The environmental impact of packaging waste


taken to landfill sites. Here, packaging materials including plastic, paper, tin and glass take hundreds of years to decompose. If they do at all.

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While our waste is sitting in landfill, new single-use packaging is produced to meet consumer demand. The earth is mined and quarried to access raw materials. Which then go to landfill whilst the previous batch is still festering. The environmental impact of packaging waste

It doesn’t take long to realise the craziness of this linear, rather than circular economy. Or the impact of this never ending packaging cycle on the environment.

Sadly landfill and littering are not the only negative effects of packaging on the environment.

Approximately 70% of UK packaging waste is recycled. Which sounds great! Recycling is less destructive and energy intensive than sourcing raw materials. But it’s still a process which contributes to fossil fuel usage and greenhouse gas emissions.