A world without plastic or a world without plastic pollution

We all want a world without plastic pollution, but do we want a world without plastic? Perhaps, instead, we should be aiming to ensure that 100% of plastic packaging will be reused, recycled or recovered, as is the goal of the American Chemistry Council. To achieve this goal and eliminate plastic waste in our oceans will immeasurably improve the environmental performance of plastic packaging.

An international study prepared by Franklin Associates for the American Chemistry Council reports on well-established data around the energy and greenhouse gas (GHG) benefit of plastics compared to alternatives.

The study found that replacing plastic with alternative materials in packaging applications actually results in increased energy use, water consumption and solid waste. Not only this, but it was shown to increase greenhouse gas emissions, acidification, eutrophication (excessive richness of nutrients in a lake or other body of water, frequently due to run-off from the land, which causes a dense growth of plant life) and ozone depletion!

Custom-Pak takes pride in the fact that nearly all of our products are recyclable. Most of the containers that we thermo-form are made from 100% RPET – recycled polyethylene terephthalate, with almost no new resin, added.

As full members of Plastics New Zealand, an organisation that works to positively influence plastic manufacturing in New Zealand, we behave in an environmentally responsible manner for the betterment of New Zealand.

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