Page 45 - Plastics News October 2016
P. 45
INTERNATIONAL NEWS
UK group wants packaging Thread International PBC to
makers to help pay for litter help waste collectors in Haiti
AUnited Kingdom group representing the resource Pittsburgh-based polyester fiber and clothing
and waste management industry has called on maker Thread International PBC Ltd. is starting a
plastics firms to fund litter clean-up programs through three-year pilot project in Haiti to help street-level
an "extended producer responsibility" process. The plastic bottle collectors by providing health care,
Environmental Services Association's (ESA), policy paper education and job training services.Thread said in
an announcement that it will partner with outdoor
"The Role of Extended Producer apparel maker Timberland, computer maker HP Inc.
Responsibility in Tackling Litter and the Clinton Global Initiative. Together they will
in the U.K.," considered the provide the equivalent of $300,000 in funding and
merits of the manufacturers in-kind services. The project is designed to help 300
of cigarettes, chewing gum
and fast food contributing to waste collectors in Haiti, including 200 children,
the multi-million pound clean- who collect plastic bottles from landfills, canals and
up costs associated with the streets. They said hope to be able to take the project
littering of their products. to other countries. “The very bottom of the supply
It has called for a levy on chain is where people are the most vulnerable,” said
manufacturers of fast food, Thread CEO Ian Rosenberger. In Haiti, many families
drinks and candy packaging rely on plastic collection as a sole source of income
to cover the “significant costs” to local authorities of and often face the difficult choice of involving children
clearing up these items. in this work in order to ensure the security and
well-being of the family. Thread, provides socially
The report referenced Keep Britain Tidy’s "How Clean is responsible fibers and fabrics and manufactures
England" report which showed that 80 percent of sites clothing from that fabric. Thread also sources material
surveyed in 2014-15 had some form of food and drink- in a similar way from Honduras. Thread does not own
related litter.Littered items included snack packs, fast or operate any plastic bottle collection centers in
food-related litter, candy packaging, alcoholic and non- Haiti, but instead works with its supply chain there
alcoholic drinks-related litter. to collect plastic bottles and turn them into clean
PET flake in Haiti. That flake is then exported to the
The report said: “There is very little tonnage or cost United States and Canada to be processed into fibers
data relating to clearing up food and drinks packaging. or recycled plastic. Thread, a Certified B corporation,
However, a very crude analysis suggests that if we assume says it provides socially responsible fibers and fabrics
half the cost of local authorities’ annual litter and street and manufactures clothing from that fabric. Thread
cleansing bill relates directly to litter and that 27 percent also sources material in a similar way from Honduras.
of that relates to the clear up of food and drinks related
litter then we can put forward a best estimate of over
100 million pounds."
ESA executive director, Jacob Hayler said: “ESA’s
policy paper recommends the introduction of producer
responsibility levies on the manufacturers of some of the
most frequently littered items. “This money would be used
by local authorities to cover litter clean up costs or to help
fund anti-litter campaigns. “We are also calling on the
government to consider the role that extended producer
responsibility could play in its forthcoming litter strategy.”
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