Ocean gyres
Gyres in the oceans contain a high concentration of plastic but are different from plastic floating islands. Learn more about gyres and oceans hotspots.
Who is responsible?
Humans invented plastic, but humans will have to also solve the problems caused by it. Who is responsible for the plastic pollution? There are three parties that bear this responsibility. Governments that can make and enforce rules, companies that produce or use plastics, and consumers. Each party has its own responsibility. But instead of tackling the plastic soup together, people tend to point fingers at one another. Companies tend to place the responsibility on consumers, who are supposed to behave responsibly and leave nothing in the environment. Governments, in turn, are reluctant to come up with new regulations, let alone enforce them. And consumers like to point to the government and the companies, while they can already do a lot themselves.
Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR)
No matter how well-educated consumers are and how many garbage bins are put in public spaces, there are always plastic polluters, indifferent people that keep on throwing plastic in the streets. Therefore, much plastic waste could be prevented by making producers responsible for the waste phase of their products. In other words, they remain the owners of the plastic they sold and must also accept it back after use. Extended producer responsibility (EPR) aims to reduce the total environmental impact of a product. The products are returned or collected after use so that the raw materials can be reused. Unfortunately, companies are wary of the costs that this would entail. And if they fear that their competitive position will be affected, they will soon find the government on their side.
Container deposit system
Container deposit systems are a good example of extended producer responsibility. In the Netherlands, you hardly see any large PET bottles on the street (because there is a Statiegeld deposit on them), but there are a lot of small PET bottles (which are without deposit and therefore without value). From the returned bottles, new plastic bottles can be made, in principle. In the Netherlands, the expansion of the deposit system is mainly being held back by the supermarket chain Albert Heijn, which is concerned about extra costs and space requirements. Almost all Dutch municipalities want to introduce a deposit, even on cans. This initiative would make a huge difference in the amount of litter and clean-up costs. The Statiegeldalliantie shows that the call for the introduction and expansion of container deposits is widely supported.
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