How did we get here? A Brief History of Single-Use Plastics
In recent years, the rise of COVID-19 forced many restaurants to survive the pandemic solely through offering takeout or delivery, resulting in an increased usage of single-use plastics: utensils, sauce packets, straws, water bottles, and styrofoam containers of food packed within another plastic bag became the norm whenever Americans didn’t feel like cooking dinner. Around 300 million metric tons of plastic are produced each year. But how did consumers worldwide become so reliant on using throwaway plastics in our daily lives, and is it possible to to move to sustainable products?
1930’s -1960’s: Creating Synthetic Solutions
The history of plastic is a relatively short one. In 1933 Norwich England, chemists produced polyethylene by accident, a thin plastic film essential to winning World War II. A decade later, an ad in the 1955 August issue of Life Magazine exalted the convenience of “throwaway living,” so housewives could spend less time washing dishes. In 1963, fast food franchise McDonalds opened their 500th location in Toledo, Ohio, another restaurant with burgers and fries packaged and served in single-use plastic. Two years later, a Swedish company perfected a new polyethylene creation: Cellophane, a strong plastic wrap widely used in the restaurant industry and households to keep food fresh.
1960’s -1980’s: Attracting Praise and Criticism
In 1953, several beverage and manufacturing companies created a non-profit called Keep America Beautiful (KAB). As the first corporate greenwashing mission, KAB has a history of actively lobbying against legislation that places waste management responsibility on corporate producers. Meanwhile, KAB ran television advertisements that encouraged consumers to recycle more and litter less, effectively shifting the blame of the plastic problem onto the public.
Environmental activists raised concerns about plastic as early as the 1970’s when plastic debris was first observed in the ocean. However, the low production cost of plastic won over manufacturers, and grocery shoppers purchased milk in plastic jugs instead of glass jars. Single-use plastic shopping bags became available nationwide in 1979. A few years later, Safeway and Kroger, two large American grocery store chains, offered single-use plastic bags to customers. Their presence in grocery stores exploded in 1985, after a speaker at the convention for the Society of Plastic Engineers demonstrated the cost-effectiveness of plastic bags to paper bags.
1980s — 2010’s: Mounting Opposition with New Discoveries
In the 1980’s, McDonalds received criticism for using styrofoam clamshell containers to package their burgers. Despite McDonald’s environmental affairs department insistence that Styrofoam “aerates the soil,” styrofoam bans were widely passed near the end of the decade. 1997 brought the discovery of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, which is actually two groups of marine debris swirling in the waters between Japan, Hawaii, and California. Its discovery changed how many consumers began to view plastic as a problem instead of a solution.
More people understood how the production and disposal of plastic harmed the planet, but by 2011, one million plastic bags were consumed every minute worldwide. Plastic doesn’t disappear; it breaks up into tiny particles known as microplastics consumed by wildlife and humans. Scientists found how microplastics affect the human body, resulting in endocrine disruption, hormonal imbalances, reproductive issues, and even cancer.
2010’s — the Future: Prioritizing Circular Systems
In 2018, The United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) found 127 out of 192 countries had passed national legislation attempting to mitigate the issue of plastic. Seattle became the first American city to ban plastic straws the same year. Starbucks planned to phase out straws by 2020, but the pandemic prevented many companies from incorporating sustainable practices in fear of spreading disease. Single-use plastics once again spread like wildfire.
As the pandemic begins to fade, more scientists and environmental activists draw attention to the consequences of plastic production in its brief history. Since the 1950’s, the globe has already created 8.3 billion metric tons of plastic, which will remain on our planet for years to come. Today, the restaurant industry can help lead the way into the global transition with reusable products, sustainable systems, and circular economies. If the love of a burger can create a demand for plastic products, then it can shift the demand to reusable ones. If you’d like to contribute to solving the plastic problem by bringing reusable solutions to your restaurant, contact our team at Topanga.io to get started.
