#avoiding plastics

To fight against waste or reduce polluting emissions, France is adopting new, slightly more restrictive rules in terms of ecology this year.

While extreme climatic episodes are increasing, from droughts in summer[1] to historic thaws in winter, several laws have been set-up by the French government in recent months and years to defend the environment come into force from last Sunday on.

Old diesels banned in Low Emission Zones

Crit'Air 5[2] vehicles (diesels produced before 2001, gray sticker) as well as those without a sticker (petrol cars before 1997) will be prohibited in the eleven French cities applying a Low Emission Zone (ZFE)[3]. These cities that exceed the air quality standards set at European level are: Aix-Marseille, Grenoble, Lyon, Montpellier, Nice, Paris, Reims, Rouen, Saint-Etienne, Strasbourg and Toulouse.

This restriction is already in force in Paris and its inner suburbs, where even Crit'Air 4 (diesels from before 2006 and two-wheelers from before 2004, brown sticker) theoretically no longer have the right to ride. At the start of 2024, these vehicles classified as Crit’Air 4 will be prohibited in all ZFEs. This system should also extend on December 31, 2024 to the 43 agglomerations of more than 150,000 inhabitants of the country.

A zero-interest loan for the purchase of a low-emission vehicle in LEZs

An experiment will be set up to offer the inhabitants of the 11 cities that apply a ZFE, an interest-free loan to help buy an electric or hybrid vehicle. However, it will only be accessible to people whose tax income is less than 14,000 euros per year or to micro-enterprises.

The loan can reach 30,000 euros for a car of 45,000 euros maximum, or 60,000 euros for a van, reimbursable in seven years, details the site service-public.fr.[4] Part of this sum may also be available in the event of a long-term rental of the vehicle or a rental with option to purchase.

More broadly, the amount of the ecological bonus for the purchase of an electric car is increased to 7,000 euros for half of the households, the most modest.[5]

The “carbon neutral” claim finally framed

Claiming that a product or service is "carbon neutral", "zero carbon", "with a zero carbon footprint", "climate neutral", "fully compensated", "100% compensated", is going to be much more complicated for companies.

To avoid greenwashing, the climate and resilience law[6] restricts the use of these claims. They will only be authorised if the public has easy access to the following information: a balance sheet of greenhouse gas emissions over the entire life cycle of the product or service, the planned emissions reduction trajectory, as well as the terms of compensation of residual emissions.

Single-use dishes banned from fast food restaurants

After the ban on various single-use plastic products[7] (straws, tableware, polystyrene boxes, etc.) in 2021, the anti-waste law for a circular economy continues to be rolled out gradually. Fast food must now serve customers who sit down on the spot in reusable dishes (cups, lids, plates, containers, cutlery).[8]

Large chains such as McDonald's, Quick, KFC or Domino's Pizza, that make extensive use of single-use packaging, are concerned, as well as all establishments from 20 covers.

Collection points for old toys widespread

The 100,000 tons of carts, dolls and other figurines thrown away every year no longer have a place in our classic trash cans.[9] To enable their reuse or recycling, 6,000 collection points will be deployed throughout France to get 2023 off to a good start.[10]

The eco-organisation Ecomaison (formerly Eco-mobilier)[11], in charge of this operation, will distribute half of them in stores (1,500), schools (1,200) and associations (400), half in recycling centres. An application will also make it possible to geolocate these bins.

If they are not recoverable, the plastic toys will be separated by type of resin used and then “micronised” so that they can be reinjected into new products, for example for outdoor games.

A new bonus for carpooling

Between hitchhiking and public transport, carpooling[12] for short journeys is hardly convincing. To boost car sharing on home-to-work journeys of less than 80 km, the government announced in mid-December the implementation of a bonus of 100 euros for new car-poolers who register on platforms such as Blablacar[13], Karos[14] or Klaxit[15] as drivers.

The boost will be paid in two instalments, with 25 euros from the first trip. The remaining 75 euros will be paid after nine additional journeys within three months. A second bonus, also of 100 euros, will benefit new car-sharing converts who make at least three long journeys. Stated objective: to make carpooling a habit.[16]

Extension of the electric bike bonus

In the wake of its "bicycle plan", the government is accelerating (a little) on the accessibility of electrically assisted bicycles. The eligibility threshold for the purchase bonus, which could reach 300 euros, will be increased to a “reference tax income per unit of less than 14,089 euros, against 13,489 euros currently” [17], details the Ministry of Ecological Transition. It argues that “50% of the poorest households” will now have access to it.

The conditions for granting the reinforced bonus of 400 euros, intended for precarious people and the disabled, will also be extended, with a reference tax income threshold per share increasing from 6,300 to 6,358 euros.

Source

LIBERATION et AFP : Vaisselle réutilisable au fast-food, bonus covoiturage, recyclage des jouets… Les changements verts au 1er janvier, in : Libération, 31-12-2022 ; https://www.liberation.fr/environnement/vaisselle-reutilisable-au-fast-food-bonus-covoiturage-recyclage-des-jouets-les-changements-verts-au-1er-janvier-20221231_4B336K3HQNCS3BVLVSFCUYNF5Y/

[1] While waiting for a full report from Météo France in early January, meteorologist François Gourand comments in the article in annex on the abnormally mild temperatures at the end of December. These heat peaks, he believes, are set to increase due to climate change. https://www.liberation.fr/environnement/climat/2022-sera-de-loin-lannee-la-plus-chaude-jamais-mesuree-en-france-20221227_6SFR6QTTKREAVLLG446GLVZVWU/

[2] The French government has decided to introduce an ecovignette called "Crit'Air" for traffic restriction zones and air quality zones. The introduction started on 1 July 2016. Based on a colour code (6 nuances), it allows the least polluting cars to drive in certain city centres, to park cheaper or to drive during certain pollution peaks. This vignette is also mandatory for scooters and motorcycles, which must place it on the front fork. There are exceptions for non-classified vehicles and holders of a parking card for the disabled.

[3] By 2025, millions of motorists will see their vehicles banned from the low emission zones (zone à faible émission ZFE) of 45 metropolises in France. https://www.liberation.fr/economie/transports/zone-a-faibles-emissions-tout-savoir-pour-rouler-sa-mecanique-legalement-20221023_LCVS4F74VJABRCVLNLHIECDBAI/

[4] From January 1, 2023, a zero-rate loan experiment for the purchase of an electric or hybrid vehicle will start in low-emission mobility zones. For a car of €45,000 maximum, or €60,000 for a van, the loan can reach €30,000, repayable in 7 years. This interest-free loan is open to people whose tax income does not exceed €14,000 per year, or to micro-enterprises, according to a decree published in the Official Journal of April 24, 2022. https://www.service-public.fr/particuliers/actualites/A15644

[5] The ecological bonus will be improved by 1,000 euros for half of households buying an electric car, Emmanuel Macron announced in a daily interview with Les Echos on Monday. “Because we want to make the electric car accessible to everyone, we are even going to increase the ecological bonus from 6,000 to 7,000 euros for half of the households, the most modest”, declared the Head of State who will go this Monday at the opening of the Paris Motor Show. https://www.liberation.fr/economie/transports/achat-de-voiture-electrique-coup-de-pouce-ameliore-pour-la-moitie-des-menages-20221017_F4UAXUV6HBANLIXIOUHDQF43DU/

[6] After examining the climate bill for two weeks, the Senate adopted the text on Tuesday, by 193 votes for, 100 against and 54 abstentions, in a solemn vote. Compared to the version voted on at first reading by the National Assembly in early May, the latter has changed significantly. The parliamentarians (seven deputies and seven senators) are to meet on July 12 to try to find a compromise in the Joint Commission (CMP). https://www.liberation.fr/environnement/climat/projet-de-loi-climat-il-est-temps-de-se-rendre-compte-quon-est-collectivement-dans-la-merde-20210629_MYYXK5LTZBDQ7DTC74IZZOTHJE/

[7] Read also; https://at.tumblr.com/earaercircular/no-more-cucumber-in-plastic-france-bans-plastic/mi23wtgu5pv6 & https://at.tumblr.com/earaercircular/europe-introduces-stricter-rules-for-packaging/g6jn3d0gm9uv

[8] Say goodbye to cotton swabs, cutlery, cups, plates and other plastic stirrers. Bye, at the same time, sticks for balloons, confetti and barbecue skewers. As of this Thursday, all these single-use items must (in theory) have disappeared from the shelves of French shops and fast food restaurants, by virtue of their ban since January 1. Distributors and fast food restaurants had a six-month deadline (let's say a tolerance) to sell their stocks of polystyrene baguettes or "kebab" trays. That is two short days ahead of the entry into force of the ban on these non-reusable plastic items throughout the territory of the European Union and five years after the disappearance of plastic checkout bags. https://www.liberation.fr/lifestyle/le-plastique-a-usage-unique-non-grata-des-rayons-des-supermarches-20210701_M5UGLI3NIBFPZGJE46GZLZJKOM/

[9] Read also: https://at.tumblr.com/earaercircular/mattel-has-launched-a-collection-and-recycling/1t89uoiel38j

& https://at.tumblr.com/earaercircular/coolrec-and-playmobil-turn-old-refrigerators-into/g2q1u71qtzbh & https://at.tumblr.com/earaercircular/the-obstacle-course-to-green-lego-blocks/ltre1f7wcsp2

[10] Recycling of toys remains marginal. Main problem: toys are often made of several different materials or clumps of plastic, which complicates the task. Currently, there is no specific sorting bin as for plastic packaging, paper or glass. But the creation of a specific recycling sector for toys is in the government's boxes. This is part of its “extended producer responsibility” (EPR) project, one of the key points of the bill for a circular economy. Consultation with manufacturers is underway and this should lead to a specific sector on January 1, 2021. Toy producers will eventually have to finance the end of life of their products via eco-organizations. https://www.liberation.fr/evenements-libe/2019/07/13/comment-recycler-les-jouets-de-vos-enfants_1739209/

[11] Read also: https://at.tumblr.com/earaercircular/circular-economy-building-waste-management-turns/g9tqd663faay

[12] Good for the climate, good for the wallet. To decarbonize mobility and reduce air pollution, the government finally intends to make carpooling take off from everyday life. That is to say journeys of less than 80 kilometres, which correspond to commuting. The objective: to convince regulars of individual use of the car to share their racing car. The car is responsible for 17% of greenhouse gas emissions in France. With carpooling, the reduction of CO2 emissions can reach up to 30% and the savings made can go up to 2,000 euros per year and per vehicle, pleads the government. After the national daily carpooling plan launched in 2019, but weighed down by the Covid crisis, the first outlines of a “reinforced” plan for the period 2023-2027 were unveiled Monday evening to the press. https://www.liberation.fr/economie/transports/bonus-de-100-euros-aides-aux-collectivites-le-plan-du-gouvernement-pour-repropulser-le-covoiturage-20221213_G2X5Q2IRVNHHHAP54GZTZUDNWU/

[13] BlaBlaCar is a French online marketplace for carpooling. Its website and mobile apps connect drivers and passengers willing to travel together between cities and share the cost of the journey. The company does not own any vehicles; it is a broker and receives a commission (between 18% and 21%) from every booking. The platform has 100 million members, of which 25 million are active per quarter, and is available in 22 countries, almost all of which are in Europe and Latin America – countries include: Belgium, Brazil, Croatia, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Hungary, India, Italy, Luxembourg, Mexico, The Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Spain, Turkey, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom

[14] Karos is the leading European carpool platform for daily commuting. Karos develops, deploys and maintains the software and support local partners with best practices and carpool knowledge to ensure the success of the deployment in the country. https://www.karos-mobility.com/

[15] Klaxit is a action platform to revolutionize the daily mobility thanks to carpooling home-work. They are building a mode of transportation community and accessible to all for daily journeys, France is in the world. https://www.klaxit.com/qui-sommes-nous

[16] After the pedestrianisation of the roads on the Seine bank, the city of Paris and the Ile-de-France region clash on new ground, against the backdrop of a presidential match between Anne Hidalgo, socialist mayor of the capital, and Valérie Pécresse, president local Republicans. The project: to reserve one of the lanes of the Paris ring road for the exclusive use of carpooling and buses after the 2024 Olympic Games. https://www.liberation.fr/societe/ville/paris-reserver-une-voie-du-periph-au-covoiturage-le-bras-de-fer-entre-pecresse-et-hidalgo-20211201_3MFSYU745JDYLKEII4CSV3XM5Q/

After France, Belgium is also thinking of obliging fast food restaurants to use reusable tableware.

Since yesterday, French fast food restaurants are no longer allowed to serve meals in disposable packaging. So no more fries in disposable containers and hamburgers in cardboard boxes. The chains must therefore invest in reusable crockery and in dishwashers and staff. Hamburger chain McDonald's, for example, had red containers made of recycled plastic and reusable cups and cutlery. The smaller restaurants, where fewer than twenty customers can be served at the same time, will be postponed for a while.

Federal Environment Minister Zakia Khatabbi (Ecolo) wants to introduce a similar scheme in Belgium, writes the Belgian newspaper Le Soir. She is working on a bill that she will first test with the sector.

In the current version of the text, disposable trays for chips and other foods would no longer be allowed. This also applies to plastic cups or containers for pasta, noodles and salad, or plasticized cardboard for ice creams or drinks. Plastic will also no longer be acceptable for take-away meals.

First reusable cups

Belgian sector federation Comeos[1], which also represents fast food restaurants, is not opposed to a ban, reports Le Soir. But the sector requires some adjustments, such as a distinction between meals eaten on site and take-away meals. For the latter, new packaging must first be designed. For on-site use, Comeos wants a phased introduction, with reusable cups for drinks first. Comeos does not consider an introduction by 1 January 2024 to be realistic.

Source

Dries De Smet, Ook België wil af van wegwerpservies in fastfoodrestaurants, in: De Standaard 2-1-2023, https://www.standaard.be/cnt/dmf20230101_97876837

Over 400 organisations have joined forces to demand that the five biggest plastic polluters commit to transparent, ambitious and accountable reuse and refill systems.

In an open letter, organisations and members of the #breakfreefromplastic movement[1], including City to Sea[2], Greenpeace[3] and Friends of the Earth[4], have called on the CEOs of Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, Nestle, Unilever and Procter and Gamble to address the environmental, social and health impacts that their plastic use is having on communities disproportionally from the Global South. The letter was published on World Refill Day[5].

In the face of climate catastrophe, more than 400 signatories said plastics would add more than 850 million metric tons of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere in a single year, equivalent to 189 new 500 MW coal-fired power plants, and stressed that the production of the material is expected to rise by 40% over the next decade, driven in large part by single-use plastic packaging.

Plastics industry is responsible for climate crisis

The said companies all buy packaging from manufacturers supplied with plastic resin or petrochemicals by well-known fossil fuel producers like ExxonMobil, Shell, Chevron Phillips, Ineos, and Dow, the statement adds.

“The role of the plastics industry and the climate crisis cannot be separated. One report estimates that if the entire lifecycle of plastic were a country, it would be the fifth-largest emitter of greenhouse gases in the world,” the environmentalists pointed out.

In addition to fuelling the climate crisis, the production, use, and disposal of plastic create toxic pollution that harms both people and the planet. Plastic production and disposal, especially via incineration or landfill, disproportionately impact communities of colour, low-income communities and indigenous communities by polluting the air, water, and soil.

At the same time, the toxic chemicals in plastic packaging and products cause irreparable damage to the environment, wildlife, and our own health through everyday use.

Reveal, reduce, reinvent

Signatories including businesses, campaigners and faith groups have stated that for the companies to move their reputations from “big pollution” to “big solution” they need to urgently:

Reveal the full extent of their plastic footprint if they do not already do so. This is a core part of accountability and essential if corporations are to reduce their plastic footprint. Reporting should be per single-use plastic item, as well as by weight.

Reduce the amount of plastic they use by setting ambitious, transparent targets, and supporting action plans on how to achieve them. Then, prioritise achieving those targets.

Reinvent their packaging to allow for refill and reuse. To do this, they should commit to collaborating with other companies to standardize reusable packaging and build shared reuse systems and infrastructure.

Recent polling in 28 countries around the world revealed the vast majority of people agree that manufacturers and retailers should take responsibility for reducing, reusing, and recycling plastic packaging, with a global average of 85%.

Coca-Cola is responsible for one fifth of the entire world’s production of PET – polyethylene terephthalate, #breakfreefromplastic said, citing its Brand Audit[6], in which it found more Coca-Cola-branded waste than the next two top polluters combined.

World Refill Day, June 16, is a global campaign to prevent plastic pollution and help people live with less waste. It is run by British organization City to Sea.

Source

Igor Todorović, Environmentalists demand reusable, refillable packaging from biggest plastic polluters, in: Balkan Green Energy News, 17-06-2022, https://balkangreenenergynews.com/environmentalists-demand-reusable-refillable-packaging-from-biggest-plastic-polluters/

[1] The #breakfreefromplastic Movement is a global movement envisioning a future free from plastic pollution. Since its launch in 2016, more than 11,000 organizations and individual supporters from across the world have joined the movement to demand massive reductions in single-use plastics and to push for lasting solutions to the plastic pollution crisis. BFFP member organizations and individuals share the common values of environmental protection and social justice, and work together through a holistic approach in order to bring about systemic change under the #breakfreefromplastic core pillars. This means tackling plastic pollution across the whole plastics value chain - from extraction to disposal – focusing on prevention rather than cure and providing effective solutions. https://www.breakfreefromplastic.org/about/

[2] City to Sea is an environmental organisation, campaigning to stop plastic pollution at source. It was founded in Bristol in 2015, by environmental campaigner Natalie Fee. It works with communities, businesses, and everyday activists around the world to provide practical solutions to the plastic problem. https://www.citytosea.org.uk/about-city-to-sea/

[3] Greenpeace is an independent global campaigning network. Greenpeace was founded in Canada in 1971 by Irving Stowe and Dorothy Stowe, immigrant environmental activists from the United States. Greenpeace states its goal is to "ensure the ability of the Earth to nurture life in all its diversity" and focuses its campaigning on worldwide issues such as climate change, deforestation, overfishing, commercial whaling, genetic engineering, and anti-nuclear issues. It uses direct action, lobbying, research, and ecotage to achieve its goals. The network comprises 26 independent national/regional organisations in over 55 countries across Europe, the Americas, Africa, Asia and the Pacific, as well as a co-ordinating body, Greenpeace International, based in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. https://www.greenpeace.org/international/explore/about/history/

[4] Friends of the Earth International (FoEI) is an international network of environmental organizations in 73 countries. The organization was founded in 1969 in San Francisco by David Brower, Donald Aitken and Gary Soucie after Brower's split with the Sierra Club because of the latter's positive approach to nuclear energy. The founding donation of $500,000 (in 2019 USD) was provided by Robert Orville Anderson, the owner of Atlantic Richfield oil company. It became an international network of organizations in 1971 with a meeting of representatives from four countries: U.S., Sweden, the UK and France. FoEI currently has a secretariat (based in Amsterdam, Netherlands) which provides support for the network and its agreed major campaigns. https://friendsoftheearth.eu/who-we-are/

[5] World Refill Day on 16th June is a global public awareness campaign to prevent plastic pollution and help people live with less waste. As a global movement, we have the power to create a wave of change and show businesses, brands and governments that we still want to see action on plastic and reuse is the solution. https://www.awarenessdays.com/awareness-days-calendar/world-refill-day-2022/#:~:text=World%20Refill%20Day%20on%2016th,and%20reuse%20is%20the%20solution.

The rattling machine is fed with cotton on long cords, where dozens of small sticks lie in a magazine. Mini portions of the wool, weighing far less than one gram, are then fastened to the ends with glue in quick succession - around 3000 pieces per minute. The cotton swabs from Oederan[1] (Middle Saxony district) are likely to be found in many households - an everyday product that is usually given little attention. Manufacturer Lemoine[2] now wants to improve their environmental balance and uses bags made of waste paper instead of plastic for the packaging.

The cotton swabs from Saxony are sold throughout Europe. The company has around 100 employees at the Oederan site, who are said to produce around two billion of such chopsticks a month. Doctors warn against using them to clean the ears, but they are used, for example, for make-up or for household cleaning purposes. A few years ago, Lemoine switched from plastic to paper sticks. In this way, 850 tons of plastic would be saved every year, calculates Managing Director Sébastien Schaal.

"But that wasn't enough for us," he explains. "We were convinced that packaging can also do without plastic." With the investment of more than two million euros in the new system, the sticks are now packed in paper bags - 160 pieces per bag. This should save another 18 tons of plastic a year.

Plastic packaging is still widespread. According to the German Association for Plastics Packaging and Films [3], 4.7 million tons of such packaging and films were manufactured in Germany in 2021. The amount has more than doubled since the early 1990s. One way to improve the environmental balance is recycling. But compared to other materials, plastic performs comparatively poorly here. According to the Federal Environment Agency[4] in 2019, the rate was 84 percent for glass, almost 90 percent for paper, paperboard and cardboard and around 93 percent for aluminium and steel, but only 56 percent for plastic.

However, environmentalists warn against simply replacing plastic packaging with other materials such as paper, and in many cases speak of "greenwashing". Because the production of paper packaging also requires energy and chemicals. Viola Wohlgemuth, an expert on recycling management from the environmental protection organization Greenpeace, emphasises that many products could do without packaging altogether. Otherwise, reusable packaging similar to beverage bottles is an alternative - from yoghurt to coffee. This type of reusable packaging could then also be made of plastic, says Wohlgemuth.

From their point of view, disposable products should be better replaced by long-lasting counterparts. Then a lot of packaging could be saved. She counts cotton buds, such as those made in Oederan, among such articles. If you don't want to do without it in the bathroom, there are alternatives made of wood or silicone, says the environmentalist. These can be cleaned and used multiple times.

Lemoine CEO Schaal admits that his cotton swabs are disposable. However, he believes that the majority of consumers are not willing to change when it comes to such hygiene articles. Saxony’s Prime Minister Michael Kretschmer (CDU) praised the company's commitment on Monday: "We realize that we have to use resources more sensibly."

Source

dpa-infocom, Wattestäbchen-Hersteller Lemoine: Papier statt Kunststoff, in: Süddeutsche Zeitung, 14-3-2022, https://www.sueddeutsche.de/dpa/dpa-dpa.urn-newsml-dpa-com-20090101-220314-99-518438