Ban Plastic in Small Businesses, Foodservice & Retail

It’s probably the loudest and most forceful rallying cry in commerce and modern society.

Ban plastic in businesses, foodservice, retail and your homes.

That includes, straws, utensils, plates, cups, lids, bags, bottles and other objects made from non-renewable sources.

Will that create a better world? Perhaps. But don’t bet against it. Savvy business owners are at least listening because the person walking through the door is insisting on it.

Here are some generally accepted reasons for banning plastic bags and other plastic objects:

1.                   Plastic bags do not only pollute our water but also our land. Plastic bags are usually lightweight and can travel very long distances by either water or wind. Wind blows these plastic bags and trashes a whole area. This litter gets caught up in between trees, fences and floats in water bodies and moves to the oceans.

2.                   The plastic bags are made from non-renewable sources and contribute to climate change. Most of plastic is made of polypropylene which is a material manufactured from petroleum and natural gas. All of the materials are non-renewable fossil fuel-based materials and through their extraction and even production, greenhouse gases are created which further contribute to global climate change.

3.                   A lot of energy is used to produce these bags. The total amount of energy required to drive a car for one kilometer or 0.5 miles is the equivalent energy required to produce nine plastic bags. It is not rational that these non-renewable resources are used to make plastic bags when the typical useful life of each and every plastic bag is around 12 minutes.

4.                   Plastic bags do not degrade. In truth, petroleum based plastic bags never degrade. Instead of the plastic degrading, it is broken down into small tiny pieces which end up in the oceans and are then consumed by wildlife. Currently, there are some 46,000-1 million plastic fragments floating within every square mile of the globes oceans.

5.                   Plastic bags are harmful to wildlife and marine life. Birds, animals and marine life such as sea turtles and fish often mistake the plastic bag and other plastic materials for food and consume them. What happens once they consume these plastic materials is that their digestive system gets congested leading to the development of health infections and death when there is suffocation. The animals may also become easily entangled inside the plastic.

6.                   Plastic bags are harmful to human health. There are some chemicals from the plastic bags which can disrupt the normal functioning of hormones in the body. Most plastic fragments in the oceans like plastic bags have some pollutants such as PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyl) together with PAHs (Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons) which are hormone disrupting. Once the marine animals consume these chemicals, they move through the food web then later into the humans who consume fish together with other marine animals. The chemical materials bio-accumulates in the sea animals and fish system as they are exposed to them in the ocean waters. When the humans prepare them they consume all these chemicals affecting their health. They could develop cancers or other serious conditions.

7.                   Plastic bags are expensive and hard to clean or remove from the environment. The amount of plastic bag cleanup is around 17 cents per bag thus in average the taxpayers end up paying around $88 each year just on plastic bag waste. These plastic bags also cost 3-5 cents each. Thus, the plastic considered free is not free after all. Individuals pay a lot to purchase them and even for reusing them. For this reason, plastics should simply be banned.

8.                   Plastic bags have external costs. Several costs are attributed to the production of plastic bags. A prime example is the production and environmental costs.

9.                   Plastic bags are not easy to recycle. Plastic bags are said to present significant challenge in terms of recycling. Recycling facilities do not have the capacity to recycle plastic bags and thus do not accept them. Therefore, the actual recycling rate for plastic bags is around 5%.

10.               Plastic bags tend to last more; perhaps forever and we even use so many of them. Plastic bags never degrade completely so the more the amount of plastic bags the more there is plastic pollution and its effects. Banning the use of plastic bags will help reduce this great effect.

11.               Even if we did decide to recycle plastic bags, these materials still end up in oceans and landfills. Recycling the plastic bags does not affect the fact that they will still be dumped into the environment and end up into either landfills or oceans. These recycled plastic bags are not degradable and cause the same effects as non-recycled plastic bags.

12.               These plastic bags are impacting the environment negatively by making the Great Pacific garbage patch bigger every minute. Most of the plastic materials once released into the environment find their way into waterways and once they are there they dumped into oceans. Great Pacific Ocean is one such area negatively affected with all the plastic material. The more they are thrown into the oceans the more they increase causing the garbage patch to increase in size.

13.               Bans should be adopted because they are greatly effective at reducing plastic big waste. China banned plastic bags and four years later, the amount of plastic bags thrown into the environment had reduced by 40 billion. If the US bans plastic bags, there would be fewer landfills.

14.               Plastic bags don’t keep our streets clean. Most of our cities are not clean because people don’t care to know where they throw their garbage. They do it in water bodies, streets and in the landfills. These wastes litter our streets making them look ugly affecting their aesthetic value.

15.               It helps spread awareness. When we ban plastic bags, we keep our environment clean and at the same time send some message globally about the importance of environment protection. People learn that banning plastic is for a reason and they can take up such important information. They can subsequently begin to understand that the plastic causes some negative effects and the environment and humans need protection against them.

16.               With a ban on plastic bags, there would be improved technology which would boost other businesses. With such a ban, the society would be required to produce some more sophisticated bags. A great manpower will be required by the manufacturing factories so they can make eco-friendly and greener materials.

17.               Banning plastic bags helps save money. These plastics cost a lot of money because the final costs account for the total production costs from their manufacture using petroleum to when they will be thrown away.

18.               People are ready for the ban and thus, it should be adopted. People have seen how much the plastic bags have adverse effects on their health’s and environment and thus, they have desired and opted for change. This change is the use of eco-friendly materials.

19.               Through banning plastic bags, the people will learn to support local workers together with green industries.

20.               People can opt for manufacturing reusable bags so that they create products which are sustainable. Manufacturing reusable bags will create new job opportunities in terms of green manufacturing, research and processing of packaging products.

21.               Other nations are banning the use of plastic because they have noticed that it is causing harm to the environment and human health. Currently, over 40 nations together with municipalities around the globe have instituted plastic bag bans. Other nations should follow suit to reduce the overall environmental implications.

22.               UN Environment Program secretariat has recommended a ban on all plastic bags worldwide. This means there are a thousand and one reasons for the ban of plastic bags. If some governments cannot ban them completely, then they can make the people pay heftily for using plastic bags to discourage its usage.

23.               Through the banning of plastic, cities in various nations can begin to focus on other bigger waste diversion challenges. Cities have had set targets that they are supposed to achieve like in Toronto, Canada where the city council is required to achieve 70% waste diversion by 2010. People cannot achieve the set target because most households do not have green bins. If there is plastic bag bans then city council can place their focus and attention on getting green bins to various apartment buildings and then meeting waste diversion targets.

Recently, USA Today reported that Marriott Hotels will be eliminating plastic straws from its 6,500 hotels within the next year. This is a big deal not only because of the sheer scale of the ban – it will reportedly eliminate 1 billion plastic straws and a quarter-billion stirrers annually – or the fact that hotels are kind of a ground zero for beverage consumption, but also because an awful lot of these properties will be in beachfront locations and/or other areas of natural beauty.

Whole Foods Market is displaying a sign in its supermarkets that says no straws at all – plastic or paper – unless you request one.

Wegmans plans to reduce in-store plastic made from fossil fuels by 2 million pounds this year and seeks to eliminate 10 million pounds by 2024. The supermarket chain is targeting packaging and other single-use plastics. So far in 2019, Wegmans reports replacing plastic straws and drink stirrers with renewable fiber alternatives at all of their corporate work sites and 98 stores in New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Virginia, Maryland and Massachusetts.

To help reach its goal for this year, the company is collaborating with the Center for Sustainable Packaging at Rochester Institute of Technology to identify alternatives. Wegmans anticipates replacing some current packaging with materials made from plant-based renewable fiber, the company says.

Carlsberg beer cans are to be stuck together with glue as it becomes one of the first brewers to abandon plastic rings. The Danish brewer said the move, which has been heralded as a world-first, to attach its multi-packs with adhesive will reduce the use of plastic to package products by 75%.

After a three-year development process, Carlsberg insists the dots of glue bonding its new “Snap Packs” are strong enough to withstand journeys from shelves to homes, yet sufficiently brittle to break when twisted. The eco-friendly packaging innovation will debut in Great Britain, where 30% of Carlsberg’s beer output is drunk every year.

In the mecca of shopping in northeast New Jersey, Paramus, you won’t get plastic bogs for your merchandise if a proposal to ban plastic bags is approved by the borough. The Borough Council introduced the ordinance last week that will ban plastic bags and Styrofoam from every store and restaurant, including the borough’s four major malls. The final draft of the ordinance will be tweaked with input from the Paramus Environmental Commission in the coming days.

Paramus is a significant trophy in the effort to broadly ban plastic bags, says Jennifer Coffey, executive director of the Association of New Jersey Environmental Commissions.

“This is something that is not only possible, but achievable now,” Coffey was quoted as saying. “It’s not something you have to wait to do in the future. It makes a huge difference in for our quality of life and ecosystem.”

Approximately 4.5 billion plastic bags and other products are given to New Jersey shoppers each year. Since the Garden State Plaza was ranked the ninth most lucrative mall in the nation last year by CNBC, with $950 worth of sales per square feet, the impact of removing plastic bags from these retailers could be considerable. Paramus is home to hundreds of large retailers, including Target and Kohl’s, REI and Bed Bath & Beyond as well as pricey brands. 

The Bergen County town won’t be the first municipality with a large retail presence to ban plastic bags: Seattle, Chicago, and all of California have bans in place. Locally, Jersey City and Hoboken have enacted plastic bag bans. New York’s ban is also on the list for next year. 

Maine Gov. Janet Mills signed legislation recently that made the state the first to ban businesses from selling or distributing products made of Styrofoam, also known as polystyrene foam.

“Polystyrene cannot be recycled like a lot of other products, so while that cup of coffee may be finished, the Styrofoam cup it was in is not,” Mills was quoted as saying in a statement, according to The Boston Herald. “In fact, it will be around for decades to come and eventually it will break down into particles, polluting our environment, hurting our wildlife, and even detrimentally impacting our economy,” she said.

More than 256 million pieces of disposable foam cups, plates, bowls, platters and trays are used every year in Maine, the Natural Resources Council of Maine said in a news release after Mills, a Democrat, signed the bill. Businesses, including restaurants and grocery stores, will have to switch to eco-friendly alternatives.

ALDI US, a chain with more than 1,800 US stores in 35 states – including five in the Garden State – that serves more than 40 million customers each month, has announced new commitments to plastic packaging reduction.

According to its press statement, the company is uniquely positioned to influence how its products are sourced, produced and brought to shelves because more than 90% of the store’s range is ALDI-exclusive. The company plans to reach the following set of goals by working with its suppliers:

• By 2025, 100% of ALDI packaging, including plastic packaging, will have reusable, recyclable or compostable packaging;

• By 2025, packaging material of all ALDI-exclusive products to be reduced by at least 15%;

• By 2020, 100% of ALDI-exclusive consumable packaging to include How2Recycle label;

• By 2020, implement an initiative to make private-label product packaging easier for customers to reuse;

• Guide continuous improvement of product packaging by internal expertise and external evaluations.

Greenpeace Senior Oceans Campaigner David Pinsky observed, “ALDI US is taking steps in the right direction by acknowledging its role in the plastic pollution crisis, and beginning to embrace reduction and reuse. The company has already taken positive steps by never offering single-use plastic grocery bags, ensuring they are kept out of landfills and our oceans.”

To further reduce the amount of foodservice packaging that ends up as waste, restaurants have been urged to make sure they’re purchasing recyclable materials and disposing of them properly. A high percentage of restaurant operators report that they recycle, according to the National Restaurant Association’s 2017 Restaurant Sustainability Survey, which found that 29% of restaurants recycle rigid plastics such as cups, some 22% recycle cling wrap and other flexible plastics, and 65% recycle paper and cardboard.

Placing clearly labeled bins and instructions on signage or even the packaging itself can help encourage diners to put their used containers and utensils in the right place when they’re finished. However, differences in recycling capabilities from place to place can make this a more difficult proposition for restaurants with multiple locations.

Recycling and composting is still very much a local issue, so while you may be able to recycle your paper cups in one town you may not do it in the neighboring community. There may not be a national message about recycling but certainly from a local standpoint that’s a little easier.

This growing movement of packaging and utensils being taken out of the restaurant has driven more operators to consider the full life cycle of foodservice packaging. Recycling and composting packages at the end of their life can help reduce waste, but buying packages made from more sustainable materials also has a positive impact on the environment that isn’t dependent on what customers do with the package once they leave the restaurant.

Nearly three in four restaurateurs said they buy at least some packaging and supplies that contain recycled materials, the National Restaurant Association survey found. There’s a wide variety of sustainable packaging and utensils on the market, and operators should “talk to their suppliers about what’s available to them,” advised Laura Abshire, the NRA’s director of sustainability policy and government affairs.

Operators should also talk with distributors and other suppliers about products that they’d like to see offered, and give feedback on how products could be improved. Making sure product performance doesn’t suffer as sustainability improves is key for restaurants, where customer experience is paramount.

The way this campaign has evolved has made the merchant’s opinion almost irrelevant. What is important is that the notion of banning plastic exists and it has attracted a significant number of consumers as passionate adherents – and those consumers, their customers, are adamant about banning plastic and sustainability.

Most people are choosing companies that take a stand on important social, cultural, environmental and political issues, according to an online survey of nearly 30,000 consumers by Accenture Strategy, conducted across 35 countries between August and October 2018.

From compostable doggy poo bags and bamboo toothbrushes to plastic bag bans and electric cars, businesses are standing up to the challenge as consumers flex their wallets. The study found that nearly two-thirds of consumers prefer to buy goods and services from companies whose values align with theirs.

Specifically, more than 60% of respondents said they gravitate towards businesses committed to reducing plastics and improving the environment. Half of those surveyed said they prefer companies that stand up for societal and cultural issues and related causes – not just paying lip service to those causes; authenticity is also highly valued.

Three quarters said they like companies that use high quality ingredients, while more than 60% said they favor businesses that are transparent and treat employees well.

And consumers are ditching businesses that don’t make the grade. Nearly half said they have boycotted companies as a result of those organizations’ actions, and two-thirds believe that refusing to buy a company’s product or complaining on social media can impact how firms behave.

Consumers’ push on businesses is sparking attention in the boardrooms. After all, why should a business – small or otherwise – not heed what the customers’ wants? If the consumers want sustainability, they’ll get it. It consumers don’t want to see plastic, they won’t see it.

Consequently, it’s not smart to reject customer preferences.

“The truth is that sustainable business is good business. Report after report provides irrefutable evidence that companies delivering total value for people, planet and profit significantly outperform their competitors and deliver higher margins. The economic value of sustainable business has now come to the attention of investors and asset managers. Investors are increasingly demanding information on the Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) impacts of their investments. BlackRock, for example, established a range of sustainable exchange-traded funds (ETFs) last year in response to this demand,” noted Lise Kingo, CEO and executive director of UN Global Compact.

And finally for those business owners who are still too stubborn to recognize what’s good for their cash registers, Richard Kestenbaum, co-founder and partner at Triangle Capital LLC, summarized: “I’m not saying that’s a bad thing or a good thing — the important point here is: smart retail brands who want to do good business will listen to their environmentally-sensitive consumers and market their products accordingly.”

In New Jersey, visit the Small Business Development Centers (NJSBDC) or the New Jersey Sustainable Business Registry (or your state’s ASBDC center) about becoming sustainable, helping the planet and growing your business.