Our World is in trouble and We ALL need to Help!
ZAK NOYLE/A FRAME PHOTO
AN OCEAN IN CRISIS
Every year about 18 Billion pounds of plastic waste enters our oceans.
The US only recycles about 9% of plastic materials, which is significantly behind China (25%) and Europe (30%). This means that 91% of that material eventually ends up in our Landfills or the Ocean.
Once in the ocean, much of this plastic ends up in a floating garbage patch, caused when trash is pulled into a circulating ocean current called a Gyre.
There are 5 Gyres in our ocean, meaning 5 garbage patches. The largest garbage patch is located in the North Pacific Gyre, which is the size of Mexico!
As the ocean currents circulate the trash in the gyres, the plastic, over time, breaks into smaller plastic pieces called Microplastics. These microplastics stay in the ocean indefinitely.
Image 1: Map of the 5 Ocean Gyres
These plastics and microplastics in the ocean harm ocean life who can confuse plastic particles for food, which often can lead to death. One scientific study, back in 2014, determined that 1-4 fish, at fish markets in the USA and Indonesia, contained plastic pieces in their guts. Seabirds are also in danger, and scientists believe that 90% of birds eat plastic regularly.
PLASTICS IN LANDFILLS
It takes up to 1000 years for plastic to biodegrade. And with about 3000 active landfills in the United States, theres a lot of potential for plastic to sit and take up very valuable Landfill space. Space that would have been used for waste that can biodegrade.
Figure 1: The image shows the quantity (in tons) of materials found in Landfills between 1960 and 2015. As you can see, Plastic in landfills has greatly increased after the 1990s. This trend needs to be reversed.
At the landfill, plastic can cause a number of problems. As plastic sits in a landfill for years and years chemicals can leach through the landfill liners and contaminate local groundwater sources.
It starts with YOU and US!
It starts with and not throwing it away.
It starts with using or produce new products
It starts with us developing better, more efficient, cost-effective methods to recycle plastic.
It starts with our Government creating incentives and local agencies creating more accessible recycling areas.
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. (Levels of rPET are largely dependent on customer specifications)
FACTS ABOUT RECYCLING
-
A single recycled bottle creates 20% less air pollution and 50% less water pollution than would be created when making a new bottle.
-
The energy saved from recycling a single plastic bottle can power a 100 watt bulb for 1 hour.
-
Recycling 1 pound of PET saves 12,000 BTU’s, the same amount of energy needed to increase the temperature of 120 gallons of water by 100 degrees.
-
Recycling 1 ton of plastic saves 5,774 kWH of electricity or 685 gallons of oil.
ENVIRONMENTAL BENEFITS
Recycling 1 TON of plastic can save:
42,000
GALLONS OF WATER
That's like flushing your toilet 26,250 times in a day!
5,774
KwH OF ENERGY
That can power the average home for 6 months!
2,000
TONS OF CO2 EMISSIONS
