Darbox Containers and the environment

Darbox Containers are eco-friendly.

For the man in the street, plastic packaging is plastic packaging. There is little awareness of the differences between Industrial packaging and Consumer packaging. However, when it comes to ecological considerations, there are significant differences and it is important to distinguish between the two.

Whether it be for drinks, pharmaceuticals, foodstuffs, electronics or household chemicals, Consumer Packaging design, plastic or otherwise, is hampered by the predominant need to provide attractive branding as much as, if not more than, cost effective product protection. It normally assumes that a package will end up as unwanted waste, often termed a "cradle-to-grave" design, that has to be dealt with at some cost to the end user and which often conflicts environmental concerns against profitability objectives. Consumer Packaging waste now accounts for almost 20% of all landfill.

In todays world, Industrial Packaging selection and design should be made to facilitate movement towards sustainability, a raw material cradle-to-cradle design. A cradle-to-cradle design allows the packaging to travel in a technical and/or biological closed loop, meaning materials used in the package will be reusable, recyclable, renewable or will biodegrade and be returned to the environment.

Darbox containers are made from HDPE (High Density Polyethylene) and PP (Polypropylene). These are organic materials, ecologically comparable to wood without the inherent renewable time lapse. They contain no plasticizers, are free from chlorine, sulphur, silicones and heavy metals such as cadmium, lead or other stabilizers, or substances that affect ground water. They are toxicologically harmless and food approved.

As such they allow for a sustainable, cradle-to-cradle life cycle, being: environmentally friendly 100 % recyclable biodegradable ground water neutral easy to incinerate disposable in landfills Polyethylenes have a good incineration profile, plastics having a similar fuel value to coal, and burn without harmful residues of any kind. Energy recycling uses plastics to generate energy in the cement or steel industry, for example, in order to spare valuable oil resources. Even during the production process, polyethylenes are more eco-friendly than equivalent articles made of paper, fleece or board. For instance, during their production they generate only: one third of the carbon monoxide one sixth of the nitrogen one eighth of the hydrocarbons one thirteenth of the sulphur dioxide one two-hundredth part of the dust

that is generated in the production processes of other materials. Moreover, the production of polyethylenes requires considerably less energy.

Nor does it stop there. It is not unusual for transport, handling and storage requirements to represent a significant part (>35%) of the overall packaging cost. Darbox containers are designed to minimize these requirements, full or empty, reducing their cost by upto 70%. Which further reduces both their total cost of ownership and also their overall eco-footprint.

In an ideal world, all packaging would be sourced responsibly, designed to be effective and safe throughout its life cycle, meet market criteria for performance and cost, be made entirely using renewable energy and once used, be recycled efficiently to provide a valuable resource for subsequent generations.

Darbox containers, manufactured from HDPE, are designed to enable you to get closer to this goal.