How the hottest Southern Metropolis Daily solves t

Southern Metropolis Daily: how to solve the global plastic problem

according to the research, 245 million tons of plastic are consumed every year in the world, of which one quarter is used for packaging, which is the most common use of plastic. Worldwide, only 14% of plastic packaging is recycled, and one third of packaging is not collected at all, directly polluting our streets, beaches and oceans. So, how to solve this problem

by 2050, more plastics than fish

in the early 1960s, when the Beatles charmed many girls, when Sean Connery blew the Jamesbond whirlwind, at the same time, an earth shaking wave was sweeping the United States, that is, plastic

in that year, plastics made rapid progress in the U.S. food industry. As the New York Times pointed out, there are more and more plastic milk bottles, and plastic "has great market potential"

in the United States at that time, although a third of families relied on milkmen to deliver milk to the door in glass bottles, Americans felt that plastic was a magical packaging material. It was lighter than glass, not easy to break, and it was translucent. You can see how much liquid there was in the bottle. With plastic, everyone is happy, except the milkman, because almost all their jobs have been replaced by plastic

it is expected that by 205 (1) enter the product name (number), experimental items and routine contents required by the experimental report; In 2010, the amount of plastic may exceed that of fish in the ocean. Marine life will be suffocated by waste: Micro plastics are all over the soil, water and air, and even enter our bodies. Although human beings cannot fully understand the potential consequences, a large number of plastics have been piled up in landfills, and some plastics are emitting greenhouse gases and causing global warming. Plastic is threatening the health of the earth and its residents, and plastic will not disappear

Procter & Gamble, Unilever, Nestle, Pepsi Cola, Danone, Matt pet care, Yizi international, etc., and is the world's largest consumer of plastics. On January 24, at the world economic forum in Davos, the above-mentioned companies jointly announced an exciting plan: they are working together to carry out a research project called "the key is to optimize the process loop", which plans to adopt recyclable packaging, open a new way of shopping and reduce their dependence on plastics

at present, the "loop" project is still in the testing stage. In May this year, the project will be tried by thousands of consumers in New York and Paris, and it is planned to expand to London in late 2019 and to Toronto, Tokyo and San Francisco in 2020

in other words, "loop" seems to have become the "milkman" of the 21st century, which is used to solve the problem of disposable use of plastics, so that plastic products can be reused

is it feasible

loop "proponent: tomszaky, the proponent of the" loop "program for Princeton University dropouts. He studied at Princeton University, but dropped out. Saki looks ordinary and talks casually, but he has many wonderful ideas

in his first year of work, saki promoted the fertilizer business by talking about "worm feces", which attracted media attention. At the age of 24, he successfully won contracts from Wal Mart and home depot

saki, 37, is the CEO of terracycle. Although Terry environmental protection is only a medium-sized waste management company, its global sales reached US $32million in 2018 alone. Saki set the corporate goal of Teri environmental protection: "waste elimination is the first goal, and profit-making is the second goal." This resonated with many people. Some employees even voluntarily reduced their salaries to work for Teri environmental protection

at present, Teri environmental protection company is trying to raise $25million from small investors

this move made saki get the "ticket" of the 2017 Davos forum. So, with immature ideas and a preliminary plan, saki went to Davos forum from Trenton, New Jersey, to promote his ideas to leaders of major brands around the world

it can be said that his fluent eloquence made saki show his talents in Davos, but saki himself believed that it was the specific open atmosphere of Davos forum that allowed him to contact business leaders and made them easy to accept his ideas

persuade big plastic polluters with creativity

during a short meeting with leaders of major companies, saki showed his creativity. He pointed out that according to the current system operation, the fate of packaging products is not in the hands of manufacturers, so the goal of these manufacturers is often to produce the cheapest packaging; But on the contrary, what if the manufacturer keeps the ownership of the bottle in his own hands through collection and reuse? Companies can take packaging as their long-term assets

saki believes that over time, the above ideas can encourage manufacturers to invest more resources to produce more elegant and durable packaging designs

in fact, saki also cleverly hid some important subtext: the vast majority of plastic waste in landfills and oceans came from major brand companies around the world. In addition, the major companies he interviewed were all carefully selected in advance -- from the list of the worst plastic polluters listed by Greenpeace. Because he knows that these companies are facing a potential public relations crisis

saki's efforts were not in vain, and his creativity was recognized. After the trip to Davos in 2017, many consumer goods giants showed interest in saki's environmental protection plan. Saki also began to seriously consider turning circular ideas into reality in 2019

so how does the "loop" cycle project work

saki said, "loop" customers must first establish an account, fill in a task basket, and list the goods they want to buy and need to be recycled. The price of recycled goods in the basket should be equal to that of goods in nearby stores

in addition to the normal cost of the "loop" project, customers must also pay a fully refundable deposit for each product. How much is the deposit? For example, the Commission for a bottle of Coca Cola is about 25 cents, and the deposit for a box of diapers is 47 dollars. In short, the deposit depends on the size and quantity of products. After customers purchase about 5 to 7 items, the circular transportation fee of their goods can be completely exempted

in the United States, goods participating in the "loop" project will be packed in handbags with the "loop" logo, and u? PS express company is responsible for delivering to customers. When customers use up shampoo and ice cream, they just need to put the packaging box of these products into the handbag with "loop" logo, u? PS express company will come to recycle

customers can choose to reuse this cycle, or they can quit and get back the deposit

of course, if the customer fails to return the packing box, he cannot get back the deposit. In addition, when the packaging boxes are not suitable for reuse, thari environmental protection company of Saki will recycle them

loop "project still has room for improvement

saki admitted that for customers," loop "may be very convenient in some aspects, but it also has potential disadvantages:" requiring people to use another station outside the existing shopping station, some people will feel superfluous. "

saki hopes that "loop" will eventually be integrated into existing stores, including Amazon. "We will not hurt or split retailers. We are trying to provide a plug-in that can make them better."

at present, Carrefour in France and Tesco in the UK have officially become partners in "trying to find and solve the difficulties and problems existing in the use of users in a timely manner". It is expected that more businesses will join this project

in addition to consumers, the emergence of "loop" is also a great challenge for partner companies. Saki said that in addition to paying the "franchise fee" of the "loop" project, the most important thing is that many companies must redesign their traditional packaging, "this is not a cheap project"

thari environmental protection company of Saki has put forward the requirement to "loop" partners: design a package that can be reused at least 100 times. But this is obviously only an ideal goal. Terry environmental protection company still needs to do tests to ensure that these requirements can be truly implemented

V, vice president of global sustainable development of P & G? irginie? H? Elias also pointed out: "if a package can only be reused several times, or the transportation system is too decentralized, the carbon emissions from freight and other factors may exceed the environmental benefits of 'loop'."

in addition, unlike in the past, product information will be printed on the packaging. The ingredients and nutritional information of all products in the "loop" project should be displayed on the cards in the "loop" handbag, which also makes collaborators feel the pressure of innovation

saki hopes that by 2060 (when plastic has entered the human food industry for 100 years), mankind can return to its original starting point. Treat garbage as an anomaly and say goodbye to plastic garbage happily