By John F Crawford

PLASTIC waste is polluting the planet. The seashores and oceans are awash with it, in sizes ranging from micro-beads to larger items.

The 5p charge on carrier bags has certainly reduced consumption; there are further proposals to ban plastic straws, reduce the amount of plastic used in food packaging as well as re-introducing deposit return schemes for drinks containers, and provide free public drinking fountains, all to address the problem.

But it isn’t simply a matter of getting rid of plastic and its associated waste: as a society we can’t live in a plastic-free world. Since we began separating out recyclable household waste, we’ve been exporting most of the plastic stream to China, an outlet that now no longer exists after it imposed a ban earlier this year. And our appalling attitude to litter and fly-tipping means that even if we could reduce plastic waste in future, that won’t address the problem of what to do with all the stuff that’s already out there. So we need to do a lot more than just implement the strategies rehearsed above.

What can we do with all the plastic waste already floating about the planet, never mind our plastic recyclate that can no longer be sent halfway round the world for treatment/disposal?

We can either process it to break it down into its constituent hydrocarbons, or treat it as modern energy from waste plants to generate heat and power. Both options use proven technology and unlike other renewable energy processes, plastic waste would offer a more consistent supply of feedstock.

But these options aren’t cheap and would mean the Scottish Government sitting down with the waste and petro-chemical industries to quantify the actual capacity needed to handle all our plastic waste, then working up a financial model so that these industries can have the confidence and assurance to invest in the new processing plants required. That infers a guaranteed gate price for delivered plastic waste. Such a gate price would encourage all sections of the community to collect plastic waste, and create long-term jobs as well as protecting the environment. After all apart from the prices paid, what’s the difference between a deposit return scheme where an empty plastic drinks container is worth 10p when returned, and a tonne of plastic waste fetching £400 when delivered to a processing plant?

Nobody ever fly-tips copper or brass waste: if we could give plastic waste some inherent value, it might make all the difference. But to succeed it would need some inspired thinking from our politicians, and mean them actually listening to the guidance from their professional advisers.

But the sobering issue that’s been ignored so far is that some two billion of the world’s population don’t have access to any sort of organised system for the collection and proper disposal of their waste. They have to take it as far as possible from their current dwellings then dump it where a lot of it is eventually washed into the oceans, contributing to the current havoc. While Scotland has the opportunity to lead the charge on solving the plastics problem, the wider public health implications for the planet also need to be kept in mind.

Thirty years ago I was involved in a project where primary pupils had to come up with a slogan to highlight the litter problem. The winning effort was “save the planet: start in Hamilton!” With a bit of plagiarism, Scotland could well adopt this philosophy today.

*The author spent nearly five decades working in the Scottish environmental and waste management industry.