The amount of plastic waste around the world is skyrocketing. An estimated 150 million metric tons of plastic are currently floating in the ocean, much of it in plastic food and beverage packaging from restaurants, coffee shops and convenience stores. Every year, an average of 11 million tons of plastic enters the ocean, which is equivalent to one kilogram of plastic for every 30 centimeters of coastline in the world.
The coronavirus crisis is exacerbating the plastic crisis. Since the outbreak of COVID-19, people's need for protection has increased, and online shopping and takeout orders have skyrocketed. Single-use plastic consumption in the US has increased by 250-300% and the amount of waste has increased by 30%, as the use of personal protective equipment, plastic packaging and single-use meal boxes has increased.
If we don't change our current consumption and lifestyle, plastic pollution will triple in 20 years.
Reusable cutlery is a better choice than disposable cutlery. If people eat with plates and cutlery of the kind used at home; People can get their deposit back if they want to drink soda, beer or drinks in reusable cups or bottles and return them; If all restaurants and delivery companies adopted reusable cups and cutlery, we could reduce the amount of plastic waste.
In fact, many businesses, institutions and communities around the world are already moving away from disposables in favor of reusable products. The report, Reuse Wins: The Environmental and Economic Benefits and the Business Case for Foodservice Switching from Single-use to Reuse, has been released by environmental agency Upstream, which makes the environmental, economic and business case for the food and beverage industry to switch to reusable products.
