
Plastic Plates, Cutlery, Cups to Be Banned in Europe as of 2021 - pdog
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-03-27/plastic-plates-cutlery-cups-to-be-banned-in-europe-as-of-2021
======
ars
Stated Problem:

"With plastics accounting for around 80 percent of marine litter"

Government:

"the EU rushed through deliberations on the planned restrictions in less than
a year."

Solution:

"Ban the plastic that doesn't end up in the ocean".

Good job.

Maybe someone should have told them the plastic in the ocean comes from
countries without trash service, and from fishing, maybe they could have
funded some charity work or NGO's or something.

This ban isn't going to help a thing.

So if I'm hosting a birthday celebration for 50 people, I'm supposed to what?
Ask guests to BYOC (bring your own cutlery)? Waxed paper plates and cups work
OK (although not for hot drinks), but bamboo cutlery gives me a nails-on-
chalkboard feeling.

~~~
random878
It's not a binary choice of being 100% perfect or not bothering - it's about
small, meaningful steps in a better direction.

~~~
yostrovs
Is it really "meaningful" to chop trees instead of using petroleum for single
use items? I don't know exactly, but the impact difference on trash in the
ocean will approach zero.

~~~
random878
> I don't know exactly

You sum up a fundamental problem of the world so well - you don't know, but
you damn well wont let that stop you from formulating a strong opinion about
it!

~~~
yostrovs
The point of view I'm expressing is skepticism of one thing accompanied by
basic knowledge of another. You, on the other hand, are all knowing and
skepticism has no place for you.

~~~
random878
> I don't know exactly, _but the impact difference on trash in the ocean will
> approach zero_.

Sorry, I couldn't see your healthy skepticism as it was blocked from view by
your statement of fact.

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tomatotomato37
Fun statistics:

    
    
      2010 total plastic marine debris[0]: 4,800k - 12,700k metric tons
      2010 EU plastic marine debris[0]: 50k-120k metric tons (Higher than the US by ~1k)
      2010 EU plastic marine debris percentage[0]: 1%
      2016 EU export of nontoxic garbage to a country in top 10 plastic marine waste[2]: 269,000 tonnes (a lot missing statistics so wide error bars here)
      2015 percent of nontoxic garbage export that is plastic/mixed[1]: ~9%
      Hours wasted digging through overly verbose pdfs and mislabled charts: Too many
    
      Probable amount of EU plastic that gets exported to top 10 country: 26.9k - 53.8k tonnes
      Crude adjusted EU ranking if 100% of the doubled amount makes it into the ocean: ~10th 
      Incredibly crude adjusted EU plastic marine debris percentage: 2%
    

Other stupid things learned: Netherlands imports hilarious amounts of garbage
[3]

[0]:
[https://www.iswa.org/fileadmin/user_upload/Calendar_2011_03_...](https://www.iswa.org/fileadmin/user_upload/Calendar_2011_03_AMERICANA/Science-2015-Jambeck-768-71__2_.pdf)
(the footnote of table 1 specifically)

[1]: [https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-
explained/index.php...](https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/statistics-
explained/index.php?title=Waste_shipment_statistics_based_on_the_European_list_of_waste_codes#Non-
hazardous_notified_waste_based_on_LoW)

[2]:
[http://appsso.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/nui/show.do](http://appsso.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/nui/show.do)
(You'll have to screw with the customizations to get useful statistics)

[3]: [https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/waste/transboundary-
waste-...](https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/waste/transboundary-waste-
shipments)

------
jfim
I wonder how that will interact with airlines usually using plastic cutlery in
economy.

~~~
random878
They'll probably just use one of the many greener alternatives.

In the UK I've started to notice the emergence of plastic alternatives, e.g.
M&S have wooden cutlery for take away food now instead of plastic. It's good
to see.

If only we could make some progress on disposable coffee cups...

~~~
toyg
The paper straws that have become commonplace in UK cafes are terrible. They
get all soft an ruin the taste of drinks.

I understand there is a problem, I just don’t think we’re nowhere near good
solutions.

~~~
crooked-v
There are good paper straws out there, they're just a tiny bit more expensive.

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DigiMortal
Dumb, this is a waste management issue almost 100%

