Plastics: a major environmental concern and highly topical, with a recent survey from Greenpeace revealing a shocking state of affairs. The survey revealed that none of the major consumer goods giants responsible for most of the single-use plastic in circulation have any plans to reduce the amount of plastic packaging they produce. It is estimated that 12.7 million tonnes of plastic – everything from plastic bottles and bags to microbeads – end up in our oceans each year. That’s a truck load of rubbish a minute.
It is estimated that 50% of all plastics are used just once and thrown away, with a great deal of that ‘waste’ ending up in our oceans. 80% of all trash in the ocean is plastic according to Plasticocean.org.
But are plastics all bad? It is often quickly forgotten that they play a pivotal role in day-to-day life in the 21st century. Plastics have made a wide range of goods available to consumers at low prices, raising the standard of living for many people. Plastics have also improved health and sanitation and reduced demand on scarce natural resources. They are essential to modern-day life. The problems start occurring more with the waste and disposal of plastics.
So how do we tackle the problem? Well, one of the first issues to address is awareness. Dr. Sylvia Earle says “You might not care, even if you know, but you can’t care if you don’t know”. The rise in the public awareness of the damage we are doing to the earth has come from the likes of Attenborough documentaries and the campaign of Sky News.
After awareness comes action. This can manifest in two ways: 1) cleaning up what is already in the oceans (an estimated five trillion pieces of plastic, according to Lavers) and, 2) stopping more from getting in. Marine scientists, however, say the overwhelming priority must be prevention.
Emtez have identified that one of the most obvious ways in which they can help is to recycle – minimising waste and repurposing plastics so that they don’t end up in the ocean. That’s part of the reason that Emtez have made commitments to increasing the amount of plastic recycled and, in turn, introduced their recycled product range.
As part of our commitment to help protect the world we live in, we are proud to offer a range of recycled drum spill pallets made purely from the minimal waste polyethylene produced at our factory via our state of the art recycling plant. This is in addition to our ISO 14001 accreditation which sees us employ the highest of environmental management standards throughout our business.
For more information on the recycled range and how they can benefit your business, why not contact us today? We can offer a free site assessment service, which provides you with bespoke and confidential advice on the right products to suit your specific site applications and ensure compliance with latest legislation.
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