Biodegradable Future and Clearer Conscience Recycling have formed a strategic alliance with the common goal of informing, educating and collaborating with consumers and industry-related brands about the benefits of biodegradable additives which provide a crucial insurance policy against plastics and polymers that escape the existing recycling systems.
“After lengthy discussions, meetings, in-depth market and product research we feel it’s imperative to inform and communicate to the sustainability market that recycling on its own will not be enough to ensure an 100% circular economy for the foreseeable future,” suggests Leviticus Bentley, CEO of Biodegradable Future. Whilst recycling remains the #1 force to combat the global plastic crisis, it needs to be supported by various green initiatives, for example not using plastic and polymers where possible and if, if they do, to make sure they are biodegradable. Biodegradable Future additives biodegrade plastics and polymers into biomass. Should these products evade the recycling system and end up in landfills, the ocean or the environment they will biodegrade into biomass in hundreds of days as opposed to hundreds of years.
Leviticus states, “According to GreenPeace, less than 21% of the plastic we produce has been recycled. What happens to the other 79%? It pollutes our landfills, oceans and groundwater for hundreds, even thousands of years.” Greenpeace are pushing for single-use plastic to be banned. That is a huge development but will take time. In the interim, companies like Biodegradable Future have a solution: adding their compound to single-use plastics. Many islands are adopting a ban on single-use plastic unless it is biodegradable.
Andy Conder, CEO of Clearer Conscience Recycling stated “We are extremely pleased and impressed with the growth and adoption of Biodegradable Future internationally. All consumers need to recycle. We all know we should try and take our own bags when we go shopping, but do we ever consider the irony of the packaging that our items are wrapped in?” Online shopping and delivery services have seen huge growth during the coronavirus pandemic.
“When more households, businesses and industrial producers make sure they collect material that can be recycled there will be an increase in the facilities for recycling. This will lead to an increase in employment as well as a decrease in the volume of natural resources that are extracted from the planet each year and increased efficiency of these processes going forward,” The education, adoption and execution will take a significant amount of time – possibly generations – therefore it’s critical to make sure that there is a sustainable approach combining recycling, biodegration and alternative options to the use of plastics and polymers.
“In our experience, more people want to recycle more material than they currently can. I was surprised to observe that Cape Town recycles more materials that most London boroughs,” says Andy. “Factors to consider are costs involved, infrastructure, industry’s willingness and government perspectives.”
Both Biodegradable Future and Clearer Conscience Recycling agree a multi-faceted approach is required to speed up a sustainable situation that will address the issues currently faced that are hindering moves towards a circular economy.
About Clearer Conscience:
Founded in 2008, Clearer Conscience Recycling operates in and around Cape Town, benefiting charities and worthy causes. The teams are friendly, helpful and trusted. Fully municipality accredited, Clearer Conscience offers personalised recycling solutions wherever people need them. Clearer Conscience is a South African initiative with South African employees, all of whom are unemployed when they start and are up-skilled on an ongoing basis. Using Clearer Conscience gives you a clearer conscience.
