Environment
100% CARBON NEUTRAL PACKAGING PRODUCTS.
WE OFFER A RANGE OF 100% RECYCLED PLASTIC OPTIONS.
At Ant Packaging we take our environmental responsibility very seriously.
Better for the environment, better for your business.
Most of the 100% recycled plastic we use to produce our packaging bottles is directly sourced from the yellow recycling bins in NSW. By purchasing our locally recycled plastic packaging you're doing your bit to help save the environment and it may be an additional selling point for your customers too.
Part of the circular economy.
We are able to produce a new bottle for every recycled bottle and are proud that this makes us part of the circular economy where resources are continually reused. By choosing our recycled plastic packaging for your business, you can show your customers how you're doing your bit too.
A uniquely carbon neutral plastics factory.
We are proud to be the first, and perhaps the only, carbon neutral plastics factory in Australia. We've taken steps to reduce our emissions by becoming largely solar powered and reducing our power consumption by updating our technology and introducing new processes.
Our remaining, reduced emissions are audited and then offset with purchased carbon credits, from independently verified, internationally recognised standards of carbon abatement projects. This year the projects we are offsetting our emissions by include Turkish Wind Farms and Yarra Yarra Reforestation. Please contact us if you would like more information on the process of becoming carbon neutral, we are happy to share our information.
Recycled packaging versus biodegradable packaging.
We continuously research the latest developments in green packaging and have found there are common misconceptions with biodegradable packaging.
When biodegradable packaging breaks down, it first breaks down into small pieces which are not reused and are even more harmful to our waterways and the environment if they end up there.
At this point there are no ocean soluble plastics that bottles can be made from. The closest thing to being biodegradable is PLA which is commercially compostable not biodegradable, meaning it must have controlled conditions to "degrade in" of which there aren't many in Australia. To make bottles from this could even be considered reckless, as PLA would contaminate the already established PET recycle stream here in Australia if it were allowed to intermix.
At Ant Packaging, we are always researching new developments in this space and hope that biodegradable packaging becomes possible in the future. Right now recycled packaging is in fact better for the environment as we can reuse it entirely. We can recreate a 100% food grade bottle from bottles collected from your places like your recycling bin. The world is no longer forced to downcycle. We can create a product of equal or greater value to help form a circular economy for plastic packaging instead of the old make, use, bury system that has previously existed. It just doesn't make sense to bury a resource that we can reuse.
Future focused.
We are committed to always being on the forefront of new environmental research and developments. We attend local and international plastic, recycling and packaging conferences events including the K fair in Dusseldorf and Chinaplas.
We have recently invested heavily in reducing minimum order quantities for rPET recycled plastic packaging so that more of our customers can offer their products in these bottles. We have been able to do this by adding new technologies that match our business philosophy of being small, flexible and extremely customer focused.
The future of recycling looks to be chemical recycling. Right now plastic can be recycled 8 to 10 times, however with chemical recycling we will see indefinite recycling which is very exciting. Chemical recycling breaks plastics down to its original chemical form so it can be remade into new plastic without existing issues and the costs of contamination. Right now it's still in its infancy but we are watching for when it becomes commercially viable.
To read more about the circular economy, click here. link to https://sustainability.com/our-work/insights/creating-a-circular-economy-for-plastics/
To find out more about chemical recycling, click here. link to https://www.basf.com/global/en/who-we-are/sustainability/we-drive-sustainable-solutions/circular-economy/chemcycling.html
Want to find out more? We'd be more than happy to discuss how we're trying to operate sustainably and do our bit for the environment. Please send us an email here.