Episode 063 | July 3, 2023 | 28:02
Guest: Julia Vol
Published: July 3, 2023
Duration: 28:02
Description
Plastic expert Julia discusses the challenges of plastics and their impact on the environment. She explains that compostable packaging is the only type of degradable plastic, and that it requires proper disposal systems. She and Kristoffer, Director at Green Innovation Group, discuss the need for a comprehensive approach to address the plastic challenge — exploring alternative materials where possible, and end-of-life support. They suggest cross-sector collaborations and industry solutions.
Full transcript
About this transcript
This transcript was automatically generated and may contain inaccuracies, typos, or mistranslations. Episodes recorded before 2024 were transcribed by an on-site model and may have a higher error rate. The content reflects the original conversation to the best of our ability. For the authoritative version, please listen to the audio episode.
There is no such thing as biodegradable plastic — everything on a certain time scale is biodegradable. This table, over a thousand years, also biodegradable. There IS such a thing as compostable packaging. Certified compostable packaging has a specific time — half a year — in specific conditions. Either in home composting for the simpler plastics or in industrial composting that requires higher temperature. They will not degrade if you throw them in the sea or the forest — only if you have the system to support degradation.
Welcome to the Sustainable Healthcare Podcast. Today we have the pleasure of addressing the huge issue of plastics with Julia Vol — an expert who has been working on plastics for ten years.
My background has been working in sustainability and circular economy for over ten years. Started in the CSR space, moved to circular economy. I spent some time at the Ellen MacArthur Foundation on the Isle of Wight — 200 people from 27 nationalities all living on this crazy little island. The last couple of years I worked for corporates — started with a compostable packaging manufacturer, then Rockwool in the built environment, then Pandora.
How big is the plastics problem? The carbon footprint of plastics is about 1.5 to 2 billion metric tons a year — equivalent to the emissions of a country the size of Japan or Russia. And then the biggest problem is end of life. We have no solution for plastics today. The impact on human health and biodiversity — we cannot reverse them. We are stuck with plastics. Plastics is a forever material.
Biodegradable plastics is a field full of misconceptions. There is no such thing as biodegradable plastic — everything on a long enough timescale is. Compostable packaging IS opposed to biodegradable. Certified compostable has a specific time (half a year) in specific conditions — home or industrial composting. They will degrade only if you have the system to support it. When somebody claims biodegradability is a free lunch, do not believe them.
Plastics is everywhere — from utensils to packaging. It is lightweight, durable, cheap. We do not even know how much plastic we use. We do not have accounting of where it is. Even understanding how much plastic is around is super tough. Almost 20% of plastics used in the world is in construction — isolation foam in walls, window frames, floors. Almost half of the plastics in the world has a use phase of less than one month.
In the healthcare sector: nurses and doctors with 30+ years experience will tell you the amount of single-use plastic has been a journey. We started with a lot of sterilization, durable equipment in other materials, and gradually shifted to single-use. You get a whole package of single-use plastics and maybe only use a few bits. As a sector the mission is to make us healthier, but by using this amount of materials and not pairing functionality with material use, they contribute to the problem. The research on the health impacts of plastics is staggering — it is in placenta, breast milk, newborn poop. Counterproductive as a healthcare sector. Why are we poisoning ourselves? Because it is convenient.
How to address the plastic challenge: go to basics. Understand the functionality. Can we reduce the amount? Replace it with something else? Move from single-use to reusable? If we have to use single-use, which single material — and we need a system to support reuse.
Innovation: in the medical sector there are wool materials maintaining cold chain. Fibre-based materials substituting some plastic medicine packaging that can be recycled. The healthcare sector should look at what is happening in fast-moving consumer goods and food packaging.
Design principles: prefer mono materials not mixed with glue, metals or other materials that make recycling harder. Provide end-of-life support. I am curious about what Novo Nordisk is doing with injection pens — creating cross-sector collaboration to collect and reuse them. Look outside a single-company perspective into broader partnerships and value-chain collaborations.
Recycling — is it the solution? No. Recycling is energy intensive and not available everywhere. What is recycled in Denmark might not be recycled if it ends up in India or Pakistan. Most plastics can only be recycled once. And what function they are recycled into — the black garbage bag, or into textiles where they are part of a garment and never get separated and recycled again. Down-cycling. A quick downward spiral. Not a sustainable long-term solution. The material stays on earth. Also, a bottle made from recycled PET has more than two times more microplastics in the water than virgin plastic. So drink up.
What is a safe level of plastic use? Plastic has an important function when used correctly. We need to create a system responsible for reusing and putting it back safely. Right now we use it mindlessly across everything. The planetary boundaries should be our guiding principle.
Where to look for resources: Plastic Soup Foundation, Plastic Planet, Ellen MacArthur Foundation. Look at functionality, purpose, how we are using it, how we are supporting end of use, and whether we can substitute it. Do not rely on “it is going to get recycled and it is fine” — it is not.
Regulation coming: the Single-Use Plastic Directive outlines the 10 most common waste items in the sea — straws, balloon sticks. Construction is also seeing requirements for more recyclability. It is moving on all fronts.
What would you love to see? Stop using plastics for what is not absolutely critical function. Single-use directive on steroids. If we get rid of the pointless plastic uses and applications, we would have made some headway. Thank you Julia. Thanks to all our listeners — please share on your favorite social platform.