EU DIRECTIVE PROPOSAL TO BAN PLASTIC DISPOSABLE TABLEWARE? NO THANKS! 6 CLEAR REASONS EXPLAIN WHY

Please find here after the position paper published by Pro.mo (italian plastic disposable tableware manufactures trade association member of Unionplast/Federazione Gomma Plastica of Confindustria) on the EU Directive proposal to ban plastic disposable tableware.

There are no good or bad objects. Only right or wrong behaviour.

The EU directive proposal aimed to ban plastic plates and cutlery raises a question: does abolishing the use of plastic tableware help protect the environment? Six simple points show that this is not the case.

1.

Environmental impact: let’s analyse the facts behind the myths.

Incredible but true: disposable plastic tableware has a lower average environmental impact than other types of disposable tableware erroneously perceived as “greener”.

This is shown by the comparative Life Cycle Assessment – LCA – study on the environmental impact of the tableware life cycle (available on request from marketing@ilip.it the English version or directly from Pro.mo web site the Italian version: http://pro-mo.it/).

2.

There is no such thing as good tableware or bad tableware, but right or wrong behaviour

Littering is above all a problem of poor civic sense and must be tackled by educating citizens and improving collection systems.

3.

Plastic recycling is the most effective environmental remedy

In Europe, everyone agrees that separate collection and recycling of plastic, the engine of the circular economy, is the most effective way to protect the environment.

4.

Marine litter cannot be fought by abolishing plastic tableware

Nearly 95% of the plastic dispersed in the oceans and seas are brought by 10 major Asian and African rivers. In Europe, the amount of plastic used to produce all disposable tableware is less than 3% of that used for all plastic packaging. Banning plastic cutlery and plates, which would be at least partly replaced by other single-use items, would therefore have minimal impact.

5.

Disposable plastic tableware is practically irreplaceable on many occasions

In emergencies, in large-scale catering, in large public events as well as family ones, plastic is unrivalled in price, practicality, hygiene, consumers safety and recyclability.

6.

The banning of plastic tableware is particularly damaging to European industry.

Almost all the alternatives to disposable plastic tableware, especially those made of pulp or bagasse, are of Chinese origin.

For more information (just in italian) – http://pro-mo.it/