Can we all agree that plastic packaging has gotten ridiculous? If I buy toys for my kids they're 90% packaging, 10% toy... It's baffling. Who's the consumer demanding this?
Choking regulation, presumably. Another example: I just ordered a medical cannabis cartridge from a dispensary. It's about the size of a pen cap, but has more packaging than my iPhone and the childproofing is so difficult that I resort to stabbing the box with a knife; it's borderline adult proof. There is so much waste and excess in packaging, and I think the highly regulated cannabis industry in the U.S. is the worst offender these days.
I've only ever seen sugar available in paper sacks, like flour. Except powdered (icing) and brown sugar, which so come in bags, probably because they're a lot more moisture sensitive.
I've always wondered why some products are only available in glass jars, like jam. While some things used to be only in glass jars, but is now commonly plastic bottles (apple sauce, tomato sauce).
Interestingly, in the past couple of years, plastic peanut butter jars seem to have switched to opaque brown plastic, when they used to be clear. Is that because it's difficult to make clear products from recycled plastic?
No one, but that plastic could have been better used and as much new plastic wouldn't have to be produced. Earth is experiencing death by a thousand cuts, lets make it a hundred cuts if we can.
If it's about wasting resources (oil) then isn't that already priced into plastics? When oil prices rise higher, these near-frivolous uses of plastics will naturally reduce. Using oil in itself doesn't kill the Earth. It does nothing useful under the ground. You're falling into the common trap anthropomorphizing the Earth and applying human-like feelings to it.
It wastes space for them, adds costs, and so on but the reduction in thefts are so big that it's worth it.