Plastic not so fantastic - failures in recycling a primary contaminant

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After decades of seeking mainstream public attention, the dangers of plastic contamination in the environment has finally become accepted across international borders. Alas, this recognition has only occured now that the problem has reached a critical scale and impact across the world's oceans and reached as far away as Antarctica and the Northern polar region. 

How much plastic is leaking into the ocean ? Estimates are still being calculated however the quantity ranges from 4.8 to 12.7 mega tonnes per year. This is a staggering amount of which 80% of plastics in the ocean originate from land-based sources. 

Plastic is not a single type of manufactured artificial substance but comes in multiple forms. Control, reduction of use and recycling has become a critical issue in the world's environment and continuing failures have led widespread plastic contamination across the world. Ocean litter is commonly found to comprise cigarette butts, food wrappers, bottle tops, plastic bags and straws hence the current moves to ban many of these plastic items.

What are the categories of plastic that are eligible for recycling ? 

1. at the top of the list is is polythylene terephthalate (commonly referred to as PET) comprises roughly more than half of the the recyclable plastics. It is denoted on packaging with the no "1"
2. the second most common form is high-density polyethylene (or HDPE) that is denoted by the no "2" on packaging. HDPE comprises a bit over a third of the recycling market and typically is used for packaging (milk and shampoo bottles) and pipes.
3. next is low density polyethylene which has a "4"on its packaging and is used in clear plastic film. This plastic accounts for around 4% of the recycling market 
4. also with around 4% of the market is polyproplene which is denoted by the number "5". This plastic is used in yoghurt and food spread containers.

The final group of plastic types have little value in manufacturing and thus no recycling. These are polyvinyl chloride (no "3"), polystyrene (no "6"), other mixed plastics (no "7").

The top exporters of plastic waste in 2019 were the European Union, Japan and the United States with the United Kingdom, Hong Kong, Mexico and Australia being next. The importers of plastic waste comprise predominantly Malaysia, Hong Kong (interestingly), Turkey, the US, Vietnam, Indonesia, Korea, India, Thailand and now much less significantly, China.

The UTS Institute for Sustainable Futures has tracked the movement of plastic waste as shown in the diagram below -

Environmentally responsible trade in waste plastics in the Asia Pacific Region - UTS Institute for Sustainable Futures

The leakage of waste plastic has a variety of reasons - the difficulty in disposal of residual, unrecyclable plastic, no environmental control in processing plastics, poor management of stockpiling and transport of waste plastic, poor quality of bales being exported, labelling of shipments which is false or incorrect, trading at low or negative prices. Waste leakage most often occurs at the destination country rather than the country of origin or during transit according to UTS.

So what are the solutions ?

In a nutshell, there are improvements that can be implemented such as -

• for exporting countries, improving their collection and sorting of plastics before despatching offshore
• improving the accountability for shipments for both exporters and importers
• checking destination processing and monitoring at the importing countries
• redesign and re-engineering of packaging design and using fewer low value or composite plastics.

The full report can be accessed here: Environmentally responsible trade waste plastics asia pacific

Corporate reputation - moral blindness and who can you trust ?

 

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Over the past few years multiple corporate scandals, Royal Commissions and Public Inquiries have demonstrated that there is an impact on public perception for companies found to be transgressing ethical standards. Research into community opinion confirms the impact on public perception and provides a warning for various companies as to the precarious nature of their social licence to operate. In equal measure, it is also warning to corporate Boards and their senior executives that there are consequences for engaging in what can be described as 'moral blindness'. Rio Tinto, AMP, the large banks, various technology providers and media organisations being clear examples of companies found wanting.

The Roy Morgan Risk Monitor for 2021 (based on research carried out during 2020) has provided an insight into the current positive or negative standing of various companies - 

Most trusted brands

1. Woolworths
2. Coles
3. Bunnings
4. Aldi
5. Qantas
6. Apple
7. Kmart
8. ABC
9. Microsoft
10. Myer

Most distrusted brands

1. Facebook
2. Telstra
3. Amazon
4. NewsCorp
5. AMP
6. Rio Tinto
7. Huawei
8. Google
9. BP
10. Westpac

The ranking of trust and distrust was clearly influenced by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, nonetheless this was only one factor influencing the result. Various scandals involving the technology sector (privacy, selling of data to third parties, misleading information publication) have also had an impact.

The Easter Bunny - tradition, myth or the unknown

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Easter, a key set of dates in the Christian calendar, like similar religious commemorations has acquired additional practices, the origins of which are somewhat vague. Easter eggs and hot cross buns are more attuned to the practices of Easter which commence with Palm Sunday, the week before Easter.

The origin of the Easter bunny and its role in being connected to Easter is much more odd with little actual evidence to show how the bunny came to Easter at all.  

The few historical references that the bunny receives, appear in German Lutheran texts around 1572 referring to an Easter Hare which judges children and refers also to eggs. This reference reappears again in 1682 with the text de ovis paschalibus which refers to an Easter Hare bringing eggs to children. In the 18th Century, German migrants to the United States brought the Easter Hare with them with the bunny shaped in sweets.

In 1835 Jacob Grimm, of the renowned Brothers Grimm myth and fairytale writers, was mystified by the Bunny and concluded it may be associated with Ostara (as a sacred animal) and part of the celebration of the resurrection-day of the Christian God but this view was purely conjecture.

The truth is no-one actually knows how the bunny came to Easter but many people have the pleasure of eating a chocolate version nonetheless. Happy Easter !

 

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Earth Hour 2021 - Saturday 27 March - 8.30 PM

Link:  Earth Hour 2021

The Pfizer BioNTech vaccine for SARS-CoV-2

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 As the vaccine roll-out increases world-wide, one of the strongest candidates is the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine. A few facts assist with understanding the strength and value of this vaccine - 

• The Pfizer vaccine is designated as BNT162b2. 
• It is a lipid nanoparticle-formulated, nucleoside-modified RNA vaccine encoding a prefusion stabilized, membrane-anchored SARS-CoV-2 full-length spike protein.
• Pfizer's method has been not to follow a traditional vaccine method that uses inactive, dead or portions of the actual virus to create an immune response but rather utilise mRNA to instruct human cells to develop their own spike protein similar to one found on the surface of coronavirus particles. The result is that a generation of antibodies are generated specifically targetted to the SAR-CoV-2 spike protein.
• The clinical trial had 43,548 participants in a multinational, placebo-controlled, observer-blinded, pivotal efficacy trial.
• The vaccine was trialed with each participant receiving two doses, 21 days apart.
• BNT162b2 was 95% effective in preventing COVID-19 and the efficacy was the same across all subgroups: age, sex, race, ethnicity, baseline body-mass index and co-existing conditions.
• Side effects were short-term including mild-to-moderate pain at the injection site, fatigue and headache.
• Of note, the Pfizer BioNTech vaccine can be stored up to 5 days at standard refrigerator temperatures when ready for use. It is essential however for very cold temperatures for initial shipping and longer storage.

The clinical trial results, peer reviewed are published in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) which can be located at this link: Pfizer COVID vaccine results

Pfizer have a simple description of the vaccine on their website: Pfizer: the facts about Pfizer and BioNTechs COVID 19 vaccine

The terminology of viruses

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The coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 which causes COVID-19 will change over time and often terminology is inadvertantly misquoted in non-authoritative sources.  SARS-CoV-2 replicates itself by invading a new cell and fusing its genetic material termed RNA (or ribonucleic acid) into the new host. As the RNA is then duplicated, the new copy may not be an exact replica of the original virus.

In understanding the development of the virus changing into different forms, its worth distinguishing between the terms used to describe new versions of viruses generally -

• when an error occurs in duplicating viral RNA these changes are called mutations
• the viruses containing these mutations are termed variants (variants can have a single or many such mutations)
• when a variant virus shows distinct physical difference from the original parent virus, this is termed a strain. All strains are variants but not all variants are strains. 

COVID-19 and the challenges of mass population vaccination programs

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Pfizer-BioNTech, Oxford-AstraZeneca, Moderna, Johnson & Johnson - the vaccines that have been approved through 'Emergency Use Authorisation' in many jurisdictions across the world are rolling out. It's a mammoth effort involving a staggering number of individuals and inherent risks, some of which have already become apparent.

Global management consulting firm, McKinsey & Company, has assessed the process for vaccine roll-outs and identified six critical emerging risks, a number of which already exist in some form -

1. raw material constraints in production scaling: while there are early indications of sufficient global capacity for syringes and fill-finish materials, niche chemical and biological vaccine components are scattered. This creates the risk of competition between countries becoming reality and the challenges of supply which is created.
2. quality-assurance challenges in manufacturing: A new class of vaccines (such as those based on mRNA or viral vectors) at an unprecedented scale of 1.8 billion to 2.3 billion does by mid 2021 requires " massive volumes of inputs, a larger technical workforce, and much expanded ecosystem of production facilities".
3. cold-chain logistics and storage-management challenges: maintaining cold chain control for distribution and storage of mRNA-based vaccines will place strain on the production of dry-ice manufacturing. Fast distribution and usage of vaccines due to demand may alleviate some of this potential risk.
4. increased labour requirements: estimates show that the need for a trained workforce remains acute given the vaccination protocols which are complex in the handling and preparation of vaccines and the added care requirements for patients. Estimates suggest that COVID-19 vaccination is 3.5 times slower than the annual flu vaccination programs even with streamlined site management.
5. wastage at points of care: storing, preparing, scheduling administration of doses at points of care all have error risks. Perhaps the most significant is if there is product wastage when doses are not allocated sufficiently. Vaccine doses come in multidose vials and must be used in a short space of time.
6. IT challenges: Vaccine tracking system systems (VTrckS) or immunization information systems (IIS) designed to manage double doses in populations present software challenges. Given there has already been cyber attacks against COVID-19 vaccine developers and regulators, security has a whole new meaning.

The level of vaccination required is also vast with "..twice as many doses of COVID-19 vaccines being administered in one month than were administered for the whole of the 2009 H1N1 flu vaccine'' (McKinsey and Company 2021).  

McKinsey's propose a range of responses to the six critical emerging risks -

• scale manufacturing in new and existing facilities
• establishment of predictable supplier plans
• built-in redundancy into distribution
• leverage feedback loops
• use of several types of point-of-care facilities
• track and monitor spoilage at points of care
• pace first-dose allocation 
• balance IT upgrades and resilience 

A  link to the research article is below:

McKinsey & Company - the risks and challenges COVID 19 vaccine rollout