Plastic Free July 2021…Takeaway Food Containers…

Plastic Free July…Be the Change…

Who is going to join me for Plastic Free July…? (Sign up for the challenge here) It’s never too late even though we are halfway through the month…every little helps and there are some great ideas on the website..small changes combined DO make a difference.

“You cannot get through a single day without having an impact on the world around you. What you do makes a difference and you have to decide what kind of a difference you want to make.”
—Jane Goodall

Today I am looking at Takeaway food containers…

Scientists say more should be done to tackle the growing environmental impact of takeaway food containers. A new study estimates there are 2025 million takeaway containers per year being used in the European Union (EU) alone. It also says finding a way to recycle disposable takeaway containers could help reduce equivalent greenhouse gas emissions generated annually by 55,000 cars.

Covid-19 has not only caused an unprecedented impact on the health and economies of the world… the sheer amount of takeaways/take-out has caused a huge environmental impact…

About 29% of greenhouse emissions come from packaging…just think about your last takeout and how much of that packaging was unwanted or not recyclable?

Plastic is great for its malleability and its durability, but it is notoriously difficult to recycle. In fact, only 9% of all plastic ever made has been recycled into new plastics.

All those packages of ketchup when you have ketchup at home… it’s very easy to refuse them…Why don’t you?

Dirty Pizza Boxes…

Anything with food residue; dirty containers cannot be recycled. Napkins and paper towels. They are already made from recycled products, so the paper fibres are too short to be recycled again; also, they are usually contaminated with food.

Foil Containers:

Many kinds of foil can be recycled, such as kitchen foil, takeaway containers, pie trays, chocolate wrapping (including coins) and coloured foil. … If it stays ‘scrunched’ then it’s aluminium foil and can be recycled. If it springs back, it’s metallised plastic film and cannot currently be recycled.

Polystyrene Food Boxes:

Polystyrene is a type of plastic that is not commonly recycled. … Expanded polystyrene should be placed in the waste bin. Polystyrene is also sometimes used for other food packaging like multi-pack yoghurts. Some local authorities accept it in recycling collections although it is unlikely to actually be recycled…Landfill here I come then?

Only a third of the UK’s Plastic Food food containers recycled by their constituents are actually able to be processed in recycling facilities..my guess is around the world the story is much the same…

I still am an advocate for plastic manufacturers to step up OR be made to find alternatives…TAX them on any products produced which cannot easily be recycled they have a responsibility of care…

In the meantime, IT is down to us as the consumer to be more aware and don’t just assume that everything that goes into your recycling is recycled because it ain’t…

Unfortunately, we have to do some work ourselves I know many of you do…BUT we can all do more …

This is one example…https://goboxpdx.com/find-go-box/

If we do a search locally we hopefully can find one near us…if not it’s down to us…

FoodPrint: https://foodprint.org/blog/reusable-takeout-containers-aim-to-take-out-trash/

Did you know?

The yearly production of plastic stands at more than 380 million tonnes globally. To put that into perspective, we’re talking about the same weight as 2,700,000 blue whales!

Of that huge amount, only 16% is recycled to make new plastics. Some 40% is sent to landfill, 25% is incinerated, and the other 16% is, to be frank about it, dumped.

That’s all from me for today…Can your take out go to zero waste?

See you tomorrow for my A-Z on the environment…

 

 

 

 

40 thoughts on “Plastic Free July 2021…Takeaway Food Containers…”

  2. Pingback: CarolCooks2 weekly roundup…July18th-24th July 2021…#Plastic Free July, Music, Gingerbread Fruit Tree … | Retired? No one told me!

  4. tidalscribe.com

    A new local fish and chip uses plain cardboard boxes and a paper bag – not quite the same aas just newspaper, but not plastic. Obviously the carboard can’t be recycled, but I put it in my compost bin as roughage!

    Liked by 1 person

    1. CarolCooks2 Post author

      Sorry Pete remiss of me not to say…This will likely come as no surprise to longtime readers, but according to National Geographic, an astonishing 91 percent of plastic doesn’t actually get recycled. This means that only around 9 percent is being recycled…Mindboggling statistics 🙂 x

      Liked by 1 person

      1. CarolCooks2 Post author

        My A-z comes out later today and the video on landfill is absolutely horrifying…the sheer volume of waste is tremendous and scary on so many levels…So many us are just not aware enough and that includes me…x

        Like

  8. D. Wallace Peach

    The number of non-recyclable containers is staggering, Carol. We try to avoid plastic containers, but when one comes our way we reuse it and reuse it for years. The video clip on recyclable containers is great. Here in the US, some businesses are starting to change their practices (not offering straws for example). I wouldn’t be surprised if this change happens too. 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

  10. beetleypete

    We rarely have takeaways, but when we have an Indian meal they supply the food in foil dishes, not polystyrene. At least the foil is recyclable. I don’t know anywhere around here that will let you supply your own reusable containers.
    Best wishes, Pete. x

    Liked by 1 person

  12. Dorothy's New Vintage Kitchen

    We had more takeout in the past 18 months many of the years previous put together. I was ever bothered by the containers, but no one would fill ours. Even my coffee spot stopped letting us bring our own cups, which seemed really odd to me. We at least brought our own insulated bag, but as much as I enjoyed the occasional take out meal, the guilt was not appetizing.

    Liked by 1 person

    1. CarolCooks2 Post author

      I know the feeling, until restaurants get on board we are fighting a losing battle.. All we can do is refuse the cutlery, napkins and condiment sachets which will make a difference until restarants come on board..

      Liked by 1 person

  14. Pingback: Plastic Free July 2021…Takeaway Food Containers… – MobsterTiger

  15. Victoria Zigler

    Even without plastic-free July, I want to make what changes I can to reduce the amount of rubbish – recyclable or otherwise – we’re needing to get rid of, and keep our carbon footprint as low as is possible and practical for us. And, it’s amazing how the small changes add up. We brought a nice filter jug to use to filter tap water rather than keep buying bottled water, and I persuaded hubby to let me make him some sandwiches and such to take to his gaming club in a lunchbox rather than him buying pre-packaged sandwiches and such. Just those small changes have not only saved us a lot of money over the last couple of weeks – especially with what we’d have ended up spending on all the extra drink we’ve needed in this heat – but have meant we’ve reduced the amount of plastic we’re throwing away enough that last week we had so little for that bin there wasn’t any point putting it out (a first for us).

    Liked by 1 person

  16. leggypeggy

    I had a win at the deli on Sunday. Since Covid, they haven’t accepted bring-your-own containers. The fellow at the counter said that’s operational again. Woo-hoo!

    Liked by 2 people

Comments are closed.