Over the past twenty years, efforts to make companies more environmentally responsible have started causing some serious changes for the better, and not just on a bureaucratic level. It’s not that companies are just maintaining a certain standard of Green practices because of regulations, but now we see entire corporations with Green minded leaders pioneering industry wide initiatives from the top down. It’s become more than just rules and guidelines – it’s now just business as usual. However, there are some companies that need a little help getting on the right track, and at Great Western Containers we believe that there is no such thing as putting in too much effort as far as conserving resources goes. That’s why here at GWC we are progressing our sustainability initiative through EarthMinded.
What is EarthMinded
Plain and simple, EarthMinded Life Cycle Services collects, clean, reshapes, reconditions or remanufactures and tests industrial drums for reuse and recycling. But there’s nothing plain and simple about what they’re accomplishing. EarthMinded is a collaboration of eight industry leaders across two continents and is now that world’s largest industrial packaging reconditioner. These eight leaders were chosen based on industry experience and expertise as well as green production practices, and Great Western Containers is one of them. In charge of EarthMinded’s presence in Canada, Great Western Containers serves to create a venue and perpetuate the conversation for responsible green practices, all the while working on expanding EarthMinded on a global scale.
EarthMinded Products and Services
The great thing to be said about the heavy-duty durability of can-do packaging is that it can be reused over and over again. All it needs is a little touch-up and it’ll be ready for the next haul. That’s the business of EarthMinded. By taking in used and tarnished containers and repairing them, they create a much more environmentally friendly way to provide packaging. This includes products from steel and plastic drums, IBCs, as well as pails and tin cans.
But there’s a difference that’s important to take note of here. EarthMinded provides two types of products: reconditioned products and remanufactured products. Though similar, these are two very different things. Reconditioned simply means slightly fixed up in order to maintain its status as a UN-certified container. Remanufactured containers, on the other hand, are containers that have been modified and altered significantly. By balancing between these two types of reuse, EarthMinded is
able to recycle the materials from old industrial packaging for reuse well beyond their useful life.
EarthMinded is just one of many like initiatives, and while it’s already covering quite a bit of ground, there is still a lot more land to dig into. But expansion is number one on the to-do list and is an ongoing motivator. GWC, along with its seven EarthMinded partners, are pushing to spread environmentally aware practices to packaging industries all around the world, and while EarthMinded is already the number one reconditioner in the world, there’s still much more work to be done when it comes to sustainability.