We’re one of the first businesses worldwide to become Plastic Neutral. This means we’ve offset our plastic footprint, funding global initiatives to remove plastic waste and support ecosystems. Here’s our guide to plastic neutrality.
What Is Plastic Footprint?
Plastic footprint measures the amount of plastic that we use and then throw away, in relation to the environmental damage caused. Achieving Plastic Neutral status means we’ve countered our plastic waste by removing or recovering the same volume from the environment.
How Does Plastic Waste Impact Our Environment?
- Plastic is difficult to dispose of:
One of the reasons why plastic is so detrimental to the environment is its resistance to discomposure. Plastic waste can take between 20 to 500 years to breakdown, meaning it often accumulates in oceans or landfills. If we burn plastic, it releases toxic pollutants that can harm animals, plants and humans.
- Plastic waste harms animals and their habitats:
It’s estimated that 8 million tonnes of plastic waste is released into the ocean each year. (1) This has huge impacts on marine life. Animals can become entangled in plastic, which can trap them and cause starvation or infection. Animals also often confuse plastic bags for food, resulting in digestive problems and choking hazards.
- Plastic is in high demand:
Plastic production continues to increase, in an attempt to meet growing customer demand. With Britain producing approximately 1.7 million tonnes of plastic annually, (2) it’s essential that our waste is managed sustainably.
Our rePurpose Partnership
We’ve partnered with charity rePurpose to achieve Plastic Neutral status. This means all Myvitamins products carry a net-zero plastic footprint.
Our Plastic Neutral Impact Partner
For every product we sell, we donate a percentage to our rePurpose partnership project, a new waste management infrastructure in Chennai.
As India’s second largest plastic polluter, Chennai generates over 400 tonnes of plastic daily. The lack of waste management facilities in the area mean plastic was accumulating in the city’s gutters and Cooum and Adyar rivers. As a result, these materials leaked large quantities of microplastics directly into the neighbouring bay. This littering and over-dumping raises sanitation concerns as well as environmental ones.
The new waste management infrastructure we’re funding enables the removal and recovery of low value plastic waste in Chennai. By the end of 2021, we’ll have collected an estimated 366,611 tonnes of plastic from the area.
As well as helping to protect the marine life in the region, this project will support job creation in Chennai. Waster workers will have increased income levels and unemployed inhabitants can be upskilled to provide doorstep collection of dry waste.
Our plastic neutrality project has let us take an important and innovative step towards a more sustainable world. Myvitamins supplements are designed to support health and wellbeing, and this includes outlining our environmental responsibilities. To learn more about our sustainability commitments, take a look at our blog:
- https://clinmedjournals.org/articles/ijtra/international-journal-of-toxicology-and-risk-assessment-ijtra-5-021.php?jid=ijtra
- https://www.condorferries.co.uk/plastic-in-the-ocean-statistics#:~:text=Britain%20contributes%20an%20estimated%201.7%20million%20tonnes%20of%20plastic%20annually.