The former Executive Director of Packaging SA, Andrew Marthinusen, deals with some of the common myths of packaging such as:

1. Packaging is wasteful and a threat to the environment
2. Packaging is the biggest contributor to the solid waste stream
3. Packaging is as big an issue as consumers, the media and politicians think
4. The packaging industry is doing nothing in the area of extended producer responsibility dealing with the waste stream
5. The solution to packaging is simple – apply a deposit or levy on all packaging
6. Product taxes imposed by the Treasury such as supermarket checkout bags is the way to go
7. Save our trees and avoid climate change – don’t use paper
8. The SA packaging industry alone must bear extended producer responsibility and fix the packaging waste problem
9. The family is an innocent bystander – a victim of mass marketing methods – on environmental issues
10. There is widespread understanding of the term “Environmentally Friendly Packaging”
11. Reuse of (PET) plastic water and soft drink bottles will poison you
12. The triangular mark on plastic packaging grades the toxicity of plastics
13. Don’t use paper because our plantations use too much water

Download: Common-Myths-Misconceptions-about-packaging-updated-October-2017