Plastics add convenience but contribute greatly to environmental woes

A University of Wisconsin Oshkosh professor says American’s addiction to convenience is helping drive the explosion of plastic used in virtually all consumer goods.

Melissa Bublitz, associate professor of marketing at UWO and an affiliate with UWO’s Sustainability Institute for Regional Transformations, was a panelist recently with alumnus Peter Christensen ’10, a chemist working on plastics recycling at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab.

They led a virtual discussion related to The Story of Plastic documentary that depicts how plastic pollution is smothering the oceans and polluting communities around the world...

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Ken Notes: Two notes here, one, China is no longer buying our recyclables which exasperates this problem. And two, the paper industry is advancing new technology that could help.

Also the United States should consider a federal packaging tax to offset the cost of landfills and recycling. They could actually charge a little more on imports than domestic products and could fund much of the waste disposal and reuse industries. Not a new tax because we pay for these thing now with little cause and effect options.