Today, the main market for plastics is packaging, both household and industrial. This packaging segment alone accounts for almost half of the plastic waste produced worldwide, most of which is never recycled or incinerated. Furthermore, it is estimated that around 40% of the plastic produced each year is destined for single use.
Recycling is not the only lever for action. Another angle of action is simply to eliminate unnecessary plastic, less plastic used means less plastic thrown away.
Plastic in general (polymers derived from petroleum) remains a material that humanity cannot do without. The real objective now is to use it in a useful and thoughtful way, and to think about the end of the product’s life right from the design stage.
At KAPA REYNOLDS, we are working on improving our packaging, eliminating unnecessary material and emphasising our search for greater recyclability. This ti comply to the 5Rs approach:
– Refuse not essential components
– Reduce
– Reuse
– Recycle
– Rot (Compost)
Previously, most of the references in the Hardware ranges (batteries, light bulbs and torches) were made from a cardboard box and/or a thermoformed PET shell. The latter was sealed onto a part of the cardboard box to hold the product(s).
We worked incrementally, with a view to continuous improvement. Firstly, to reduce the material used, by reducing the thickness so as not to use anything superfluous. Secondly, the elimination of certain plastics, PVC in particular, and the integration of recycled material. Finally, the last step was the elimination of this single use plastic. The final weight of the carton pack was also monitored, meaning the presence of material that is only necessary for the main role of the pack: protection. This comes after much effort and improvement on the production line. By eliminating this plastic, a two-material package has become a single-material package, a carton blister.
The impact is considerable.
Over the course of a year, almost 11.6t of PET is no longer used, and this is for 33 standard references on the market. This is the equivalent of about 386,000 plastic bottles. Given that it takes 100 mL of oil, 80 grams of coal, 42 litres of gas and 2 litres… of water to produce a single bottle! It a total saving of 38,600 litres of oil, 30 tonnes of coal, 16,200 m3 of gas and 772 m3 of water!
Source : recygo
This is not the only improvement to our Hardware range, KAPA has already put battery chargers on the market that have also been converted from blister packs to a 99.9% cardboard pack! A thin strip of PET, an excellent electrical insulator, remains to prevent any electrical movement between the charger and the batteries it contains. And finally, we are actively working on eliminating the shrink sleeve on our batteries!
If you want to know more about plastic, we invite you to read our article (clickable): Le monde sans plastique est-il fantastique ?
Don’t hesitate to check out our other actions in shops or here: KAPA REYNOLDS des actions positives et solidaires – Kapa Reynolds (kapa-reynolds.com)
