SPECIAL FEATURE
Three tips to
ditch the plastic
for good in 2020
» REDUCING THE AMOUNT OF
plastic we use in our everyday lives is
becoming more and more important to
people and it is something that we are
constantly striving to improve upon at
APECS. Our industry uses a huge amount
of plastic, not only in packaging and
shipping, but also in day to day life with
locksmiths, sales teams and technical staff
out on the road.
Plastic was a wonderful invention; a
cheap, strong, durable and malleable
material for packaging, wrapping, bags,
cups, bottles, furniture and just about
everything else you can think of.
There is a huge downside to plastic
though, and that is the impact that it has
on the environment. Since the 1950’s, the
world has produced 8.3 billion tonnes of
plastic (that’s the equivalent of more than
800,000 Eiffel Towers) and only 9% of that
has been recycled. Unfortunately, a huge
amount of this plastic has ended up in
the world’s oceans, with a reported 1.8
trillion pieces of plastic being present. The
problem is so bad that if it continues at its
current rate, plastic will outweigh fish in
the ocean by the year 2050.
One of the major strengths of plastic is
also one of the biggest problems; it takes
a very long time to break down. Current
estimates are that plastic takes 500-700
years to decompose, that means the plastic
we are manufacturing today will still be
on the planet for the next six or seven
generations of our families lives.
Here at APECS, we are striving to reduce
the amount of plastic we are using, both
in our packaging and in our offices. 2020
will see us reduce the amount of plastic we
are using in our packaging by up to 80%, as
well as changing any plastic that we do use
to 100% recycled or biodegradable plastic
alternatives. We have also reduced the size
of our cylinder packaging, meaning that we
can fit more cylinders into each container,
82
reducing our carbon footprint with less
deliveries needed.
It is not just in our packaging that we have
made changes though. In our London office,
we have provided all of our staff with tote
bags to ensure that they are not using plastic
bags from shops. We have also given staff
members metal water bottles to stop the
need for buying plastic bottles when they
are out on the road.
We realise that as locksmiths, you are on
the road a lot of the day yourselves, and this
results in buying lots of single use plastic
items such as bottles of water, coffees and
food containers. There are plenty of simple
changes you can make in your own life to
help with this issue though and these can
also save you money at the same time.
Here are our top three tips to help reduce
the amount of plastic you are using;
• Buy a re-usable water bottle
• Buy a re-usable coffee cup
• Buy re-usable tote bags and use them
for your shopping
‘The world produces 300
million tonnes of plastic each
year. 30 million tonnes of
this ends up in the ocean’
These three small, simple changes
will not only help the environment; they
will help you save money. If you have
a re-usable water bottle, you can get
this refilled at most coffee shops free of
charge. Another thing to keep in mind
is that most of the high street coffee
shops will now also give you a discount
on your coffee if you bring your own
re-usable coffee cup, so it’s a win-win for
everyone! Save money and help save the
environment.
Here at APECS we are looking to lead
a sustainability shift in the lock and door
hardware industry and we believe that if
everyone does something, even small, to
reduce the amount of plastic they use, we
can have a big impact.
NOV/DEC 2019
locksmithjournal.co.uk
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