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RPC bpi recycled products and Hubbub sail home to win prestigious environmental award
The world’s first boat made from Plaswood – a 100% recycled plastic lumber – has helped RPC bpi recycled products and Hubbub win a prestigious Green Apple Environment Award 2018.
‘Poly-Mer’, launched into the River Thames from London’s Docklands in November 2017, is being used as an educational tool for school children who make ‘plastic fishing’ expeditions on the river. The boat took nine months to create and was the brainchild of environmental charity Hubbub and teachers and parents from Canary Wharf College, London. The aim was to raise awareness of the growing levels of plastic pollution in Britain’s waterways – four fifths of ocean plastic comes from land and travels from our hand to river or sea. The 12-seater punt-like boat is made of Plaswood, a robust, super-strong material made from 100% recycled plastic pioneered by RPC bpi recycled products. This is the first time Plaswood has been used to create a boat and such a unique solution aims to highlight the variety of functional and durable products that can be made from recycled plastics.
Plaswood is a modern, sustainable and renewable material manufactured at a dedicated recycling plant in Dumfries, Scotland, where recycled plastic is remanufactured into second-life products. Around 8,000 Buxton Water plastic bottles were used to make Poly-Mer. It demonstrates that waste plastic does have a value and can be used to create a range of products; a message now being taken on board by corporations using the boat in team-building exercises.
Katherine Lorek-Wallace, General Manager Plaswood at RPC bpi recycled products said: “To be singled out for a Green Apple Award is an honour. It is also testament to the ingenuity and creativity of Hubbub and our unique product. We have always believed we are pioneers in the field of environmental excellence and this award proves it. It also underlines how recycling plastic can be carried out in the UK to benefit the economy and minimise environmental impact.”
The Green Organisation launched The Green Apple Award in 1994, which quickly became established as one of the world’s major yardsticks for environmental endeavour among companies and public-sector groups. The annual international competition recognises, rewards and promotes environmental best practice. Finalists appear in The Green Apple Directory which features the best practices of award winners and is available to companies across the world. The Green Apple Awards are supported by the Environment Agency, the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health, the Chartered Institution for Wastes Management and other independent groups.
