How Davpack Recycles and Looks After the Environment
Here at Davpack, we’re ramping up our efforts to improve our eco footprint by making some changes to the way we do things. That’s why, amongst other things, we’ve set ourselves the target of recycling 95% of our internal waste within the company. To make this happen, we’ve started to work with a new waste management company that specialises in resource recovery and recycling to give our waste items a second (at least) life.
Cardboard
We already do a pretty good job at recycling our cardboard, whether it be part of the packaging on a delivery of stock or off cuts from our in-house production of cardboard boxes. We collect all this waste cardboard which is then sent off to be shredded and turned back into fresh new cardboard. On top of that our cardboard is already made from a minimum of 75% recycled material and we also offer boxes which are made from 100% recycled material. This creates a circular economy and helps to prevent ‘waste’ cardboard ending up in landfill. When we do use virgin paper material for products, Davpack uses suppliers that are Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) certified, meaning that they are committed to the responsible management of forests.
Plastic
Currently, within the business, we use various types of plastics, from strapping and stretch wrap to plastic drinks bottles. With all the different types of plastic, it can be difficult to properly sort them all into their respective groups. Our plastic recycling, however, is set to become much more efficient, with our new waste management company using advanced electrostatic separation and optical sorting methods to ensure that there are no contamination in each plastic-type. This increases the quality of the recycled compounds and the chances of it being recycled. Once it has been sorted it will be turned into plastic pellets ready to be used to produce new products such as plastic containers, parts and components on consumer and electrical products.
Wooden Pallets
Wooden pallets are a common sight in our warehouse and are used on our racking systems to store stock. They’re tough, but not indestructible, which means that unfortunately they are sometimes broken and become unusable. Although they might not be able to be used as pallets again, that doesn’t mean that they need to get thrown into a skip and sent to landfill. Our new waste management company takes any of our waste wood and turns it into animal bedding or renewable biomass fuel. Although this biomass fuel is burnt and releases CO2, its overall lifecycle is carbon neutral, as the wood that is grown to make the pallets (and later the fuel) absorbs CO2 from the atmosphere and can later be reabsorbed by other trees, which brings us on to our next eco cause…….
Davpack’s Plant a Tree Campaign
As well as increasing our commitment to recycling more of our in-house waste, we are also launching a campaign to fund the planting of 1 tree for every order we receive and giving the paid work required to plant them to people in need, helping Davpack to give back to the global community as well as working to become carbon neutral and doing our bit to reduce greenhouse emissions.
With the changes we are making we will be able to increase our recycling rates (for all materials within the business) and lower our carbon footprint, helping Davpack to become a more environmentally friendly business for the future. Although we realise it won’t happen overnight, we are confident and excited to be taking this next step. If you’re looking for ways in which you can make your business more eco-friendly check out our great and expanding range of eco packaging alternatives.
Sarah Hickson
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