A person found hundreds of debris plastics, such as plastic bottle caps on a coast near the Antarctic, which is far away from human habitation. However, the worry is that in this place, these plastics thrown away by human beings do harm to the animals, like seals that entangle in them and albatross chicks spit out plastic fragments, which means that no matter where you are, even in the Antarctic or the deepest ocean trenches, you can see plastic rubbish. Every year, plastic packaging industries whose value is 198 billion dollars manufacture more than 78 million tonnes plastic packaging but only a few are recycled and most are thrown. There are about 8000 thousand tonnes of plastics are thrown into the sea.

Plastic problems in the ocean are paid much attention. Under the increasing pressure, governments, retailers and manufacturers take actions to face plastic problems. But what influences it will result in when we purchase goods? Many firms reckon that it will affect their profits. For instance, a brand produces 38250 tonnes of plastic packaging and sells over 110 billion disposable plastic bottles around the world per year. Although it promised that it will use more recyclable materials and do experiments on recyclable plastic bottles, it had to spend much money. A number of countries try to issue laws to restrict the use of plastic bags and disposable plastic materials so companies have to reduce the number of plastic packaging. Many major corporations promise that they will use more recyclable and reusable packaging instead of plastic packaging. They are looking for measures to achieve their goals.

Whereas, some experts concerned that if we do not take correct actions, the commodities will be more expensive in the future. An expert suggested that drinks producers should reduce waste. For example, most packaging is thrown away after using only once, which should be changed. At preset, in Europe, over 30% food is packed in plastic bags and 31 kilograms plastic packaging litter is produced per person per year. As for why plastics are popular, they can be used to do more things with low cost. A typical example is that compared to glass, using plastics to make a drink bottle does not need many materials. In addition, plastics are more inexpensive, lightweight and well-adapted than any other substitute goods. For example, 50 years ago, most beverages are poured into glass bottles to sell while nowadays, almost all beverages are poured into plastic bottles. Actually, the cost of producing glass bottles is not very high (about more 0.01 dollars than plastics). But when products begin to be transported, transporting glass bottles consume 40% more energy and more carbon dioxide since a glass bottle is from 190 grams to 250 grams while a plastic bottle is only 18 grams and heavier products demand more energy. As a result, surprisingly, plastics are more environmentally-friendly than many others. According to research, if a company has to deal with pollution caused by products or plastics are replaced by glass, tin or aluminium, it has to spend 5 times more money. There is no doubt that the cost of food will rise, such as using glass bottles rather than plastic bottles, which will rise the cost of producing. And provided that governments tax polluting corporations for punishment, finally, the taxation will be shifted to customers. Conversely, black plastic trays are replaced by paper trays and other packaging materials like glass or cellulose plan to be used in a supermarket. Even though it spends much money, the director does not decide to raise the prices.

Soft drinks plastic packaging occupies 20% among all food and drinks packaging and we have used it for almost 70 years so if we do not use plastic packaging, we have to pay for high cost. For instance, using plastic packaging to wrap cucumbers can prolong the shelf-life although it looks wasteful. The expiration date can be extended from several days to several weeks due to plastics. A professor argued that individuals ignore the benefits to reduce food waste of plastics. For instance, the expiration date of cucumbers can be doubled due to the shrink bag. Vegetables can be fresh in the fridge for 15 days and it can reduce food waste. Usually, a cucumber without wrap can be kept for only two days in the room and for 9 days in the fridge. Another example is that if beef is covered by plastic film, it can be kept from 3 to 7days while if its packaging is multilayer plastic, it will not be metamorphic before 45 days. According to estimation, compared with traditional plastic, it is beneficial that sirloin steak is packed in vacuum packing, which can reduce half of food waste. The majority of food is packed in sealed plastic membrane so that meat is kept in oxygen-free environment to prevent it from spoiling. In order to be sold out, fruits and vegetables should be safe, unmet amorphous and unspoiled. According to research, if grapes are put in a single plastic box, it can reduce 75% food waste. Plastic packaging, called modified atmosphere packaging in the industry, can prevent them from ripening too early. For instance, the expiration date of sweet peppers can be prolonged from 4 days to 40 days when they are wrapped into that packaging. Extending the lifespan of food can decrease the expense of food waste in supermarkets. As a result, if the shelf life of agricultural products is extended for one day, about 0.5 billion pounds can be saved for British customers. Every year, the expense of food waste is 1000 billion dollars, undertaken by manufacturers and retailers. Albeit someone considered that disposable plastic packaging lead to the increase of throw-away food through encouraging single use, many individuals deem that the expense of food waste will rise without plastic packaging.

From this aspect, it is meaningless to prohibit plastics but we can take actions to improve plastic products. A person indicates that innovation is more useful than reviewing past so scientists can produce biodegradable plastics to help companies to reinvent plastics and decay plastics. It is said that plastics are made from starch or protein from plants but these materials are not degradable. Some of them are compostable so they can be decayed completely instead of becoming smaller plastic pieces. It is thought to be a good idea to replace conventional plastic tubes though new tubes are more expensive for a brand. Another brand also chooses to use plastic bottles made from plants, whose cost is higher than ordinary bottles. In conclusion, obviously, bioplastics are more expensive, i.e, a burger box whose price is the double of the box made from polystyrene and a biodegradable takeaway fork whose price is 3.5 times more than a white plastic fork. That is why not many companies use degradable or compostable plastics and they just encourage customers to recycle bioplastics. In this part, it made slow progress.

With the increasing price of oil, it is much cheaper to use reprocessed plastic whose price is 158 pounds per tonne than traditional plastic made from oil whose price is 1000 pounds per tonne. Nevertheless, PLA will contaminate PET plastic and weaken bottles and it is not suitable to use, which means that the plastic is invalid and will be thrown away. Surprisingly, bioplastics cause much pollution to recycling. Manufacturers are trying to use more environmentally-friendly and degradable plastic but it is risky to mix with traditional plastic, which will increase the cost as it is difficult financially to import novel products in a traditional system for waste water. Therefore, it is pressing that new measures need to be used to identify, classify and handle plastic materials. When plastics are discarded, biodegradable materials and recyclable materials can be guaranteed to be parted.

A person supposes that there are some problems of using biodegradable packaging widely despite plastic films and protective trays can keep meat fresh in a non-oxygen environment since biodegradable packaging will encourage people to cast away. Hence, he proposes a solution which is that use more plastic. The reason is that you may use several thin films to prevent gas permeation but you just need only one thicker piece of polyethylene to achieve the same effect. Thus, materials are cut down and it is easier to separate and recycle these materials. In order to reduce waste, he believes that using more durable plastic is more practical so we should reuse discarded packaging instead of abandoning plastic. Currently, in Finland, Germany, Denmark and some places in Australia, this kind of plan is implemented. On the basis of a study, the cost of reusing and refilling may be 5 times more than that of using for one time. But reusing and refilling innovatively can reduce at least 8 billion dollars packaging cost actually, which will be shifted to customers probably. What is more, due to new laws are enacted, taxation of plastic bags and prohibition of some types of disposable packaging in many countries, refillable and recyclable alternatives will be more appealing.

The situation of plastic rubbish in South Georgia is monitored by a team which thinks that it is valuable to do something to change although it is costly. It is shamed that sometimes we see albatross feeding their kids with pieces of plastic so it is salutary to reduce plastic waste in general.