Resident waste expert Dr Merrin Pearse recently penned two articles arguing that not all plastics is bad, but you do need a strategy and shared some top tips and pitfalls to avoid.

One area that leaders often focus on when looking to reduce plastic usage in an organisation, is single use plastic, such as straws. Good progress had been made in certain industries but then the pandemic struck and single use was seen as a safer option. In the video below Dr Merrin argues that this does not have to be the case. He also highlights example methods that can be adopted to improve the life of single use plastic packaging products, through their design and ability to be reused and recycled.

He also talks about hidden single use plastics such as the packaging of products. 

If you are designing products in one country, manufacturing them in another and selling them in yet another country, are you taking into consideration what recycling systems are in place and operating well in your manufacturing and final sale countries as their systems may be very different to where your designers are based?

Dr Merrin delves into this interesting topic in the video below.

Related thinking