Jim Hardisty, Managing Director of Goplasticpallets.com – The Responsible Plastic Pallet Company says that organisations and consumers need to fully embrace a plastic circular economy sooner rather than later to help tackle plastic pollution.
In a recent article published on Circular online, the Sustainability Director at The Consumer Goods Forum, Ignacio Gavilan, highlighted the need to make a plastic circular economy the norm.
Jim Hardisty said, “I wholeheartedly agree with the comments made by Ignacio Gavilan in this article. We desperately need more consumers, businesses, and policy makers to buy into a plastic circular economy. The current ‘take, make, dispose’ culture we have come to adopt when using plastic just isn’t sustainable and is damaging the planet, almost beyond repair. Plastic isn’t necessarily the problem, but plastic waste is.
“As the UK’s leading supplier of plastic pallets, pallet boxes, and containers, we are passionate about plastic. Since we started Goplasticpallets.com in 2001, we have seen the infinite value of plastic and know that it’s strength, light weight, and durability make it an extremely useful and sustainable solution for our customers.
“While there is lots of talk about reducing plastic pollution, much of the noise seems to focus largely on reducing plastic usage. Embedding a culture where we reuse and recycle plastic seems to be where we are falling short. Something needs to change, and the sooner we all adopt the ‘reduce, reuse, recycle’ principles of the circular economy, the sooner we’ll see a change in the levels of plastic waste.”
Another recent report released by the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development) predicted that global plastic waste will almost triple by 2060.
Jim continued, “It is shocking to read that plastic pollution could almost triple within the next 40 years. That is why it is imperative we find effective solutions to stop this from happening.
“When we launched our pioneering recycling scheme in 2019, we decided to take action. We assumed responsibility for all the plastic products we supplied and created a closed loop. We pledged to recycle unwanted or unused plastic pallets, boxes, and containers by returning them to our manufacturing partner in Belgium. Once at the factory, the old plastic products are ground down and turned into new recycled pallets. This not only prevents our products from entering waste streams, but this process is kinder to the environment.
“Every 1 tonne of recycled plastic saves around 2 tonnes of CO2 emissions, 5,774 kilowatt-hours of energy, 16.3 barrels of oil, 98 million BTUs of energy and 22 cubic meters of landfill. The aim must be a world where we reuse and recycle existing plastic into useful new products.”
In addition to the environmental benefits of a circular economy, reports suggest it can generate considerable cost savings too.
Research by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation shows that circular practices could save a section of the EU manufacturing sector up to $630 billion each year. While another report by McKinsey outlines how circular systems could boost Europe’s resource productivity by 3% by 2030 – generating cost savings of €600 billion a year and €1.8 trillion more in other economic benefits.
If you and your business would like to experience the environmental and financial benefits of plastic pallets, please get in touch with one of the experts at Goplasticpallets.com on 01323 744057 or by emailing sales@goplasticpallets.com.
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