September 5 2024 is the Plastic Overshoot Day: this day marks the point when the world can no longer manage the plastic waste generated, resulting in environmental pollution. Some facts
– In 2024, 220 million tonnes of plastic waste will be created
– In 2024, nearly 70 million tons of plastic will end up in nature due to the complexity of plastic waste end of life management
– Plastic waste has risen by 7.11% since 2021
Plastics, which is made from oil and gases, is difficult to recycle. A correct recycling requires meticulous and very expensive sorting, since most of the thousands of chemically distinct varieties of plastic cannot be recycled together. After recycling the plastic degrades each time it is reused: this means it can generally only be reused once or twice with significant risks of contaminations and so danger for health.In 2020 only about 34% of the plastics produced in Europe have been recycled. The remainder has been incinerated or wasted into the environment, including the seas and the oceans. If we do not take actions on plastic usage, there will be more plastic than fishes in the oceans by 2050
This means it’s time to lead the change choosing paper packaging.
Paper is one of the few truly sustainable material and the most recycled overall. In 2020, the European paper based packaging recycling rate was 82%, the highest of any other packaging material. Paper is made from wood, a natural renewable and sustainable resource. 73% of wood and even 90% of market pulp in Europe comes from forest management certified sources. The two most recognised certification are FSC® and the PEFC. Between 2005 and 2020, European forests grew by 58,390 square kilometres – that’s an area bigger than Switzerland and amounts to over 1,500 football pitches every day. This means paper production is not a risk for forest: paper comes from sustainably managed forests and the cycle of planting, growing and logging is fully controlled.
