Huge business opportunity: non-toxic packaging

Posted on October 1, 2019 by Danielle Park

Although plastic is ubiquitous today, it has only been around since the mid-1950’s.

Presently, ninety-nine percent of the plastics in use are made from fossil fuels.  While deemed a revolutionary product from inception, a deluge of studies now confirm that the plastics currently in use are poisoning our atmosphere, water systems, air and bodies.  See  Single-use plastics a serious climate-change hazard study warns:

“Plastic is among the most significant and rapidly growing sources of industrial greenhouse gas emissions,” the report says. “Emissions from plastic emerge not only from the production and manufacture of plastic itself, but from every stage in the plastic lifecycle – from the extraction and transport of the fossil fuels that are the primary feedstocks for plastic, to refining and manufacturing, to waste management, to the plastic that enters the environment.”

Plastics are infiltrating the air we breathe and the water we drink.  See Microplastics ‘significantly contaminating the air’ scientists warn.

A new study from McGill University in Montreal found that fancy ‘silk’ tea bags are plastic and releasing billions of tiny plastic particles into each freshly brewed cup of tea.  See:  Some tea bags may shed millions of microplastics per cup.

In preliminary study, researchers also exposed water fleas — tiny freshwater animals distantly related to shrimp — to the microplastics from the tea bags, which are similar in size to their food, and found that “the water fleas didn’t die, but swam “crazily,” Tufenkji said. “It really stresses them out.”  Could plastic poisoning be contributing not only to cancer and other diseases but also to the rise of mental health problems in our society?

The prevelance of plastics in the beverage industry is ripe for disruption, see Liquid Assets:  How the business of bottled water went mad.

Ending the plague of toxic plastic is one of the most pressing health issues of our time.  Our collective action is required on the following now:

• Immediately end the production and use of single-use, disposable plastic.

• Invest in alternative non-toxic packaging.

• Foster the transition to zero-waste communities.

• Implement systems where polluters pay for the impact of their products – known as extended producer responsibility.

Developing biodegradable, non-toxic packaging types is a huge investment opportunity here and now.   However, it’s important to understand that not all bioplastics are biodegradable.  See Bioplastics:  Dreams and reality for some education.

Newly designed proteins also offer great promise for non-toxic materials, as explained in the recent RethinkX Food and Agriculture Report.  There are smart solutions to all of our present challenges; we just need to insist on and fund their development and implementation, while rejecting the status quo.

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