Plastics, safeguarding the future
I.T.B is a member of the Plastics Federation of South Africa, the National Recycling
Forum and a firm supporter of ”Reduce, Reuse, Recycle” hierarchy as a guiding principle.
We promote and manage waste avoidance as a key driver for the concept of sustainability,
and invest in clean technology in order to minimize emissions, to balance environmental,
economic and social aspects of sustainability.
As Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) studies of biopolymers are inconclusive, they show
neither clear advantages nor disadvantages of biopolymers compared with traditional
mineral oil based polymers, recycling is still one of the key components of modern
waste management. Old material is reprocessed into new products, with the aim of
preventing the waste of potentially useful materials and there are numerous favourable
environmental benefits from the recycling process versus biodegradable packaging:
- Reduces the consumption of fresh raw materials - conserves natural resources
-
Avoids the environmentally damaging process of mining and harvesting new virgin
material
- Reduces & diverts waste
- Reduces energy usage, air (from incineration)
and water (from land filling) pollution
- Lowers greenhouse gas emissions compared
to virgin production
However, as we are continuously striving for superior performance, and our commitment
to contribute to long term sustainable development, we are intent on learning more
about these new materials.
Our philosophy of avoidance and reduction, enables us to eliminate waste through
closed cycles that maximize the value of materials in environmental and economic
terms, thus improving resource use efficiency at all times. As a step towards making
a meaningful contribution and providing a solution toward a cleaner environment,
we recycle all in-house surplus & waste material, ensuring that manufacturing scrap
never enters the waste stream.
Our goal, through maximum prevention at source and maximum amount recycled i.e.
eco-efficiency, is to ensure the same, if not better, quality of life for future
generations in South Africa.