Sony to begin plastic packaging phase-out next year | Hacker News Reader

Sony to begin plastic packaging phase-out next year

techxplore.com

50 pointsbubblehack3r14 comments

Most companies appear to be ditching plastic packaging for packaging which has a combination of plastic (mostly films) and card. The card now can't be recycled as the plastic content is too high and consumers are too lazy to separate the two materials. This leads to more waste in landfill, but CEOs get a tick on their ESG ratings for using less plastic...

I wonder how much of this packaging will actually be plastic.

The plastic window in an envelope for example doesn't keep it from being recycled. It's fairly easy to separate chunks of plastic like that from paper.

It doesn't completely stop it from being recycled, but it does increase the amount of work necessary for the consumer to recycle it probably by a factor of 10x (3 seconds to chuck it in the right bin vs 30 seconds to remove the plastic window) and greatly reduces the likelihood it will be recycled. Producers need to be held accountable for the impact of packaging decisions like this.

They imply none.

“Instead of plastics, we will mainly use paper, and a so-called 'original blend material' made from bamboo, used paper and squeezed sugarcane fibre,"

This is one of the places where I've been impressed with where Apple's moved over time. In the early to mid 2010s, their largely paper-based packaging seemed to lead a lot of high-ticket tech packagers to move in that direction[1] in an effort to seem like more of a premium product. Over the last few years, I've noticed a lot of that plastic being replaced with paper and adhesive, and I'd like to see other manufacturers do the same. (I recall reading that they're moving more towards materials recycling and reclamation on the electronics side of things, too, though that seems like a slower process.)

[1] - which did increase the rise of plastic films, as you note, but I wouldn't ascribe their lack of recycling to laziness but unclear instructions. Consumer recycling programs don't do a good job of explaining what they actually take, when they take things other than PET at all. Also as I understand it, recycling filter has gotten better about filtering films from waste streams, though it's not perfect.

>Consumer recycling programs don't do a good job of explaining what they actually take

Depends on the city. I've never lived in one that didn't have clear guides on how to separate (if required) and what is accepted. In my current city, most recyclables go in a special blue bag which you order online for free. You have to complete a quiz about the recycling rules to complete the order.

> consumers are too lazy to separate the two materials

It's always the "consumer's" fault

Instead of hard plastic, which has proved too easy for consumers to open after purchasing products, companies will weld products into steel cages.

At least steel's recyclable.

“ Instead of plastics, we will mainly use paper, and a so-called 'original blend material' made from bamboo, used paper and squeezed sugarcane fibre,"

Sounds more composable than plastic.

This is probably good, and for no good reason other than it being posted here, I was expecting mycelium packaging to be mentioned. I'm quite excited for mycelium packaging, but I honestly struggle to find a perfect use case for it, which OUGHT to temper my enthusiasm, but doesn't.

Why not cardboard?

why not both. diversifying is never a bad thing. mycelium is really well suited for polysterene replacement as it can be grown in molds to perfectly fit the shape. shame there's loads of patents around the methods used to create it...

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