Sustainability In Industry

Posted on 01 Sep 2023

When we were asked by the Sky producer to contribute to a programme of the changes we would like to see to make plastics a more sustainable business, we asked - How long have we got? 

In the event we had just 7 minutes in a 20-minute programme shared with 2 engineering companies, so there was not enough time for us to say; 

1. We have reduced our customer plastics use by many hundreds of tonnes over the years.
   
   
2. We have worked with them from design of the pack to machine operation to find the best film for each product and application.
   
   
3. We have done this by having packaging environmental audits with our packaging engineers and technologists giving their advice on best practice and the most recent developments in packaging film technology.
   
   
4. We have produced film technical training and raised awareness of environmental developments in films through customer workshops and Academies.
   
   
5. We have contributed to reducing our customers carbon footprint through these environmental audits, technical workshops, and Academies.
   
   
6. We provide 100% single polymer recyclable film for every application, including pouches.
   
   
7. We provide 100% recyclable paper for those companies who prefer this material.
   
   
8. We provide full technical support for all our films and papers along with training for customers staff to optimise their use.
   
   
9. We have, in many cases, been able to achieve a cost reduction. 

In summary 

We rarely promote National Flexible in these notes, that is not their role. But at some point, the demonisation of plastics in the media and the government, has to stop and this Sky programme offered us an opportunity to express our thoughts on the positive actions the government could take to make the use of plastics more sustainable.

However, as the BBC has already produced programmes such as ‘War on Plastic!, Drowning in Plastic!, The Great Plastic Count! and Blue Planet 2’. These anti-plastic programmes have a head start so the industry has a mountain to climb promoting the positive benefits of plastic packaging and disposal.  

For a sneak preview of Sunday’s programme, please visit: SUSTAINABILITY IN INDUSTRY - TRAILER.mp4

As ever, I welcome your views to any of the points raised. Please join me on LinkedIn for more regular updates.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/barry-twigg

#DontHatePlastic