This is what happens when you DON'T recycle

Photo: Zak Noyle

THE PROBLEM

The US only recycles about 9% of our plastic materials

which is significantly less than China (25%) and Europe (30%)

This means that 91% of that material eventually ends up in our Landfills or the Ocean.

PLASTICS IN LANDFILLS

IT CAN TAKE UP TO

1000 YEARS

FOR PLASTIC TO BREAK DOWN

AND

IN LANDFILLS

MIXING WITH RAINWATER TO PRODUCE

TAKING UP VALUABLE SPACE

WHILE

A TOXIC BY PRODUCT

LEACHATE

THAT CAN

LEACH THROUGH LANDFILL LINERS

AND CONTAMINATE GROUNDWATER SOURCES AND EVENTUALLY OUR OCEAN

ONCE IN THE OCEAN

IT IS ESTIMATED THAT

8 MILLION TONS

OF PLASTIC ENTER OUR OCEAN

EVERY YEAR

WHERE OCEAN CURRENTS

TAKE THE PLASTIC TO 1 of 5 OCEAN GYRES

THE PLASTICS BREAK INTO MICROPLASTICS

AND OVER TIME

WHICH ARE

EATEN BY FISH AND OTHER MARINE ANIMALS

AND EVENTUALLY

END UP ON OUR DINNER PLATES FOR US TO EAT

THE SOLUTION

Recycling at CarbonLITE

RECYCLING IS IN OUR DNA

PinnPACK has approached the idea of sustainability head on. Through the use of rPET Resin (also called PCR - Post Consumer Resin) provided by our sister company, CarbonLITE Recycling, PinnPACK builds sustainability directly into our packaging. ALL PinnPACK products can be made with varying levels of rPET. As a matter of fact, many of our products are made with 100% rPET, including all our green and black parts.

(Levels of rPET are largely dependent on customer specifications)

Learn More About Our Process

RECYCLING BY THE NUMBERS

Americans recycle about 12 Billion Bottles every year!

Recycling facilities can generate 7-10 more jobs compared to landfills and waste-to-energy plants.

It takes 22 gallons of water to produce 1 pound of virgin plastic, however it only takes 2/3 of a gallon to recycle 1 pound of plastic.

Producing 1 Ton of recycled plastic saves 5,774 Kwh of energy, compared to 1 Ton of Virgin plastic.

Recycling 1 ton of plastic saves 1.5 tons of CO2 Emission compared to producing 1 ton of virgin plastic.

More than 1,600 different businesses in the U.S. use post-consumer recycled plastic.

As recycling collection, sorting, and processing improves, these numbers will also improve! The hope is to create a system where we continuously recycle plastic products, reducing the need to make virgin plastics. Recycling not only helps conserve natural resources, but also protects the health of creatures living on this planet, including us!