ADVERTORIAL
Climate change is one of the biggest issues facing our planet today, and new packaging launching this month in Australia from ecostore, helps people play their part in tackling this global challenge at a local level.
Last September ecostore became the first manufacturer in New Zealand to switch to new plastic bottles that we’ve called our Carbon Capture™ Paks.
As well as reducing the need for fossil fuels, the Carbon Capture plastic traps carbon from the atmosphere and they’re made from a renewable sugarcane crop that’s a safer alternative to regular plastic.
The crop is sustainable and fast-growing and comes from Brazil, with 92 percent renewable content in each bottle.
The ethanol in the sugarcane is dehydrated to make ethylene, then polymerised to become polyethylene and it’s this plastic made from sugarcane that we use to now make our plastic bottles.
These new packs can be recycled in the same way as any high-density polyethylene (HDPE) #2 bottle.
Right now 98 per cent of our bottled product is changing to sugarcane-based HDPE and as the technology evolves, in time we’ll be able to make all our products in sugarcane-based plastic.
It’s a big achievement for ecostore, according to co-founder and CEO Malcolm Rands.
“Plastic is one of the world’s greatest problems and for some time I have been searching for alternatives for ecostore,” he said.
“Our petrochemical plastic bottles have been a real bugbear to me. Finding a safer alternative has been a priority.
“This is huge for me personally and for ecostore and the world.”
In the recently published Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Fifth Assessment (AR5) stated CO? emissions from fossil fuel combustion and industrial processes contributed to 78 per cent of the total greenhouse gas emissions increase between 1970 and 2010.
There was a contribution of similar percentage over the period 2000-2010 period¹.
Robust and compelling evidence documented throughout the report claims carbon dioxide is the major greenhouse gas generated from human activities and impacts accounting for 76 per cent of greenhouse gas emissions in 2010².
The report also stated that since 2000, the greenhouse gas emissions have been growing in all sectors with the exception of agriculture, forestry and other land use.
When it comes to helping tackle climate change, Carbon Capture™ Paks are a small step that add up to a big difference.
Every one kilogram of Carbon Capture™ plastic that gets produced stores as much as the equivalent of 2.0kg of atmospheric CO2.
That compares with the 1.83kg CO2equivalent released into the atmosphere from traditional plastic packaging.
Carbon Capture™ Paks will start appearing in your local stores this month.
The bottles look identical to traditional plastic packaging, so look for the green neck tags on the new packaging and the embossed ‘Carbon Capture’ stamp on the base.
And if you want to find out more, visit carboncapturepak.com
- 1. The Fifth Assessment Report (AR5) finds stronger evidence that multiple components of the Earth’s climate system are changing.
- 2. Climate Change 2014 Synthesis Report – the Fifth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)
