1. The Environmental Perspective:
Why we need to move in the Lifecycle of Food Packaging
First, let me introduce my organization.
UPSTREAM used to be called the Product Policy Institute. For years we worked on zero waste by focusing on making producers take-back their products for recycling- The theory behind this policy approach (i.e. Extended Producer Responsibility) was that by forcing producers to be responsible for proper management of their products at end of life, we could force them to design for recycling and reduce waste.
But, about 5 years ago, when we started to deal with packaging and plastics, we could see that no EPR policy had ever forced producers to reduce the quantity of waste, and we realized that when it comes to plastics in the ocean, that even if products were designed to be more recyclable, they would still escape into the environment.
Miriam Gordon
Program Director
(415)

2. A Global Movement to Break Free From Plastic
We became one of the founding members of Break Free From Plastic, a global coalition that is now comprised of 1300 organizations working to solve the problem of marine plastic pollution.
And at about the same time, we rebranded as UPSTREAM, because we realized that to solve this problem, we need to go UPSTREAM in the life cycle of the products and find ways to reduce consumption so less packaging would be available to escape into the environment.

3. The Biggest Sources of Marine Plastic Pollution
Foodware -75% of top 20 ocean plastics products from land-based sources
Major foodware culprits-
Food wrappers
Bottle caps
Plastic bottles
Straws, stirrers
Lids
Utensils
Containers
Cups and plates
Looking at the problem from a marine plastic pollution lens, food and beverage packaging is the main culprit when it comes to ocean plastics.
Foodware represents 75% of the top 20 products entering the ocean from land-based sources.
These 8 items (all food packaging items) the ones that are most prevalent in beach and ocean cleanups

4. Recent studies estimate that there are over 150 million tons of plastics in the ocean today.
Each year, at least 8 million tons of plastics are discharged to the ocean — which is equivalent to dumping one garbage truck full of plastic into the ocean every minute.

5. Without a serious response, the plastic pollution problem will grow exponentially.
Cheap shale gas in the United States resulting from fracking is fueling massive new investments in plastics infrastructure in the U.S. and abroad.
$164 billion in investments are being made to build 264 ethylene cracker projects in the U.S. alone
Plastics production is expected to double within 15 years, and quadruple by
The petrochemical industry expects two large groups of consumers to create the demand for increasing supplies of single-use, disposable plastics:
millennials in the United States and European Union, and
consumers in the Global South whose incomes are rising. (CIEL- Fueling Plastics Untested Assumptions)

6. If no action is taken, this dumping of garbage trucks full of plastic in the ocean will increase to two per minute by 2030 and four per minute by and by 2050 there will be more plastic in the ocean than fish.
Packaging is a serious climate threat in terms of the total carbon footprint of every single plastic or other disposable product we consume for a few minutes and throw away.
Cleanup efforts can’t currently make a dent- and many of the technologies that we hear about that purport to offer silver bullets such as massive booms that capture plastic – like the recently launched The Ocean Cleanup- and plastic dissolving enzymes in bacteria- are unproven and there are serious concerns regarding their potential impact on the ocean ecosystem. .

7. “Pouchification”
This massive build-out of plastics production is making an already cheap product even cheaper, ensuring that we will continue to see more single use products made from plastic.
That’s why suddenly I can’t find organic tea that isn’t in a plastic pouch or individually wrapped in plastic, and why young parents are being sold on feeding their babies with plastic squeeze tubes. And why all throughout Asia, consumers are being sold all kinds of products in individually wrapped servings using pouches.

8. No Single Use Foodware Type is a Silver Bullet
Biobased-
Not a solution for marine impacts
Higher impacts: acidification, nutrient loading and water consumption
Not marine degradable
Compostable
Higher impacts that counterparts based on feedstock production (agriculture and forestry)
Doesn’t always work- for plastics
Doesn’t recover nutrients or value; also can be toxic
Compostable plastic not marine degradable
Recyclable Foodware
Some can be lower impact
Often not recyclable in real world due to contamination
NO SINGLE USE FOODWARE TYPE IS A SILVER BULLET
Biobased- i.e. packaging made from plants- not really more environmentally friendly than say a petroleum based plastic-LCAs tell us that they are worse in terms of acidification, eutrophication (nutrient loading into waterways), and water consumption.
---Biobased materials are also not necessarily compostable or and are not marine degradable.
Compostable products—LCAS also tell us that they tend to be more environmentally damaging than the products they are designed to replace
---One primary reason for this is the  higher burdens associated with the growing the agricultural products or cutting down the trees to make compostable packaging
---Composting, unlike other end-of-life waste management alternatives such as recycling, is a relatively poor method of recovering nutrients or value embedded in human-made materials
--It has been found to contain toxic substances, as we will be discussing later
---And as many of you know, Not all certified compostable packaging fully composts in all compost facilities,
---Further, most compostable plastic packaging does not degrade in marine environments.
Recyclable products:
While there are generally environmental benefits associated with recyclable packaging, for food service ware, these benefits are not often realized since when contaminated with food, recyclable packaging gets landfilled

9. Change the Throw-Away Culture
Culture Shift from:
Disposable
Throw-away
Single-use
To:
Refillable
Reusable
Reduced
The real culprit here is our throw away culture.
What we need to be thinking about with our policy hats on is this- how do we help foster a culture shift away from disposable, throw away, and single use
To refillable, reusable, and reduced?

10. Government Taking Action All Over the World
UK Plastics Pact- 100% plastic pkg reusable, recyclable or compostable by 2025
Vancouver- businesses must choose:
No distribution of disposable cups or plastic/paper bags
Ireland: considering ban on single-use coffee cups- 50% of populace supports-
Charging a fee for disposable cups or paper/plastic bags
Other mechanisms to be finalized through consultation
Scotland- banned single use cups in all gov’t facilities; so did Cork and Dublin
The EU
France: ban all single-use plastic plates, cutlery and disposable cups by 2020; 50% biologically sourced and compostable
Source reduction- 25% food containers and cups
Ban single use straws, plates, cutlery, stirrers, EPS foodware, oxodegradable
Taiwan: by 2025 consumers charges for straws, plastic bags, disposable utensils and beverage cups, full ban by 2030
Mumbai- no plastic bags, no plastic bottles, with heavy enforcement fines
Governments all over the world are grappling with this challenge and coming up with a mixture of policies that ban plastic and shift to other disposables, or really focus on source reduction.

11. Source Reduction Policy Options
CHOOSE DIPOSABLE MATERIALS
Ban PFAS in disposable foodware
Ban plastic Straws/Utensils/ Stirrers/ Plugs- but allow other materials
Ban polystyrene or expanded polystyrene foodware
Only Compostable foodware
Only Recyclable foodware
SOURCE REDUCTION Baby Steps
Ask First / On Demand Straws/Utensils/ Stirrers/ Plugs
Update health codes to allow BYO- or create guidance where needed
X% reusable at events
Source Reduction GOAL- 25% reduction by X Date
Bottle Caps- ATTACHED
Incentivize Refill Stations in Public Places
SOURCE REDUCTION Bigger Steps
No Disposable Straws, Stirrers/ etc. Onsite
Ban ALL disposable Straws/Utensils/ Stirrers/ Plugs
Mandatory charge for take-out cups- results in BYO reusable
Disposable Cups banned at government facilities/ events
No plastic water bottles at city events / facilities
No plastic water at institutions, parks, and elsewhere
SOURCE REDUCTION Big Impact
No disposables for on-site dining
No building permits if no dishwashing capacity to support reuse
Mandatory charge for take-out food containers
All disposable foodware for take-out banned
Retailer Responsibility for Reusable Options
No disposable water bottles for sale
Today I hope you will have an opportunity to review the handout on source reduction policy options and consider ways to address this problem through source reduction-
From an environmental perspective, we shouldn’t be transferring our problems from one type of single use packaging product to another. We need to develop policies that dramatically reduce our reliance on single use, throw away packaging.