Old Plastic, New Ideas
At EDGE, we know environmental sustainability is important. With that in mind we constantly strive to ensure our ecological impact is as small as possible, so you can enjoy vaping for years to come. We are particularly proud to tell you about our most significant green venture to date – replacing all our 10ml PET plastic bottles with 100% recycled PCR!
What are PCR Plastics?
PCR or “Post Consumer Resin”, is a fantastic alternative to traditional plastics. Rather than relying only on virgin material (brand new plastic made using fossil fuels) PCR products can contain anywhere from 10-100% recycled plastic.
Waste plastics, particularly those classed as “single use” are collected from various sources, ground down with specialised equipment, washed, dried and then distributed to manufacturers to be made into brand new products like our 10ml bottles.
Of course, the higher the PCR content, the lower the environmental impact of the product – this is why EDGE 10ml bottles are now 100% PCR.
What are the Benefits of Using PCR Plastics?
The idea behind increasing PCR plastic usage is to foster a self-sustaining circular economy that no longer relies on the creation of new plastics using untapped fossil fuel resources.
In the ideal version of this scenario, PCR products are manufactured and sold, recycled once used by a consumer, to then be processed into PCR base material and used all over again.
In this way an industry could theoretically keep re-using the same plastics again and again without ever requiring additional resources beyond those already in circulation, circumventing the unfortunate fact that the plastic is still not biodegradable.
The significant benefits of enacting this process can be felt in many ways. Landfill dumping will be significantly reduced due to plastic staying in circulation as well as a reduction in reliance on the dwindling fossil fuels used to manufacture it. In particular, our Use of PCR bottles actively contributes to marine conservation efforts – being collected from riverbanks and the surrounding areas where pollution is at an all-time high.
Gathering these plastics at this point effectively prevents them from entering the oceans and damaging the ecosystems within, as well as cleaning up the rivers themselves.
PCR comes with hefty human benefits too – Our PCR bottles are made using reclaimed plastics from across Central & South America, The Caribbean, Europe, North Africa, the South Pacific & the Middle East.
The opportunity to collect these plastics for PCR production creates micro-entrepreneurships, empowering communities to become economically self-reliant.
Over $100,000 per day is paid out to plastic collectors, who eventually form groups, which become businesses and ultimately evolve into factory-level recyclers helping to support sustainable industry worldwide.
What Does This Change Mean for Me?
Since May 2020 we have introduced PCR bottles across all of our 10ml ranges in place of the current version. You may have noticed some slight differences in the colouration of your 10ml bottles, please don’t worry – this is simply because the material is 100% recycled which leads to natural differences in colour between batches.
The colouration is purely superficial, the bottle is perfectly safe and fully compliant. Your EDGE e-liquid within is the same premium quality you have come to expect. In addition, thanks to working closely with suppliers to control our prices, we are able to deliver this green alternative without any additional expense to our customers.
What Else are EDGE Doing for The Environment?
While we recognise there is more ground to cover, we are proud of the steps we have been able to take as a business towards a more sustainable future for vaping manufacturing. on this continued mission we have:
Committed to donating our broken wooden pallets to a local allotment group, where they are turned into a range of useful things from flower beds to a playscape - for goats!
Converted every light in our head office to LEDs with some placed on motion detectors and timers for optimum efficiency.
Repositioned the storage heaters in our production areas and installed destratification fans to better regulate our factory and warehouse temperatures, actively reducing gas consumption.
Introduced new machinery and bins, allowing all cardboard waste to be bundled and recycled, and all unused or faulty batteries to disposed of in accordance with WEEE guidelines.
We hope you are as excited about this as we are and know that we will continue to strive each day towards making our operations even more eco-friendly, to help take us all on a sustainable journey.
