BP Warns of "Unintended Consequences" from Plastic Ban

[Marina Schwarz + 1,576]

BP: Plastic ban 'could have unintended consequences'

Well, everything has unintended consequences, doesn't it? But they do have a point. The question, I guess, is whether the unintended consequences will outweigh the benefits.

Edited February 19, 2019 by Marina Schwarz

[Tom Kirkman + 8,860]

"Unintended consequences" reminds me of the Orwellian wordplay of "side effects" in medicine.  There are only "effects" and the wordplay of adding "side" obfuscates from the harmful effect that goes along with the beneficial effect.

[NickW + 2,714]

A more pragmatic approach would be to accept a certain proportion of waste is not economically recyclable.

A lot of the plastic recycled and exported to China etc from the UK has effectively been burnt in bonfires for the price of the landfill tax levied on waste disposal. China has wised up to this hence the ban on accepting waste plastic imports. 

Clean burn incineration and energy recovery is a practical way of resolving the potential plastic mountain (and contaminated paper products) and helps back up intermittent renewables. Its also a home energy resource for energy poor countries. 

Better education & enforcement to persuade and prevent people using the environment & oceans as a convenient dump for wastes especially ones which don't decompose.