Should companies be fined for using too much packaging?

Question

In this environmentally friendly world, should fines be placed on companies that use packaging unnecessarily. For example, a shirt can be bought from a shop either on a hanger or neatly folded in a clear plastic wallet with cardboard reinforcement, plastic collar support, pins, plastic clips etc... surely it's loads cheaper to just put it on a hanger?? and better for the environment. The same is true for fancy chocolates, easter eggs etc....

I'm sure it would be better for land-fill sites in the long term!

Answer 1

We have very advanced packaging and recycling laws in Europe. If you go to a supermarket, you have to pay for the plastic bags !!! that way people use fabric ones and reuse them.
A lot of companies have to pay an "eco-tax" for packaging. And it affects products like mechanical razors, and so on...
Bottles almost all have deposits (95% of them) so if you want your money back there is only one solution...
In each supermarket you can after the cashiers trash all what you think is over-packaging and they have to take care of it (and of course they are obliged to recycle it).

In a lot of cities, your garbages are weighted and you pay for the weight... so be sure to get rid of all the recyclable ones in the special containers before.

In Switzerland, the target is to use bio-wastes to replace 10% of the automotive fuel

Stockholm is 10% powered with sewer sludge

A lot of garbages with high heat content are used in cement kilns, especially the dangerous ones since high temperatures destroy dangerous substances as dioxines.

And now the best: we even hold the manufacturers of electronic devices responsible for taking back and recycling their products which is causing a lot of troubles to chinese manufacturers who have products with a short life span and badly engineered for the recycling..

Answer 2

Absolutely not. The decision on packaging as a purely economic one. Companies would not spend the money required for the packaging if it did not provide some financial return. Before you charge off on some silly crusade, you might want to do a little investigation of exactly why the packaging is used and what alternatives exist and how much these would cost in the entire distribution chain. One thing is certain. The total cost, including any fines, will be passed on to the ultimate consumer so you and I will be the ones to pay.

Answer 3

Yes they should be fined. I used to work at a lingerie store and when we got inventory in, half the pakage was plastice bags or filler in the box the keep stuff from moving during shipping. They could have used a smaller box to ship it. Example: when we ordered nighties, we would get 2 in each size, every nightie had their own plastic bag covering them. Instead of covering all of them with one slightly larger bag. The companies we ordered from could have also fit more in the box if they folded the lingerie a couple more times to make our whole order fit. We steamed everything before it went on the floor, so wrinkles weren't an issue. It used to make me so mad at all the crap they wasted filling the pakages.

But we did our part, about 90% of the inventory was able to be hung up on hangers, that we kept and instead of using those little hangers for panties, we had a panty table. And we also kept the filler we got from orders to put in the pakages that we sent out.

Answer 4

Absolutely..not sure about shirts on coat hangers though.

There are thosse of us that like things to be well packaged especially if buying as present.

Not a good argument I know but this is the sort of thing both manufacturers and retailers will come up with.

Hopefully someone will come up with completely bio degradable packaging before too long.

I am sure it is already there but it needs government to impose really stiff penalities on those manufactueres who go overboard on presentation before they will do anything about it.

Answer 5

No.
What no one seems to realise is that the packaging is there to protect the products from damage. If you order something from the net it has to be packaged so the goods aren't damaged as they go through various sorting machines at the post officeas well as being thrown in the backs of at least two vans in a sack with other mail.

The answer is to encourage companies to recycle by making it either free or very cheap. I work in a small internet company and we could reduce our waste a lot by recycling if it weren't for the fact that it would cost us twice as much as having it taken as normal rubbish!

Answer 6

The EU (european union) already has rules on excess packaging which means that companies can be fined for using too much and it has been used 4 times in the UK in the last few years.

However, it is quite easy to get out of since it makes exceptions for excess packing for food safety and design reasons.

Answer 7

Yes, there is far too much packaging on goods. Some are even double bagged or packed. I understand you need it to protect goods during transport but a lot is unnecessary and wasteful. My favorite gripe is prepacked fruit and veg, I never buy it. I think Tesco`s are the worst for this.

Answer 8

No I like to have my products properly wrapped up to prevent contamination and deterioration. There are idiots out there who like to touch everything in supermarkets without cleaning their hands with soap and warm water after going to the toilet and I don't want to eat anything touched by them!!

Also, proper packaging prevents terrorists from doing what they are good at - to poison us because we are so successful then them!!

Answer 9

Ar u sure u want to set in the judged seat ,and what makes u think u are qualified. Let us stay free we have a few million too many laws already.

Answer 10

No, we would pay for it in the end, most of the packaging from the things I buy doesn't go to landfill it goes out for recycling.