There are, of course, those among us who are diligent recyclers. Everything that can be reused, repurposed and recycled. Carefully segregated in the garbage bins to protect the planet’s future. But they remain in the minority.
Even in a small city such as Yorkton, garbage is an issue. The rules and regulations for landfills become more and more stringent, so smaller communities often give up on trying to keep pace. Instead, loading trucks and hauling to larger centralized landfills such as Yorkton. Whether that is a positive for the environment in terms of fossil fuel consumed in the hauling or in the life expectancy of highway driven is another question. It makes a bigger pile of garbage in the centralized location, and that means ultimately more room will be needed.
Now imagine the issue in Toronto, or New York or Los Angeles. The daily waste has to be staggering based on population alone. Of course, not all garbage is created equal. Among our daily refuse plastics are particularly nasty in terms of the environment because it simply does not go away. It can take 400 to 500 years for a plastic bottle or plastic coffee pod to decompose in a landfill. It’s hard to fathom that the bottle you toss today because tap water doesn’t cut it to drink will be kicking around a dump or floating in the ocean in the year 2600. The one bottle you toss is not the issue until you realize it is one of the millions of tons of plastic produced annually, the vast majority destined to be tossed at some point.
A recent Western Producer article noted in 2019, the world produced 368 million tonnes of plastic, and estimates from National Geographic suggest only nine percent of all plastic is recycled. While this is not good news, it may be an opportunity. Scientists, investors, and companies turn their attention to bioplastic as a possible replacement for a traditional petroleum-based product that simply does not degrade. “Bioplastic is made from renewable feedstocks such as corn, sugar cane and other agricultural crops, and some degrade in months or years rather than hundreds of years,” noted the WP story. The market, if it can be captured, is massive. “Last fall, Fortune Business Insights said the global market for bioplastic could reach US$20 billion by 2027 — growing at a rate of 17 percent annually,” states the WP story.
Canola meal might be one ‘renewable feedstocks’. Currently, primarily used as a livestock feed, the meal, more or less a leftover byproduct of oil extraction, could find a higher value home as the base for bioplastics. It’s an exciting opportunity that has an upside for both the canola sector and the planet.
- Calvin Daniels
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Disclaimer: opinions expressed are those of the writer.