If the companies try and make the consumer eat the cost, then the companies who sell their products in cardboard packaging instead of plastic will be able to sell it for cheaper and potentially steal business from the others. There are plenty of products sold in plastic which do not need to be.
a free market argument? lol, the free market got us INTO this mess, they will lock step and increase prices both by the amount of extra costs, as well as an extra 10% to make shareholders happy and continue record profits
The free market got us into this mess because we don’t price in externalities; forcing companies to cover the cost of disposal of their packaging helps fix that. It’s the same idea as a carbon tax
Where’s the problem? If they use more environmentally friendly packaging, then they get more profits. There’s no incentive to use anything else.