IT STARTS
P U B L I S H E R ’ S D E S K
LET IT NOT END INDUSTRY
It’s official – the plastic bag is a hated entity in New
Zealand.
As we all start the new year, our consumer lives have
a very different look with the free ‘single-use’ plastic
bag gone from most grocery stores and supermarket
chains. The ‘very different’ is people leaving such
places with laden arms, having forgotten their reusable
bags and irked at having to pay for another one.
The winner is supermarkets. They have just found
themselves another revenue source and look great
while doing it.
Of course, I’m not hammering away at the removal
of plastic bags from supermarkets in any sort of
pro-plastic or anti-environmental manner. But what
I am concerned about is the slippery slope and that
today many slopes get a quick douse with grease
before you step on them.
Yes, plastic in this world needs addressing. But, I’m
sorry to say, the removal of plastic bags from New
Zealand supermarkets will make very little difference to
the environment that we live in.
Sure… it’s a step in the right direction for the
environment. But let’s removal social bias and mass
mania from the equation for a bit; have you ever
even seen a free ‘single-use plastic bag’? I know
I have never had one in the house because those
supermarket bags always had another use… for
rubbish and a host of other things. Single-use?
One-off? A nation hoodwinked by a label and a heartstring.
So, what am I doing now for my rubbish? Buying
branded single-use small plastic rubbish bags. The
WITH PLASTIC BAGS…
previous bag had two uses… the groceries and the
rubbish. These new ones definitely only have one
use.
But there’s more that got swept under the carpet
while the government and NZ public frothed at the
mouth. Over the last decade we have become
increasingly alarmed at the amount of plastic in our
oceans with 8 million tons ending up in them every
year. So, where's it come from? That bag in the
stomach of a dead killer whale or turtle… very unlikely
that 'Kiwi Bob' dumped it. In fact, a recent study says
that 90% of plastic comes from 10 rivers (eight of
them are in Asia): the Yangtze; Indus; Yellow; Hai He;
Ganges; Pearl; Amur; Mekong; and two in Africa –
the Nile and the Niger.
So perhaps pressure on our trading partners may be
more beneficial than the path we're sliding down?
Yeah, right.
Or, a greater look at packaging itself will help.
Imported product needs immediate attention… I
don’t know if it’s the irony that irks as the product
comes from the sea, but have you ever seen the
‘healthy’ snack option of dried seaweed? The food
itself is mere grams in weight and has one large
packet outside to encase the lot, 10 moulded carry
cases for portions and each of those has its own
packaging. It’s insane.
But my primary concern as environmental awareness
hits fever point, is other industry, and the rabid attack
they may soon face by an often partially informed
public. I am concerned at the 'Witch Hunts' that
will no doubt occur. A case in point, farmers and
the production of meat which is getting negative
headlines at the moment – attacked at the alleged
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and reported massive carbon footprint.
Studies say that red meat dwarfs others for environmental
impact, using “28 times more land and 11 times
more water than pork or chicken” in the paddock to
plate process.
There’s little doubt that there is an issue to be
addressed, but the call to not eat red meat is absurd.
Like everywhere, acreage usage is under attack
and New Zealand’s no different. We are likely to see
change here in the way land is used. Variety will be
key. Meat production and processing simply needs to
change… not be eliminated. There are countless ways
engineering firms can and, in the future, will contribute
to this. Improved process and/or machinery will make a
massive difference.
But surviving a tidal wave of pro-environment condemnation
will be no easy feat. There’s already blood in
the water and the sharks are circling. I’m sure you’ve
already noticed the way mass media is reporting on
environmental issues…. what used to have a lagging
question mark to a reporting style now has a blunt
finish. So, targets will increase… I’ve no doubt of that.
I do hope – and I’m sure it will – that New Zealand’s
meat sector will continue its fight. A production
landscape that is multi-faceted in terms of variety is
where we want to be – not all the eggs in one basket.
Hooves make a difference. I’d like to see the pumpkin
patch pick up its roots and get moved out of danger of
an oncoming cyclone. I hope the meat industry can do
the same and re-position itself, too.
Greg Robertson
Publisher
www.engineeringnews.co.nz 3
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