“Businesses should be taught to be responsible for nature only with a carrot and a stick”

Photo by: xavierarnau / iStock

Prohibitions will not teach producers or suppliers to be responsible. Bans will never work, because businesses will always find a way to escape through certain wording and commas.

Right now, for example, while everyone is talking about banning disposable tableware and other things with a short life expectancy, clever people are busy promoting biodegradable plastic as a biodegradable product that will make your barbecue plate or lunchbox disappear once you throw it away.

“Forcing” commercial structures can only be done through the ruble. This requires the creation of financial incentives with a “carrot and stick”. Non-compliance with sustainable production requirements should cost more in fees than compliance — that’s as a “stick”. And creating a list of priority secondary materials and products made from them, e.g. in public procurement, is the carrot.

Cover photo: Halfpoint / iStock