Page 48 - Plastics News August 2024
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COMPANY NEWS
And brand owners may be tempted to pick their there are easy solutions, and some of them
poison, so to speak, when it comes to striking don’t make sense,” he said. “But it’s this very
that balance. nebulous sentiment of ‘be better’ when we don’t
really know what better is. We don’t have a plas-
“Will it be death by a thousand cuts, or would it tics problem, but we have a recycling problem.
be worth it to pay the money to a state and just We continue to make things cheap and dispos-
keep chugging along because the cost of includ- able, and now we need to find a way to address
ing PCR is more expensive than the state penal- them.”
ties?” he noted. “There’s a reasonable way to
approach it at a smaller threshold and not break He added that recycling is “a hard story to sell: ‘I
the bank, and still be moving toward their goals know we’re terrible at this and fixing it is going to
of PCR inclusion.” cost you more money, and may be thrown away
in the end anyway.'”
Even so, Owen acknowledged that brand own-
ers have multiple headwinds, including consum- In addition, the definition of sustainability is dif-
ers demanding change and the threat of voting ferent from person to person and company to
with their money. company, he said.
“Consumers are a real challenge. They think SOURCE – PLASTICS RECYCLING UPDATE
50 PLASTICS NEWS August 2024
