Page 80 - Plastics News September 2024
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IN THE NEWS
Challenges in Plastic Packaging: Balancing Sus-
tainability and Functionality
ment as litter. Despite this, this waste is some-
thing that presents a great danger to sea life,
the environment and the human beings.
The dilemma thus comes in trying to create
packaging made from the material but with as
little impact on the environment as possible.
n terms of use, the general public has in fact
become very conversant with the use of plas-
Itic packaging. Be it the food or the things we
consume we are surrounded by plastic pack-
aging and the reasons are quite evident; con- Solution: The industry is for example looking for
venience, protection and cost effectiveness. substitutes like bio-degradable plastics which
However, the escalating rate of environmental take a shorter time to decompose in the envi-
consciousness all over the globe has posed an- ronment. Further, more recycling rates should
other issue; how can the packaging ‘be’ sustain- be achieved and efficient ways of recycling
able and practical for application? In this article, should be developed in order to minimize use
some of the problems that has befallen the in- of plastics.
dustry and probably the ways through which it
can avoid them has been highlighted. 2. Sustainability vs. Performance
Some of the reasons why plastic packaging
1. Environmental Impact of Plastic Waste
is preferred is due to the fact that it is strong,
It goes without saying that one of the most sig- flexible, and the fact that it keeps products iso-
nificant, albeit well-known concerns regarding lated from other products. But those qualities
plastic packaging is environmental. The material are also the reason why we struggle to achieve
called plastics take more than 500 years to de- similar performance levels when using more en-
grade and meanwhile accumulate in the environ- vironmentally friendly materials. For instance,
80 82 PL September 2024
PLASTICS NEWSASTICS NEWS
September 2024
