Grocery delivery by electric cargo bikes and UK's new Plastic DRSby Arushi Madan | 06-05-2018 03:59 |
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     Hello friends, Through this report, I would like to share few of the major environmental news/strategies in EU recently. Grocery deliveries by electric cargo bikes Sainsbury's is one of the leading grocery in the UK. It has become the UK's first grocer to trial electric cargo bicycles for its grocery home delivery service. Speed and environmental advantages The trial will test the potential for electric bikes as a more efficient way to deliver groceries to customers in congested cities and offers distinct advantages. Bikes can make use of cycle and bus lanes and can achieve point to point delivery times up to three times faster than vans, according to the bike service provider e-cargobikes.com. They are also easier to park and by emitting no pollution offer obvious environmental benefits. Set against this is the limited capacity of the cargo bike - 125kg of groceries in front and rear lockable boxes. While much greater than the capacity of Sainsbury's existing Chop Chop delivery cycle courier service launched in 2016, this is clearly much less than conventional vans but offers big speed and environmental advantages. Based at Sainsbury's Streatham Common store in South London, a fleet of five zero emission bikes will deliver up to 100 orders per day to local online customers. Once customers have placed their online orders, Sainsbury's will use routing technology to determine which orders are delivered by a traditional van or by electric cargo bike. The order will then be delivered during the customer's chosen time slot by Sainsbury's branded bikes and riders. If successful, the trial could be rolled out to further areas across the UK. In my opinion, it will be successful and thus has a potential for wider rollout. It will set an example for other supermarkets, retailers and groceries.
EU agrees total ban on bee-harming pesticides People protest ahead of the historic EU vote on a full neonicotinoids ban at Place Schuman in Brussels, Belgium. Bee health remains of paramount importance for EU since it concerns biodiversity, food production and the environment. It is evident from the recent announcement that the European Union will ban the world's most widely used insecticides from all fields due to the serious danger they pose to bees. The most widely used insecticides will be banned from all fields within six months, to protect both wild and honeybees that are vital to crop pollination. The ban on neonicotinoids, approved by member nations recently, is expected to come into force by the end of 2018 and will mean they can only be used in closed greenhouses. Bees and other insects are vital for global food production as they pollinate three-quarters of all crops. The plummeting numbers of pollinators in recent years has been blamed, in part, on the widespread use of pesticides. The EU banned the use of neonicotinoids on flowering crops that attract bees, such as oil seed rape, in 2013. But in February, a major report from the European Union's scientific risk assessors (Efsa) concluded that the high risk to both honeybees and wild bees resulted from any outdoor use, because the pesticides contaminate soil and water. This leads to the pesticides appearing in wildflowers or succeeding crops. A recent study of honey samples revealed global contamination by neonicotinoids. The ban on the three main neonicotinoids has widespread public support. Banning these toxic pesticides is a beacon of hope for bees. This shows that European governments are listening to their citizens, the scientific evidence and farmers who know that bees can't live with these chemicals and we can't live without bees. However, the pesticide manufacturers and some farming groups have accused the EU of being overly cautious and suggested crop yields could fall. But I personally don't agree with this as we all know that there are other environmentally safe natural/biological options to protect the crops from pests. Neonicotinoids, which are nerve agents, have been shown to cause a wide range of harm to individual bees, such as damaging memory and reducing queen numbers. Pesticides damage survival of bee colonies, landmark study showed. Other research has also revealed that 75% of all flying insects have disappeared in Germany and probably much further afield, prompting warnings of 'ecological armageddon'. There are some other reactions on this ban like some experts are worried that the exemption for greenhouses means neonicotinoids will be washed out into water courses, where they can severely harm aquatic life. Prof Jeroen van der Sluijs, at the University of Bergen, Norway, said neonicotinoids will also continue to be used in flea treatments for pets and in stables and animal transport vehicles, which account for about a third of all uses, thus he feels that environmental pollution will continue. We rely on both farmers and pollinators for the food we eat. Pesticide regulation is a balancing act between unintended consequences of their use for non-target organisms, including pollinators, and giving farmers the tools they need to control crop pests. Isn't it truly a great news. I find this EU ban totally fair and logical. Also, if these neonicotinoids are simply replaced by other similar compounds, then we will simply be going round in circles. What is needed is a move towards truly sustainable farming. Let's hope this ban will give way to sustainable farming. Bottle and can deposit return scheme gets green light in England
This is another positive step, and worth checking out how UK plans to tackle used plastic bottle problem. All drinks containers in England, whether plastic, glass or metal, will be covered by a deposit return scheme, the government has announced. The forthcoming scheme is intended to cut the litter polluting the land and sea by returning a small cash sum to consumers who return their bottles and cans. Similar schemes operate in 38 countries, and campaigners have worked for a decade for its introduction in England. Fees vary depending on the size of the bottle or can and many use 'reverse vending machines' to automate the return. Once returned, retailers are responsible for properly recycling the containers. Deposit return schemes (DRS) have increased recycling rates to more than 90% in other countries. At present just 43% of the 13bn plastic bottles sold each year in the UK are recycled, and 700,000 are littered every day. In Germany, a DRS was introduced in 2003 and 99% of plastic bottles are recycled. We can be in no doubt that plastic is wreaking havoc on our marine environment. It is absolutely vital we act now to tackle this threat and curb the millions of plastic bottles a day that go unrecycled. UK has already banned harmful microbeads and cut plastic bag use, and now it wants to take action on plastic bottles to help clean up our oceans. What's significant is that producers will now pay the full costs of their packaging, reducing the burden on the taxpayer and setting a strong precedent for other schemes where the polluter pays. Plastic waste in the UK will rise by a fifth by 2030. There is a strong need to tackle the problem on all fronts by reducing, reusing and recycling. That means introducing a standard approach to recycling and, ultimately, ending the use of avoidable single-use plastic by 2025. It's good to see the government listen to public opinion. If the system is UK-wide, applicable to drinks containers of all sizes, and available everywhere they are sold, it will make a huge difference to the plastic problem. The number of single-use plastic bags used in England has fallen by 80% since a 5p charge was introduced, and the country has followed the US and others in banning plastic microbeads in personal hygiene products. In the UK supermarkets are a major source of plastic pollution. This year the Guardian reported that the major chains create almost 1m tonnes of plastic packaging waste every year. Deposit return schemes for plastic bottles have been shown to cut litter and increase recycling in many countries. More than 4m plastic bottles a week could be prevented from littering streets and marine environments in Britain if authorities adopted the kind of deposit-return schemes that operate in at least a dozen other countries. The calls for such a scheme come as recycling rates in Britain fell to 44% last year after flatlining for five years, according to Keep Britain Tidy. More than half of the 35m plastic bottles sold in Britain every day are not collected for recycling but instead are left as litter or put into landfill. Recycling rates for plastic bottles in Britain stand at 57%, compared with more than 90% in countries that operate deposit return schemes such as Germany, Norway and Sweden. What are deposit return schemes? Deposit return schemes (DRS), through which consumers pay a small sum (equivalent to 10p or 20p) upon purchase which is refunded when they return a bottle or can, operate in at least a dozen countries including Germany, Sweden, Denmark and Australia. In Germany, where DRS machines are located in places such as supermarkets, 99% of plastic bottles are recycled. Recycling rates in the UK are currently at less than 50%. But a relatively small economic incentive has had a major impact in England – the 5p charge on plastic bags led to an 85% drop in the first six months alone. Drinks containers of up to three litres in volume will be eligible for a 10-cent refund if handed into an approved refund point, with the cost of the refunds borne by beverage manufacturers. In South Australia, which has operated a deposit refund scheme for 40 years, the return rate is 76.5%. Steve Beaman of the New South Wales environment protection authority cites evidence showing that in states where bottle deposit schemes do not yet operate, drinks containers make up nearly half of the litter – 44% in Queensland and 49% in New South Wales – while in South Australia bottles amount to just 2.2%. In Finland a small deposit – 40 cents for a 1.5 litre plastic bottle – is added to the price and consumers can return the bottles to specialist bottle banks in supermarkets with a barcode reader, which allows them to collect the money back as they drop the bottle. Similarly, in Norway, supermarkets often install 'reverse vending machines' that scan barcodes and give consumers vouchers against their shopping or make a donation to charity in return for bottles. From the DRS experiences in other countries, it is sure that such a well-designed deposit return scheme (DRS) could help increase recycling and reduce littering. Sources: https://supplychainanalysis.igd.com/news/news-article/t/sainsburys-trials-grocery-deliveries-by-electric-bike/i/18817
https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/apr/27/eu-agrees-total-ban-on-bee-harming-pesticides?utm_source=esp&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=Green+Light+2016&utm_term=273011&subid=22244761&CMP=EMCENVEML1631 https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/mar/27/bottle-and-can-deposit-return-scheme-gets-green-light-in-england?utm_source=esp&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=GU+Today+main+NEW+H+categories&utm_term=269200&subid=22244761&CMP=EMCNEWEML6619I2 |
