For many businesses, a secure document destruction service is the key to safely and sustainably disposing of confidential paper waste, records, contracts, tenders, files, or other printed materials. Source separation like this creates a high-quality commodity that is vital to the circular economy where recycled material is used to make new products.
Larger businesses can optimise product design and packaging to be recyclable at the end of its useful life. By building sustainability into the supply chain, manufacturers stimulate domestic demand for recovered materials, create more investment, more jobs, and ultimately, recover more materials — also known as a triple bottom line. In a landmark move, Unilever Australia has announced that at least 25 percent of its product packaging will come from post-consumer recycled plastic.
The program will recirculate approximately tonnes of recycled plastic each year — equivalent to more than million plastic bags. We are proud to be taking this step forward, but no business can create a circular economy in isolation.
Creating a local market and demand for all types of recycled plastic is critical and heavy lifting is needed from all players involved — suppliers, packaging converters, brand owners, policy makers and retailers, collectors, sorters and recyclers. We need a complete shift in how we think about and use resources. Contact us to find out more about our paper, cardboard and plastic recycling services.
Paper and plastic not a concern for your home or business? Find out more about other waste streams including food waste and e-waste and how you can make a difference in the War on Waste.
Sign up for the latest sustainability news for industry, businesses and communities. Skip to content. Your feedback is important to us. Which is more environmentally friendly: paper or plastic? For the battle over which is greener, neither paper nor plastic have it in the bag. Causes pollution : Paper production emits air pollution, specifically 70 percent more pollution than the production of plastic bags [source: Thompson ].
According to certain studies, manufacturing paper emits 80 percent more greenhouse gases [source: Lilienfield]. And, consider that making paper uses trees that, instead, could be absorbing carbon dioxide. The paper bag making process also results in 50 times more water pollutants than making plastic bags [source: Thompson ]. Consumes energy : Even though petroleum goes into making plastic, it turns out that making a paper bag consumes four times as much energy as making a plastic bag, meaning making paper consumes a good deal of fuel [source: reusablebags.
Consumes water : The production of paper bags uses three times the amount of water it takes to make plastic bags [source: Lilienfield]. Inefficient recycling : The process of recycling paper can be inefficient -- often consuming more fuel than it would take to make a new bag [source: Milstein ].
In addition, it takes about 91 percent more energy to recycle a pound of paper than a pound of plastic [source: reusablebags. Produces waste : According to some measures, paper bags generate 80 percent more solid waste [source: Lilienfield]. Biodegrading difficulties : Surprisingly, the EPA has stated that in landfills , paper doesn't degrade all that much faster than plastics [source: Lilienfield].
And you can imagine how eating plastic messes with an animal's intestine. As a result, animals can die of starvation [source: Spivey ]. To prevent this, perhaps paper is the better choice, especially if you live on the coast, as your plastic waste is more likely to make its way to marine life and sea birds [source: Thompson ].
Long-term degrading : Light breaks plastic down so it photodegrades rather than biodegrades. Estimates say that this process can take up to or even years in landfills [source: Lapidos]. Unfortunately, we don't really know, as plastic is a relatively new invention. As a leading supplier of flexible plastic packaging products, Elkay Plastics Co. The reality of the situation is that all commercial products present harmful externalities to the environment if not properly disposed of or reused.
Responding to this challenge, many environmental activists nationwide target plastic bags in particular as an environmental problem while promoting other options as more "environmentally friendly" alternatives. At Elkay, we strongly disagree with such assertions and point to the fact that plastic products, if reused and properly disposed of, are an environmentally sound choice for all types of packaging.
Many people from around the world have been erroneously convinced that paper is an environmentally superior option to plastic. Contrary to popular belief, plastic bags are a great choice when it comes to preserving the environment if properly reused and disposed of and, according to the U.
Environmental Protection Agency EPA , present less environmental challenges than competing products such as paper. In , , tons of paper bags were used in the United States" U. If one does the mathematics correctly, the statistics add up to a range of 13 to 17 million trees used in alone to create paper bags. If the public decides to choose paper bags in favor of plastic bags, the situation will lead to a massive increase in the number of trees that must be chopped down, turned to pulp, and chemically treated to create additional paper bags.
Contrary to popular belief, plastic resin is made from a by-product of natural gas, not oil, as some environmental activists misguidedly claim. This statistic implies that it would take at least nine more truckloads of paper bags to deliver the same amount of plastic bags, which inevitably leads to more usage of fossil fuels as well as far greater emissions of greenhouse gasses.
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