxmore Plastics in Ballyconnell, Co Cavan, he has little time for those who seek to villainise his products in the way he feels Attenborough’s ‘Blue Planet’ special on ocean pollution did.
Please log in or register with Independent.ie for free access to this article.
Log In
New to Independent.ie? Create an account
“‘Blue Planet’ set out to create a shock reaction, which it did, and press pressure since then makes it difficult for anyone to stand up here and say plastics are good,” he said.
“It’s currently good PR to be anti-plastic but there have been knee-jerk reactions. You have to ask, is this the best environmental solution or is it being driven by marketing?”
He wasn’t alone in questioning responses to the plastic problem or in suggesting firms purporting to tackle the scourge may have little to offer except fake policies, lip service and those knee-jerk reactions.
A conference heard some ‘solutions’ could in fact use more energy than plastic and have a greater impact on the environment.
Mr Gates said EU rules for 2025 requiring ‘tethered’ lids on plastic bottles – lids attached to the bottle so they don’t come loose and end up in the ocean – would use more plastic than screw tops.
He said companies swapping shrink-wrap for cardboard sleeves and holders – Coca-Cola has just announced a switch from shrink-wrap to paperboard – or choosing paper-based cartons instead of plastic were using heavier packaging that needed more energy to make and did not always degrade cleanly.
“Just because a material degrades in the natural environment doesn’t mean it’s harmless. Plain paper packaging is a composite of wood, fillers and chemicals. It’s got resins, polymers, dyes, clays, etc. Printed paper packaging has more on top of that.”
The solution, he said, was better waste management systems with incentives for recovery and recycling.
Professor Gordon Chambers, of Technological University Dublin, also knows plastic – he’s been studying its devastating effects on marine life and probing what it might mean for our own health.
But he too doubts the efficacy of current responses.
“We need legislation, not levies,” he said. “We seem to think in this country that the way to address environmental concerns is to put a tax on it. If you are a low-income family and most of the food you can afford is wrapped in plastic, you do not need a levy added.”
He said legislation was needed to ensure genuine corporate responsibility. “It really irks me when I see companies coming up with fake policies while profiting from plastic pollution,” he said.
He cited stores selling loose fruit while offering plastic bags for carrying it, or selling long-life bags that were also plastic-based. “That’s not reducing our addiction to plastic, it’s reinforcing it,” he said.
He said while many businesses and institutions offered segregated bins in their public areas to encourage separation of waste for recycling, the reality was that most of it would be mixed, compacted and sent to landfill or incinerated.
“It’s lip service. Ultimately, we need to stop the flow of plastic into the environment.”
The fact two speakers with very different experiences of plastic agree that responses are flawed makes their points worth examining.
It raises the question of whether businesses are greenwashing products while brainwashing customers. Or will cynicism around corporate responses obscure genuine efforts and leave ethical firms to flounder?
Dr Pamela Byrne, chief executive of conference hosts the Food Safety Authority of Ireland, stressed the importance of plastic for the food industry.
But she acknowledged the problem with the fact only a third of the 300,000 tonnes of plastic packaging produced in Ireland each year was being recovered for recycling. Some 150 tonnes is estimated to go into our own seas.
“Plastic is not going away. It’s what we do with plastic that’s really important,” she said.
Records released under Freedom of Information and published by a Brussels-based NGO show that who tells the Government what to do with plastic is also important. The documents showed the plastics lobby had easy and regular access to Irish officials while EU negotiations were happening.
Mr Gates may disagree, but when it comes to moulding the future of plastic, a little Attenborough helps balance the scales.
Source: Read Full Article