Iceberg Analysis for Plastic Consumption Issue
Plastic production is increasing over time. Package, bag, and PET bottle are all identified ones as better material selection in the past. Sometimes here was environmental reason to adopt in their advertisement. But majority of cases were out of environmental context. Nowadays, automotive industry is aiming to expand plastic usage to decline GHG emission even it contradicts with plastic consumption issues. The plastics that must be lighter weight than metal might be better choice for engineers which has been also led by the market demand because of some reasons. Who is the center of market? It might be consumer, people. Plastic consumption issues have been the byproduct of human selection. If we hope to deal with marine ecosystem issue due to plastic waste, what kind of iceberg analytics can be.
1: Introduction
In automotive industry, majority of companies have a mandatory to be given an environmental management system (EMS) assessment along the instructions of ISO14001. Because ISO certification is one of condition to do transaction with customers. However, a quality of the performance on EMS might go up and down because of motivation for environmental issues on general managers and directors that are varying while quality management system is much more serious issues for them. Even they do a great response during the assessment meetings, with inspectors from public organization, it does not work to get the promotion and to gain their position. Also, material selection process of product development in manufacturing industry has been done by the regulation they have to follow, not from environmental justice point of view. Those are typical cases of a lack attention on the environmental topics while looking at industry. This paper pays attention to plastic consumption. Because plastics is generally considered as great material as rather lighter and robust material in automotive industries over the world. I personally can guess there are some projects to replace the material into plastics in order to adjust the Paris agreement’s instruction to decline the emission of GHG. Engineers are doing their best to follow the Paris agreement, but their material selection, that opt to be plastic, will give the negative impact into environmental aspect on the earth. But they do not care because local rules in their office might be prior to global crisis. And, this lack of awareness definitely influences to marine ecosystem into negative direction. How should we deal with this problem? Iceberg model is great tool to analyze it shortly.
Event - Plastic consumption
Patterns - Material selection in industry has been done along that customer demands
Structure - Cost and function are prior to environmental aspect material has
Mental Models - When people face complexity, they opt to make issues be simple.
- Issues of Plastic Consumption
In general, plastic consumption is the problematic on marine ecosystem given by human activities. Marine species accumulate the microplastics, and which are supposed to affect the health conditions on marine species and human beings. “However, they have been ignored in most studies due to their elusive nature and limitations in sampling and analytical protocols, and units of important parameters such the abundance of particles.” (Shen et al., 2020). Also, a number of plastic productions must be increasing yearly. And, amount of microplastics in the ocean surface should have been following so far. For instance, in searching plastic production from 1980 to 2018, there are numbers as 70 million tons in 1980, 120 million tons in 1990, 213 million tons in 2000, 359 million tons in 2018 while figures of microplastics on ocean surface are 0.1 million tons in 1980, 0.215 million tons in 1990, 0.431 million tons in 2000, and 1.08 million tons in 2018. (Dimmitt, 2016). Micro plastics are very stable substance, which generally lead to stay in the ocean longer time. Although there are the potential risks that might be prolonged to get worse the quality of marine ecosystem, plastic production has been increasing over the time. People have been probably threatened of eating the fish accumulating microplastics, also there could be our problem. But they are not going to retard spreading plastic usage even this will be drawback for our quality of life. This is all the event and the explanation of plastic consumption.
- Pattern of Material Selection
Common pattern that plastic consumption is chronically increasing attributes on material selection in industry because of market’s demand. I personally remember first appearance of PET bottle in the TV commercial, “PET bottle is Break-Proof, Lighter, and Environmentally Friendly because of Recyclable one”. All of PET bottles in Japan are supposed to be recycled, but I do not even know why it is issues Japan involves world. Material selection has been done by preference of customers or government policy, law, regulation, global trends. Bin, which was major material of bottle, was problematic because there were many debris of grass on the road, also harmful if someone dropps and cracks bin bottle. PET bottle was very practical choice as material selection, it was just to fit into the needs of customers. 40% of plastic waste have attribute to package waste globally. (Shen et al., 2020). Material selection of industry result of it. Because Kyogi (Figure,1) was popular one with food packaging until 1970 in Japan. But plastic is much better on production efficacy. Cost and Profit were both reasons of transition from Kyogi into plastic.
Now, automotive industry would begin to use plastic because it is lighter than metal, and better material selection to adjust Paris Agreement. “The role of plastic in the design and manufacturing of automotive vehicles has never been more essential, with stringent regulations and changing consumer habits driving demand for more affordable, lightweight, and fuel-efficient vehicles.” (Khemka, 2019).
Material selection on packaging of the bottles, foods, and automotive vehicles, that can be reason as chronic increasing plastic production, consumption, and waste which result decline of marine ecosystem quality. They all seem common pattern of that industries adopted the plastics with consumer demand and efficiency, not in environmental context.
- Structure of Industry
Along the customer’s criteria, engineer and company will do material selection for cost and function efficiency instead of environmental aspect ingredient has. This is the structure why this issue occurs. And, lack of knowledge on markets including stake holders might be one of structures that people cannot delay plastic consumption. To sum up, material selection in industry is susceptible by needs of customers, not global trend that represents ISO. Cost and function are both major reason that engineer develop the plastic products along the demand of the market. So, even there are internal rules about environmental management system, it does not usually work as discouraging for R&D department to use the plastics because of much lighter and easily molding rather than metal. Microplastic problem is going to be downplayed under the customer satisfaction. Technology of the plastics industry is in better progress along the larger demand over time. How does market accept binned Coke, Kyogi-packaged food, and old-style car that is bad fuel efficiency? Those products are for just fewer people who love retro culture. Consumer does not like to bring heavier bottle, they love plastic packaged food, and people are supposed to be discouraged paying huge money for gasoline. There is the road to plastic for engineer. No one in industry makes them ban to adopt the plastic.
Also, market does not even know how serious plastic issues are. If we know it visually and obviously, market also will make industry invent substitute materials, which is environmentally friendly. However, there is still no countermeasure to stop this routine. Because convenience to use plastic is prior to decline of marine ecosystem.
- Common Belief to Support Plastic Consumption
Huge gap between knowledge individuals have and intelligence people must have to cope with environmental topics discourage issues go forward. Here is to specifically describe mental model on plastic consumption and general environmental issues. We can recognize individuals are having some problems that trigger huge plastic consumption. In this paragraph, which consider about what is common belief of individuals and how it supports this event. In survey on some of islands in Indonesia, 58% of people correctly answered to the question “What effect does plastic waste have on the environment?”, correct answer is “Negative effect”. This survey shows 42% of people are still thinking plastic consumption leads health condition decline. 11% of people correctly answered to “Do fish and other marine animals eat plastic waste?” Correct answer is “Yes”. (Phelan, Ross, Setianto, Fielding, & Pradipta, 2020).
Correct information should be prevailing over the people more than some advantages of plastic use for the products. Especially, fish is the great diet to keep environment impact lower than eating several kinds of meats such as beef and pork. “Animal agriculture is the leading cause of deforestation, water consumption and pollution, is responsible for more greenhouse gases than the transportation industry, and is a primary driver of rainforest destruction, species extinction, habitat loss, topsoil erosion, ocean “dead zones,” and virtually every other environmental ill.” (2014). Our selection on diet might be narrower in environmental context. But still people do not care about because here is no impact for people to be negative for plastic consumption such as someone died due to microplastics.
Also, environmental topics like global warming has a complexity. IPCC report is just great one for me. One Common Future is very impressive work to drive me engage to virtue of sustainability. However, only fewer people can touch over one thousand pages report. What are we going to do when we face the complexity? In this context, the package you have in Starbucks will give the negative impact to the quality of ocean. Everyone will ask how my bottle does work for and has no idea because of gap under the both of scales. This gap will make people neglect to stand long-term perspective including whole life cycle management point of view. That is the reason why we must recognize as local rules are always prior to global issues and public organization cannot stop to use plastics on material selection. Because they cannot know whether it makes industry incompetent in the market, to respond to customer’s demand. Only board members can make a decision not NPO or third party which are both not able to be responsible on the performance of industry.
In this consideration, we must prevail the environmental context to the people to change the preference of market to make up the gap between actual consumption in their daily life and bigger scale of environmental issues by sharing how serious it is.
