France Taxes Companies That Use Non-Recycled Plastic

There are a lot of things I have grown up admiring about the French way of living- the healthcare, the food, and that certain je ne sais quoi that I’ve always aspired to attain in order to “rightfully claim my Frenchness.”

But it wasn’t until more recently that I began to see the strides that France has been making when it comes to reducing plastic and food waste, and I couldn’t be prouder.

My parents always say they left because the people are rude and critical, and I have gradually seen more and more of what they mean each time I go there. But there are still so many things that the country is doing well, and I think it’s time we sit back and take some notes.

France has pledged to use only recycled plastic by 2025, and they’re rolling out several environmental initiatives in order to get there.

• A penalty system is being introduced this year to charge up to 10% more for 2019 products that are made of non-recycled packaging

• The introduction of a deposit-refund scheme for plastic bottles

• Tax cuts for recycling operations

• Tax increases for burying trash in landfills

• Standardization of the color of recycling bins across the nation

The EPA’s latest report in 2015 stated that the U.S. recycled 9.1% of the plastic generated. The French were at more than double that when they set these changes in motion, so why aren’t us Americans just as, if not more, concerned?

As global plastic production continues to grow at an alarming rate, more countries are looking for creative ways to eliminate plastic packaging.

Everyone has heard of or seen a photo of marine animals getting stuck in the plastic rings that hold your favorite 6-pack of beer together.

Some brands have started using compostable rings, or even edible rings like Saltwater Brewery made that could be fed to fish, but Danish brewing giant Carlsberg has begun rolling out the first-ever “snap pack.”

The alternative solution uses small dots of strong glue that you can hear “snap” when you pull them apart before you crack one open.

Wait– it gets even better.

The glue is recyclable, so you don’t have to worry about separating it before recycling the can.

Carlsberg expects this new approach to save 1,200 tons of plastic each year, equivalent to roughly 60 million plastic bags.

While the Danish company works to reduce its waste, some stores in Thailand are making a natural swap, using banana leaves instead of plastic food packaging and bamboo to hold it all together.

There are so many ways we can work to reduce our plastic production and consumption that are already happening around the world.

So, let’s accept that our recycling system isn’t doing too hot and start making it right by focusing on economic incentives instead of goodwill.

We’re dumping more than 8.8 million U.S. tons of plastic into the ocean every year and the numbers have only been going up. Some of it forms gyres (those “large floating garbage patches more than twice the size of Texas” you have probably heard about), but a lot of it breaks down into tiny particles due to the sun and waves only to be absorbed into the food chain (see my post about microplastics).

Companies need to be the ones paying extra for sustainable packaging because that’s the only thing that will motivate them, and we need to make them understand that we won’t agree to anything less.

Happy plastic-free packagin’!

S.