Environment

Environmental concern on packaging and packaging materials is growing worldwide, mainly related to waste management and waste treatment, but also with respect to resources and energy saving efforts. The consumption of packaging materials is increasing drastically in almost all nations of the world. Many environmental impacts are associated with the production, operations, transportation and disposal of the packaging materials. Packaging industries play a large role in the contamination of land, air, soil, and water. There is therefore need to consider the environmental-packaging conditions in the importing or exporting country.

Product Conditions

Required levels of protection and preservation
Suitable product shelf-life
Required levels of safety and security
Substrate providing adequate surface for graphics and labelling
Desired level of convenience for both the consumer and the retailer
Free of toxic chemicals
Cost-effective
Required volume and weight efficiency
Optimal cube utilization optimal
Sufficiently robust for all the materials-handling throughout the supply chain
Designed using minimum and new material or technologies to support sustainability

Regional Conditions

Meeting local and destination country regulations – sufficient research is to be done on both markets regarding the type packaging that is acceptable.
Environmentally friendly – is the packaging material biodegradable or easy to recycle.
Use of recycled materials generating minimum amount of waste
Free of any hazardous chemicals – is the packaging substrate food safe or fit for purpose.
Reduced carbon footprint

Other Conditions

Specific to Country of Origin
International codes and practices
Recycling Codes/Disposal Instructions
Informative, truthful, straightforward, and legible labelling
Product traceability

The Importance of Recycling

The Importance of Recycling

Recycling paper and wood saves trees and forests.
Recycling plastic reduces the use of fossil fuel hydrocarbons.
Recycling metals means less need for risky, expensive and damaging mining and extraction of new metal ores.
Recycling glass reduces the need to use new raw materials like sand.

To protect the ecosystems and wildlife

Recycling reduces the need to grow, harvest or extract new raw materials from the Earth. That in turn lessens the harmful disruption and damage being done to the natural world: fewer forests cut down, rivers diverted, wild animals harmed or displaced, and less pollution of water, soil and air.

To reduce the demand for raw materials

The world’s increasing demand for new materials has led to more of the poorest and most vulnerable people being displaced from their homes, or otherwise exploited. Forest communities can find themselves evicted as a result of the search for cheap timber and rivers can be damned or polluted by manufacturing waste.

The Importance of Recycling

Making products from recycled materials requires less energy than making them from new raw materials. For example, production of new aluminium from old products (including recycled cans and foil) uses 95% less energy than making it from scratch; producing paper from pulped recycled paper uses 40% less energy than making it from virgin wood fibres; and the amount of energy saved from recycling one glass bottle could power an old 100-watt light bulb for 4 hours and a new low-energy LED equivalent for a longer period

To protect the ecosystems and wildlife

Recycling means you need to use less energy on sourcing and processing new raw materials therefore it produces lower carbon emissions. It also keeps potentially methane-releasing waste out of landfill sites. Reducing carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases being emitted into the atmosphere is vital for stopping disastrous climate change.

To reduce the demand for raw materials

The more that is recycled, the less that is throw away into the disposal bins. Recycling food waste and green waste can generate valuable compost that can be used to grow food and vegetables.

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

The truth is we all need to get into the habit of using less stuff in the first place. And the things we do use ought to be reused as much as possible before being recycled, to minimise waste. This would significantly aid the response to the global waste management challenge, which has seen many countries in the Global South unfairly shoulder the responsibility of managing the waste of countries in the Global North. The question of what to do with waste is one that governments cannot ignore. It is important that we combine our efforts to manage our waste with increased calls for tougher government action on reducing plastic waste.

Recycling Companies

Petrecozim
41 Dover Road
Ardbennie, Harare
Telephone: (04) 620787 / 666184
Mobile: 0772 102 646 / 0771 568 450
Email : bottle@petreco.co.zw

STRAPLite
1 Greenock Road
Workington, Harare
Mobile: +263 777 458 096
Email: info@ledlite.co.zw