‘Packaging Online helps businesses operate in an environmentally conscious way, whether the goods in transit are for the consumer, warehouse, internal use or otherwise. Alongside your cardboard packaging essentials, like BDC boxes and letter box boxes, we offer paper-based alternatives to traditionally plastic products. For example, Hexcel wrap is a sustainable bubble wrap alternative that effectively keeps valuables safe in transit, and all our padded mailing envelopes use paper padding rather than the single-use plastic padding that’s commonly used. Switching to these packaging materials has never been more important, or easier to do by simply ordering online.’  

How long does it take for plastic coffee pods to decompose ?

Your seemingly innocent morning coffee could be setting the planet back hundreds of years in terms of plastic waste. Plastic coffee pods take as much as 500 years to decompose.

 29,000 coffee pods end up in landfill every minute. That means a year of coffee pod waste stacked up would be around 361,000 miles high — reaching further away than the Moon — and would still be there for the next 20 generations to see. Had the Tudors been able to build a plastic pod tower, it still would be around today. 

How long does it take a plastic bottle take to decompose?

Plastic water bottles and cups are perhaps one of the most common and problematic plastics. The 16 million plastic bottles that aren’t recycled in the UK every year each take around 450 years to decompose. If Shakespeare had used a plastic water bottle, it would still exist today! 

Nowadays, there are plenty of reusable plastic drinking bottles for when you’re on the go, at the gym, going on a walk or just sitting at your desk. Switching to these options can prevent the worldwide production, use and potential waste of 500 billion plastic bottles per year.

‘Comparing the longevity of plastics against more sustainable counterparts, like compostable materials, cardboard, and paper, shows clearly the impact being more mindful about material usage and waste can have. This is something we’re 100% committed to at Packaging Online to hit our goal of total sustainability by 2025.

Already, over 90% of our products are made of materials that are recyclable or biodegradable. This includes boxes, paper bubble wrap, void fill, paper tapes and more.’