Making environmental claims is one thing, but backing them up with real figures is another. Being able to measure the positive impact we are having on the environment is extremely important to Better Packaging Co. and we know it is to you too.

On our home page and on your individual customer account page, we're now able to accurately track and measure the how much Ocean Bound Plastic pollution we are removing from the environment, how much water we are saving and CO₂ we're offsetting, how many trees we're planting and people we are giving employment to in disadvantaged communities. Below we explain each impact category and how we measure it.

1. PLASTIC BOTTLES EQUIVALENT OF POLLUTION REMOVED 

Our POLLAST!C^TM Range of packaging is made from Ocean Bound Plastic pollution retrieved from coastal communities in South East Asia and then recycled. Collecting this plastic pollution and turning it into our products removes it from the environment and prevents it from entering the world's waterways and oceans. How much have we collected and removed? Tonnes and tonnes ... It can be tricky to fathom exactly how much this represents, so we calculate by weight how many plastic bottles this quantity would represent, and that's what we measure here. Products in this range include Mailing Satchels, Poly Bags and more coming soon!

2. LITRES OF WATER SAVED

Our ØPACK envelopes are made from limestone quarry waste in an amazing process that doesn't use any water at all. By contrast, the production of an equivalent paper envelope would require a significant quantity of water. To make paper, wood chips are boiled in a watery-chemical solution and turned it into a pulpy soup. Water is again used in the bleaching process which the most water-intense part of the production process in pulp paper mills. We are able to quantify how much water is saved on average by switching from paper to ØPACK envelopes.

3. CO2 OFFSET

This is a measure of how much we have offset our products’ impact. We are only able to do this for products that we have conducted Lifecycle Analyses (LCAs) for. An LCA tells us how much carbon is generated over the lifecycle of a product; the sourcing of its inputs, the process of turning them into a material, any carbon generated during its use, and then at end of life. It also takes into account the impact of shipping them to our warehouses. Doing an LCA is a pretty intense, expensive and time-consuming process.

To date we’ve done it for our comPOST Packs, comPOLY Bags, ØPACKs and POLLAST!C^TM Bags, so these are the products you will see C0₂ offsetting for. It is important to know that we offset these products by 100% with CarbonFree.

4. TREES PLANTED

This measurement is a combination of two impact areas. Firstly, as of January 2022 we are planting one tree for every order placed on our website. And secondly, when we offset the carbon footprint of our business operations (as opposed to our products) by 200%, we calculate the equivalent number of trees that this represents. We base this calculation on work done by One Tree Planted.

5. PEOPLE AND THEIR COMMUNITIES HELPED

The production of POLLAST!C^TM not only removes plastic pollution from the environment, but also creates a source of income for people in disadvantaged communities. By working closely with communities in coastal regions with little or no waste management infrastructure we can help to break the link between poverty and pollution. It truly is 'a social solution to plastic pollution'. The process is also fully traceable and measurable – we know exactly how much plastic is sourced by each collector and so we know how many people (and their communities) we are impacting.