Say YES to wood – Evelyn Höllrigl about her petition for wood-based cellulosic fibers

The plastic revolution

There was a time when plastic was celebrated as a revolution. At that time the economy was in ruins, brought to heel by years of continuous war. It was an age which cried out for renewal. And the renewal came, hesitantly. Rising like a phoenix from the ashes of the Second World War, bright, shimmering and mainly made of plastic.

1950 marked the start of the mass production of fossil-based synthetic materials. The machines started rattling away and people bought all of the products which had become cheaper and more colorful thanks to this new and wondrous mulit-talent.

The world continued to revolve and renewable raw materials were replaced with fossil-based synthetic materials which were cheaper in production. If we think back to our childhood, a lot of the things we remember were made of plastic. The old cassette recorder, the tamagochi, the packaging of our favourite ice cream........we grew up in a world of plastic.

Plastic crept into our reality and at some point in time, it was omnipresent: From those handy single-use bottles which are so convenient, to „Coffee to go“ cups, to the single-use plastic carrier bags for daily shopping as well as in all kinds of packaging. Fossil-based synthetics have shaped our everyday life for a long time. However, plastic has made its way right into our environment down to the very bottom of the ocean. It is even in our food and finally in our digestive systems.

In 2018 researchers were not taken by surprise when microplastic was detected in children’s bodies. Many people were shocked and felt the urgent need to change the way that we think. Fossil-based plastic was celebrated in the 1950ies as a dream come true. But in the last 70 years, plastic has become a living nightmare and one which weighs 9 billion tonnes. That is the amount of plastic produced in the course of the last decades. Of this, only 10 percent was recycled and sadly a significant share of it found its way into our environment. And, plastic will stay there for longer since it is hard for Nature to decompose this fossil-based material. 500 years from now, it seems likely that our ancestors will probably still be finding our beloved bottles and packaging.

The Revolution for the responsible handling of our environment

Fortunately a rethinking process has already begun. Many positive changes have happened in recent months. The starting signal was sounded by the EU Single-Use Plastics directive, which targets the 10 single-use plastic products most often found on Europe's beaches and seas. Now is the time to reduce the burden on our rivers, our lakes, seas, coasts and beaches by banning single-use plastic products such as straws, plates or cutlery.

Yes, single-use products can be avoided. But sometimes they cannot. At this juncture I am thinking of wet wipes, diapers or panty liners. Therefore, there will be a labelling requirement for certain single-use plastic product categories which will enable consumers to identify single-use plastic simply at a glance.

This summer the decision concerning what is plastic and what is not plastic will be made.

As so often, the bureaucratic jungle is extremely dense and would appear to be insurmountable. And so the definition of what plastic is, and what it is not, is still not 100 percent clear. When it comes to fossil-based synthetic materials, the classification is clear. However, wood-based cellulose fibers could also be classified as plastic.

Wood-based materials are a smart alternative since they are renewable and biodegradable. These materials should definitely not be equated with fossil-based synthetic materials. If that happens, it will also strain our wallets in the short or long term. Biodegradable wipes made from wood-based cellulose fibers are already a little bit more expensive since their production is more costly – and that is okay. If, however, these biodegradable alternatives and those which contain fossil-based synthetic materials will be lumped together we, as consumers, will have to expect an increase in price for both variants. Parents who then choose the sustainable variant, will be faced with „sanctions“. Is that fair? I don’t think so.

Yes, we have a plastic problem but we have also found solutions.