Why We Will Only Ever Package BLACK MAMBA Products in Glass

Plastic is a material that is inherently part of our lives. It doesn't necessarily need to be vilified because it can be very practical and useful in some cases. The issue with plastic these days is that it has become so intrinsic in everything we do that we don't necessarily realise the long-term effect it has on the planet. 

Studies have shown that a single piece of plastic will remain on the planet for 500 years. This means your grandchildren will likely still encounter pieces of a plastic bag that you choose to use to carry groceries to your car. The sheer accumulation of plastic at its current rate will have devastating consequences for future generations if we carry on as we have been doing.

Even if you go to a deserted beach in Mozambique right now, you will encounter plastic waste washed up on the shore, and microplastics along the tideline. Estimates suggest that between 8 million and 11 million tons of plastic waste enter the ocean each year. Our oceans are polluted and permeated with plastic, our food sources are permeated with plastic. 

So while plastic can be recycled, studies have shown that a mere 9% of the plastic ever produced has been recycled, and 19% has been incinerated. 

When plastic is recycled it cannot be recycled into the same element. With glass, when it is recycled, you can turn one bottle of glass into an identical bottle of glass. It does not degrade with use. Plastic is downcycled constantly. A PET water bottle, for instance, cannot be turned into a PET water bottle again; it will be turned into plastic pellets that might become a plastic bag, etc.

In the end, this leaves us with millions of tonnes of microplastics that are found in fish, salt, food, and even in our blood. 

Due to these frightening statistics, every choice we make along our value chain aims to minimise the use of plastics as much as possible - especially single-use plastics. Hopefully by leading by example and using less plastic in our packaging, and spreading this very important message, we can make a small difference.