A news item came across our desk the other day that made us smile. Canadians recycled 24 percent more plastic in 2011 than they did in 2010, according to a report from the Canada Plastics Industry Association.
The increase comes from both an increase in the amount of plastic goods added to the recycling stream and more companies providing recycling statistics.
An increase in recycling plastics of any kind merits attention and these figures certainly deserve recognition. The more plastic we recycle, the less it ends up in the landfills and the fewer resources we expend making new plastic goods.
The reason we smiled at this news, though, is not just because it’s good news for the environment. No, we also let out a chuckle because reusing and recycling plastics has been a hallmark of the way we do business at Great Western Containers for some time now. To us, recycling plastics is second nature and we’re glad more Canadians have caught on.
Reduce and Reuse
We have practiced the three R’s of recycling plastics since the inception of Great Western Containers. Our humble beginnings were as a small oil and chemical drum reconditioning company. We would take these used drums and make them ready for reuse.
Reconditioning old containers is still a mainstay of our business. Last year Great Western Containers reconditioned close to 2 million containers.
The reconditioned drums we provide meet stringent ISO standards to ensure their safety for our customers, and in turn, their customers. By reconditioning drums, we’re both reducing our footprint and reusing materials that might otherwise end up in the trash causing harm to our land and water.
Recycling Plastics
Unfortunately, you can’t refurbish every container or packaging product. But, that doesn’t mean you have to throw it away, either.
We evaluate every container for refurbishment. When it’s no longer suitable for reconditioning, then we purge the contents and clean it thoroughly and safely, adhering to ISO registration standards.
Finally, we channel the clean packaging products or drums to approved recyclers. We call it our “cradle to grave” service for our packaging products.
We’ll cheer any news that makes Canada a better place to live and work and so we applaud the efforts of everyone to increase the recycling plastics rate in 2011. We’ll also continue to do our part to reduce, reuse and recycle as much packaging as we can, just as we have since 1979.