Coral Respond to BBC’s ‘War on Plastic’
Coral Products PLC pride themselves on identifying the importance of utilising plastic; some class this as waste; however, they see it as profitable material.
With the on-going investment in state-of-the-art manufacturing equipment coupled with manufacturing products that, while lightweight, still exceeds the term “fit for purpose,” places Coral as a market leader and one to watch (Coral Products Mouldings Ltd Manufacturing Review 2019.)
As part of the group’s investment strategy, a new plastics recycling plant has been developed, purchased and installed at their Haydock manufacturing facility. This new plant is now being used to successfully recycle end-of-life bins, boxes, caddies and totes supplied via authorities and on-line tote companies, reducing landfill and enabling the business to become truly part of the 360-degree circular economy.
Changing their approach to design has enabled more innovative designs while reducing the content of plastic, and promoting recycled content has had an impact on reducing raw material purchases, thus reducing material sent to landfill. This approach has placed Coral as a leader in its field.
Coral’s participation with The British Plastics Federation (who contributed greatly to the #HughsWarOnWaste documentary) has supported their innovation and change. Becoming members and joining them in Operation Clean Sweep illustrates the business is supporting endeavours to make that difference.
Many feel very strongly that plastic is negative, that we should eradicate it, but Coral believe by their contribution and ability to make changes, that plastic is a resource that we can utilise and that behaviours and patterns of us as individuals can make the difference; reusing, reducing and recycling as a circular economy business is essential.
Coral comment on some of the matters highlighted by the BBC’s recent documentary, ‘War on Plastic:’
The documentary states there are 19,500,000,000 pieces of plastic inside UK homes.
The documentary reports and can almost guarantee that a peek inside our kitchens or bathroom will reveal a large quantity of plastic. Detergent sprays, milk bottles, shampoo bottles, toothbrushes and shower gels – plastic is everywhere.
The War on Plastic team convinced residents of one road in Bristol to bring out all the single-use plastic in their homes into the street. Researchers then set about counting every single item – and the result was shocking. “Once you start digging it feels endless,” Hugh said, sifting through people’s belongings.
Collectively, residents on that single street had 7,145 pieces of plastic in their kitchens, 5,241 in their bathrooms, and 3,388 single-use items from everywhere else in the home and garden, including DIY materials. In total, researchers counted 15,774 pieces of single-use plastic. Multiply that by the number of households in the UK, and the programme argues that there are 19,500,000,000 pieces of plastic inside UK homes at any one given time.
As a group, Coral create reusable products, that can support the reduction of quantities of plastic within the home. Constant focus on R&D in recycling is enabling the business to create products that can be used time and time again without loss of functionality with the knowledge that they have been manufactured using a recycled product that was, at one time, destined for landfill.
“Every single minute of every single day a truckload of plastic is finding its way into the world’s oceans – and once it’s there, it sticks around for hundreds of years” Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall.
A vehicle pretending to dump plastic into the sea can be seen in the first episode, highlighting the fact that much of our litter finds its way into streams, rivers and oceans. Hugh explained, “What is troubling is that lots of plastic isn’t even visible because over time it has broken down into microscopic pieces and is now passing up the food chain – from fish to humans.” (Documentary series quote, BBC.)
Coral Products’ marketing manager is working with a group of people that look at the quantities of plastic that are entering the ocean, regularly a jar of nurdles can be found in her bag! (Causing havoc in airport security.) Attending beach cleans and encouraging others, and taking products to collect recyclable waste is something that happens regularly. The company are having open discussions and supporting Operation Clean Sweep, further proving their commitment to this important issue.
The first episode reports that the rubbish from your bin at home is turning other countries into a “dystopian nightmare”.
Many of the councils and local authorities Coral work with are constantly fighting to find a way to educate. To some, it is simple, but others struggle with how they sort items, often confused, they are seeking a system that can help the individual. Coral’s products and innovative design can support this challenge.
A Greenpeace investigation discovered that household recycling waste is not being sorted correctly and, in some cases, finding its way to illegal dumps in Malaysia. Coral hope this has an impact in the right way, stating that they have already received a message through their website chat, asking: “Why they should I bother recycling if it is being shipped to landfill in Malaysia?”
Coral want to encourage people to look at the bigger global picture, and highlight that businesses like themselves are doing great things and are making a change, and this deserves to be recognised.
The documentary raises a lot of issues, and as a business, Coral Products are investing and will continue to invest in change and to help address these issues.
“Are we leading the way as a plastics company with a conscience? We know we are.” – Coral Products PLC.
Coral Products (Mouldings) Ltd
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