Made out of plastic?

Question

I dearly love to see that ALL THE PLASTIC CONTAINERS for food stuff would be made out JUST ONE KIND OF PLASTIC OR MADE OUT OF BIODEGRADABLE PLASTICS SO IT COULD BE RECYCLED WITH OUT ANY PROBLEMS! As the containers made out off all different types the recycling is very difficult. It would be very good if all the Supermarkets got together on this!!

Answer 1

There are companies that are coming out with bio-degradable plastics.  One such company is Metabolix (stock symbol MBLX).  Archer Daniels Midland also known as ADM a large Agricultural Processor is partnering with them by building a $200 million plant to produce over 100 million pounds of bio-degradable plastics per year. It is just a drop-in-the-bucket of the 350 billion pounds produced per year worldwide, but is a start. It will produce a product they have named Mirel (TM). It can be used to make many types of plastic products.  The first product  it is being use in is a Gift Card from Target Dept Stores. You can find out more at    http://www.metabolix.com/ .

Answer 2

Many supermarket chains can now dictate product supply right down to packaging material so start complaining if they don't use biodegradable or recyclable materials. Consumer pressure will produce results as the article linked below shows.

Answer 3

Supermarkets don't have anything to do with what the packaging is made of.

There are so many types of plastic because no one of them is good for every use.

It will be very difficult to reduce the amount of plastic used in society.  It would require widespread pressure put on companies to avoid it.  That's certainly not happening now.  Meanwhile, you can only do what you can to buy things packaged differently, and write letters to the companies who use plastic packaging.

Answer 4

Amen!

You could buy fresh foods that aren't wrapped in plastic!  This is part of the conservation effort!  I have really cut down on purchasing things that are over packaged.  I also check the plastics to see if they can be recycled.  My community only recycles #1's and 2's.  If I must purchase a #5 I make sure and reuse it for food storage.

Answer 5

Supermarkets do what their customers want. Fill out a suggestion card, contact customer services, write to your local newspaper, start a petition. Tell them this is want you want and if they don't comply, vote with your feet. If we all do this, they would soon get the message.