One month after the European Commission launched an ambitious package to move from a throwaway culture to a more circular economy, the pandemic is creating mountains of plastic litter and tons of rotting food. Irish garbage collectors observed a “record surge” in household waste — with a noticeable rise in unopened, past-sell-by-date food, as well as wilted garden greenery. Cities across the bloc have stopped recycling pickups due to staff shortages and fears of contaminated waste, with a lot of recyclables now being burned or landfilled.
In Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands, farmers have had to destroy millions of tons of unsold potatoes because people can’t eat fries in restaurants and bars. The crisis has also brought about a resurgence of single-use plastics. In supermarkets across the Continent, buns, apples and avocados are smothered in plastic wrap — and people worried about catching a deadly disease don’t care.
“People are now more focusing on the hygienic and long-life aspects when it comes to foods and vegetables,” Mara Hancker, managing director of the German lobby for plastic packaging, said over the phone, adding that “people don’t have faith anymore in these products without the packaging.”
While garbage grows, the packaging industry sees an opening. The European lobby group for plastic manufacturers wants the European Commission and member countries to delay upcoming regulations and to lift all bans on some single-use plastic items. “During the last one or two years, the discussion has been very much driven by gut feelings and not by facts — we have very strong initiatives to go to plastics-free or packaging-free … but are saying that there are good reasons to have plastics,” Hancker said.