" Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey signed an executive order on Thursday banning state agencies from purchasing single-use plastic bottles.
Healey calls the ban, which centers around plastic bottles 21 ounces or less, “groundbreaking.”"
Will this have significant impact? Probably result in purchase of more products in metal containers.
A step in the right direction?
What about shampoo? Toothpaste? Can the restaurant buy gallon bottles of vinegar? Glass only? Metal?
Do many state agencies purchase shampoo and toothpaste? Maybe homeless shelters? Also, how many restaurants are state agencies??? Cafeterias at govt offices maybe?
Yes, in most states prisons and mental hospitals, etc are state agencies.
Like you said, they probably buy gallon size containers. And those are larger than 21 ounces, so are permitted. Do prisons supply 16 oz (or 1/2 liter) bottles of water to their inmates? Or 20 oz gatorades?
Yep, and gallon size toothpaste tubes sounds interesting. How about a return to lead tubes?
None of that is the point. The heart of it is supporting factories that work with other than plastic. It makes such products come into being sooner as the norm.
Yes, new systems can result in the ideal. But probably they will switch to aluminum or steel cans or bottles. They are already available and can easily be filled with water, etc. Whatever is needed.
How about bio-degradable plastics?
The Captain
This should work.
Hemp works great in plumbing and bag pipes, it swells when wet making the joints water and air tight.
The Captain
played the bags pipes in high school.
You must have been popular!
JimA
And in the UK…
In April, Labour is introducing a Packaging Extended Producer Responsibility (pEPR) scheme on manufactures, which will add extra cost to heavier packaging such as glass. The association has said the new tax on food and drink packaging will be around 50 times higher for glass beverages (based on a 330ml bottle) than other materials - leaving brands with no choice but to increase prices for products packaged in glass or move to other less recyclable materials such as plastic…
“So this could push consumers away from glass into less recyclable materials, all based on weight. We believe that EPR should be really driving recyclability.”…
The UK glass sector has a high recycling rate at 74%, which is one of the best rates for any packaging material. Glass is 100% recyclable and can be re-melted without losing quality.
DB2
The tax will be used to fund recycling. User pays for recycling, not the govt.
The tax covers all packaging including plastic, steel, and aluminum but hits glass very hard due to weight.
Glass recycling may be good but its mostly melted sand. Not much value. And colors can be a problem.
So 26% of glass containers in the UK are discarded, properly, or improperly, where they will exist, in practical terms, forever.
Steve
To me landfilling sand is not a big problem. That is where it belongs. And does not create greenhouse gases (except for equipment to pick up and bury). Does not pollute ground water. Seems practical to me.
But raising funds for better recycling is a good idea. I suspect recycled steel and aluminum are more valuable.
if it all went in a landfill, instead of a beach, or a playground.
Steve
Nothing is perfect, and glass has one of the highest recycling rates.
DB2
OK, you can volunteer to “break trail” for me on beaches, so you are the one to step on a piece of broken glass. 
Steve…never gashed a foot on a paper cup.
Where is this notion of recycling glass into sand? One recycles glass into glass.
Glass is melted sand. Burying it as if it were sand is ok with me. It has not much value compared to sand. Returning it to the earth should be fine.