Plantic Energy Savings Report
02 March 2009 - 6:01PM
RNS Non-Regulatory
TIDMPLNT
Plantic Technologies Limited
02 March 2009
?
2 MARCH 2009
PLANTIC TECHNOLOGIES LIMITED
REPORT ON ENERGY SAVINGS THROUGH USE OF BIODEGRADEABLE PLASTIC:
SWITCHING EASTER EGG PACKAGING
COULD POWER BIRMINGHAM, LEEDS & MANCHESTER OVER EASTER
Plantic Technologies produces biodegradeable plastic made from starch which
occurs naturally in corn. No additives are used in the process. The plastic is
stable, robust and yet decomposes with no residue.
Plantic's material is used in an increasingly wide variety of packaging
applications and can most commonly be found in trays used to package chocolates,
including Easter eggs. Users of Plantic's material include Marks & Spencer,
Cadburys and Sainsburys.
Plantic Technologies announces the results of a study it has commissioned into
the energy savings that can be achieved through manufacturing and using
biodegradeable plastic instead of plastics made from polymers derived from
hydrocarbons. The study has also considered the energy implications of recycling
plastic packaging materials and concludes that much more energy is wasted
through recycling than is generally realised.
Key Findings
* If all the chocolate eggs purchased in the UK each Easter were packed in Plantic
material instead of hydrocarbon plastic, that would save enough energy to power
over 1 million households from Good Friday to Easter Sunday - that's more than
the total number of households in Birmingham, Leeds and Manchester combined.
* 41,000 boxes of chocolates with biodegradeable plastic trays saves the same
amount of energy as is consumed EACH YEAR by the average UK household
* 30,000 boxes of chocolates with biodegradeable plastic trays saves the same
amount of energy as is consumed EACH YEAR by a standard compact car.
Energy Savings
1 sheet of Plantic material (enough to make 1,000 chocolate trays) uses 544 MJ
of energy. 1,000 conventional polyethylene trays use 1362MJ. 1,000 Plantic trays
therefore save 818 MJ of energy. 1 tonne of Plantic material produces 98 sheets
and therefore saves 80.2 GJ of energy. The average UK household consumes 33.5
GJ of energy each year. The average compact car consumes 24.5 GJ of energy each
year.
Every Easter, UK consumers get through approximately 3,500 tonnes of plastic
packaging when they buy Easter eggs. If all of these eggs were packaged in
Plantic material, that would save over 275,000 GJ of energy. This is the
equivalent amount of energy that is consumed by more than 1 million UK
households between Good Friday and Easter Sunday, more than the number of
households in Birmingham, Leeds and Manchester combined.
If 41,000 people buy a box of chocolates using a tray made of Plantic material
instead of a standard box of chocolates, that will save the same amount of
energy as is consumed in a year by the average UK household.
If 30,000 people buy a box of chocolates using a tray made of Plantic material
instead of a standard box of chocolates, that will save the same amount of
energy consumed in a year by a standard compact car.
The myth of recycling
The UK is making some progress in improving the amount of plastic packaging that
is recycled. In 2007, only 7% of waste plastic in the UK was recycled. That
proportion is understood to be increasing, but it is still far too low to be
considered environmentally beneficial. The fact is that local authorities and
waste management companies in the UK are either sending waste packaging that is
claimed to be recycled to landfill sites, or are exporting the packaging abroad,
mainly to China.
According to WRAP, the UK's exports of recovered plastics grew almost ninefold
between 2000 and 2006, of which between 80% and 90% was destined for China. Over
the same period, Chinese imports of recovered plastic tripled from around 2
million tonnes to 6 million tonnes. In 2007 alone, it is estimated that 500,000
tonnes of recovered plastic was exported to China.
Cargo ships run on bunker fuel, the dirtiest, cheapest product that remains
after petrol and other high-grade fuels are refined from crude oil. Bunker fuel
contains up to 5,000 times more sulphur than diesel. As a result, according to
Bluewater Network, a division of Friends of the Earth, a single container ship
emits more pollution than 2,000 diesel trucks.
Quite apart from the pollutive effect of shipping, there is also energy wastage
to be considered. Plantic has calculated that approximately 5 journeys by cargo
ship to the UK from China and back are required to ship 500,000 tonnes of
plastic, and that each journey consumes 1.9 million GJ of energy. The process of
shipping this plastic therefore uses the equivalent energy consumed each year by
over 260,000 UK households. If all of this plastic were biodegradeable and
could be composted instead, the energy savings to the whole planet would be
enormous - before even taking into account the reduced air pollution.
Plantic Technologies offers governments, local authorities, packaging companies
and retailers to a real alternative to using hydro-carbon based plastic and
actively support the use of biodegradeable plastic. Not only does the
manufacturing of hydro-carbon based plastics consume more energy, but its
disposal is also far less efficient and more damaging to the environment.
Brendan Morris, Chief Executive of Plantic Technologies, summarises:
"We have already proved that Plantic's material can compete functionally with
traditional hydrocarbon-based plastic, with our investment in Europe it is cost
competitive. We also knew that its environmental credentials are far superior,
which our most recent study proves beyond doubt.
"We encourage recycling where it makes sense but often Recycling does not solve
any problems, it merely hides them - often in the ground, for a future
generation to deal with."
FURTHER INFORMATION:
+-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+
| Plantic Technologies: | |
+-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+
| Brendan Morris, Chief Executive | +61(0)3 9353 7983 |
| Officer | |
+-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+
| | |
+-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+
| Pelham PR: | |
+-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+
| Archie Berens | +44 (0)207 743 6679 / +44 (0)7802 |
| | 442486 |
+-------------------------------------+-------------------------------------+
This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
END
NRAEAKAXADENEFE
Plantic Technologies (LSE:PLNT)
Historical Stock Chart
From Jun 2024 to Jul 2024
Plantic Technologies (LSE:PLNT)
Historical Stock Chart
From Jul 2023 to Jul 2024