Most of the issues caused by plastic relate to unnecessary or inappropriate use, and irresponsible disposal. These problems are caused by society, not the material.
Plastic packaging usually accounts for one of the smallest proportions of a product's environmental footprint, with production of the item usually the highest. Any change of packaging that reduces shelf life or increases wastage can therefore result in an overall negative environmental effect.
They have 5 factories employing a workforce of around 2,500. Besides the commercial horticulture sector, they supply customers in the food industry, mechanical and apparatus engineering, the automotive industry, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and medical technology in over 90 countries.
While Pöppelmann has already used recycled materials in its production for a long time as part of its sustainability strategy, they will now use our technical expertise to go a step further with a company-wide strategic initiative called PÖPPELMANN blue.
In conjunction with growers over the last decade Pöppelmann has looked at, and experimented with, various alternative materials but has constantly returned to plastic as one of the most suitable current solutions for plant pots aimed at the commercial grower.
The supplier has therefore focused our efforts in recent times on developing a sustainable option in plastic. The result: PÖPPELMANN blue.
While the polypropylene (PP) that is used to produce pots can be easily recycled at a commercial level, for consumers the position is more difficult. Most Local Authorities now collect PP, however plastics that contain carbon-black pigment cannot be detected by the near infrared (NIR) scanning equipment used to sort the materials from domestic kerbside collections and therefore it is excluded or unsortable by many local authorities.
No new plastic is used in the production of PÖPPELMANN blue® plant pots. Material is sourced from domestic kerbside collections and so 100% recycled post-consumer plastic. Significantly, these pots are detectable by NIR sorting equipment and are certified by Institute Cyclos-HTP as suitable for inclusion back in the domestic recycling streams. This means the pot can be included in household recycling bins in areas where accepted by the Local Authority.
The plastic can then be used again to make further plant pots and other items. This makes a closed material loop at the same stage of the value chain, and is a move from a linear to more circular economy.
Some local authority areas still exclude all “plant pots” from collections, mainly due to the disposal issue of the non-sortable black pots. However, WRAP (the Waste and Resources Action Programme) have recently updated their national agreement from the recycling industry on what can and cannot be collected for recycling from householders to include “non-black” plant pots. They now also include this information on their consumer facing “recycle now” website. Pöppelmann continues to work with RECOUP (RECycling Of Used Plastics), recyclers and local authorities to promote awareness of kerbside recyclable pots and to widen their acceptance across the country.
In practice many growers are trialling the PÖPPELMANN blue® pots. Porters Fuschias were keen to make the change to and have successfully used the pots extensively this season supplying Notcutts, Dobbies and many independent garden centres with very good feedback.