A British cleaning products firm, Delphis Eco, has this week revealed what it claims to be the world’s first plastic packaging made entirely from post-consumer recycled (PCR) plastic.
The new recycled bottle, which the company is touting as a “long-awaited close loop breakthrough”, paves the way for plastic packaging to be endlessly recycled into new packaging for products.
Delphis Eco took five years to perfect the technology, which processes one of the world’s most popular plastics – high-density polyethylene (HDPE) – into new packaging. It will be rolled out across its entire range of eco cleaning products from this week, Delphis said.
“By driving this change to our packaging – which incidentally, many people said couldn’t be done – we have taken 500 tonnes of carbon emissions out of the equation,” chief executive Mark Jankovich said. “Just imagine if the large, international brands followed suit? Waste plastic is a huge issue and we are still only scratching the surface at finding solution of how to get rid of it.”
More than 500 million plastic bottles are used around the world every day, with around half designated as ‘single use’. Meanwhile only about seven per cent of virgin plastic is currently recycled, resulting in millions of tonnes of plastic waste being dumped in landfill each year.
The new packaging technique produces food grade quality PCR plastic, which means it can be used to package food products as well as cleaning materials and other items. Delphis Eco say its bottle saves 70 per cent of the carbon versus a virgin plastic one.
The firm now wants the wider packaging industry to follow suit and dramatically increase the proportion of recycled plastics it uses in packaging.
“We believe everyone has the obligation to be more sustainable and for the last 10 years have produced the UK’s most accredited eco cleaning range for the commercial cleaning and out of home sector,” Jankovich added. “And now, with the world’s first PCR 100 per cent packaging – which we are bringing to market – we hope that big international corporates will sit up and take note and take on board the responsibility to invest in, and drive a paradigm shift on how we recycle plastic and use PCR waste.”
Source: businessgreen.com
