Are Single-Use Plastics Seeing A Resurgence?
It wasn’t long ago that single use plastics were derided, avoided and even legally banned in many places. Over the last few years, cities and towns outlawed single-use plastic bags for shopping. Plastic straws were banned in the country’s largest state and in small businesses alike. Because we rightly fear pollution and because we saw horrifying pictures of the “Great Pacific Garbage Patch,” parts of our society acted aggressively.
But will another fear—the fear of contagions—reverse the movement against single-use plastics?
With the impact of coronavirus, there is suddenly a reconsideration of laws prohibiting disposable plastic bans. People are nervous about what they touch and who touched it last. There is fear of anything that might carry viruses on the surface.
There is also a greater need for disposable plastic in protective gear for medical workers and the plastic gloves we see worn in supermarkets, at gas stations and on neighborhood streets.
Modern plastics were first produced in the mid-nineteenth century, but they were not a regular part of our lives until after World War I. It was not until after World War II that plastics replaced glass, wood and fabric in so many of the uses that we now see it today. Over the last few decades, as the global population became more aware of the devastations caused by pollution, it only made sense for a backlash against single-use plastics.
We have been told that it is better to use a multi-use, refillable water bottle (without BPA, of course, we are told) than a single-use disposable water bottle. This seems to be obviously true for the environment, especially when we think of all of the disposable water bottles littered on the side of the road, in landfills and floating in the ocean. However, now the world is overcome with the fight against coronavirus and a fear of pandemics. If our priority is protecting people (ourselves, our families and our fellow man), are we going to revert to a preference for single-use items that are less likely to carry pathogens?
Plastics are made from petrochemicals. The trend to abandon single-use plastics has been a topic for the last few years among analysts who forecast a decline in oil demand, a theory commonly referred to as “peak demand.” There are no good estimates of what percentage of crude oil goes into single-use plastic manufacturing. However, if the trend against single-use plastic reverses, one argument for peak demand will be negated.
According to the Freedonia Group, the single-use plastic bag market was set to decline through 2023. The retail bag market, however, was forecast to grow. This industry includes reusable bags, many of which are made from plastic, and paper bags. If this trend is reversed as a result of coronavirus and pandemic fears, the plastics industry is positioned to benefit from the low crude oil prices by purchasing the feedstock needed to manufacture these goods at exceptionally low prices.
The role of single-use plastics is a societal discussion that probably can’t be addressed appropriately until the coronavirus outbreak subsides. But two months ago, single-use plastics seemed on their way out. That may not be true anymore.
Credits – http://www.forbes.com
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