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Mr Milk said..
Can you tell us more about how easy it is to recycle plastics?
My ancient understanding of plastics is that there are a whole range of monomers which are polymerised and blended with various stabilisers, plasticisers dyes etc. It is difficult to separate them for blending into virgin monomer, so true recycling doesn't happen. What does get done is downcycling into things like garden pots and other short life single use products. I think some plastic waste is being melted into asphalt, but you have to worry about what happens to the estrogen like plasticisers that will gradually leach away from the roadbase into the environment.

Incredibly easy and hard at the same time.
the problem is that most countries and even cities have different recycling capabilities which makes an easily recyclable item hard to recycle.
labelling on most products is also highly inconsistent and difficult for consumers to know whether it can actually be recycled or not. Lots of products show recycling symbols but can't be recycled in the cities or countries they are sold - some aren't even a recycle able product but will show a recycling icon 'green-washing' is the marketing term. Same scenario with degradable and compostable items, they need their own waste streams seperately to recycling but often aren't labelled this way.
also some items are fully recyclable but have little or no value when recycled, so often end up at landfill even if they are put in the correct recyclable bin.
Polyprop and Pet strapping are good examples of this. Totally recyclable in their end states, but as they are often coloured- once recycled their value is not high and often ends up going to landfill. Removing the colour in the strap changes everything as now recyclers have a clean slate to re-make in to whatever colour they want, but the clear options don't perform as well in the sun or outdoor wearing. furthermore, waste companies are in it to make money (not just help the planet), so their first interest is usually on-sell profits rather than helping divert a product from landfill.
the more you dig, the more you will find out how broken and complicated the system is.

im trying to work on launching a few ideas in to NZ at the moment but trying to go against the norm is a lot of time and work even if there's interest and commercial viability

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cisco said..>>>
Just about everything we buy these days is packaged in plastic and we do not have a choice in this.

We are in a plastic plague.

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I beg to differ, there are alternatives if you avoid the worst culprits, the big super markets, for instance here we have a bulk shop called the "Glass Jar", you bring along your jar, it gets weighed and marked, fill it with yummy stuff and it gets weighed again. Zero plastic used. we have small string bags we take to the fresh veggie shop, to put our fruit and veggies in, again zero plastic. Admitted dairy products all come pre-wrapped. It's the stuff that comes double and triple wrapped from the factory I object to, and would normally look for an alternative.

It's the dollars that count, if stuff doesn't sell because there's too much plastic, things will change. So the solution is in the hands of the average consumer. I wouldn't expect government to make a lot of difference, unless there's strong public support, to make it a positive votes issue