We at PURE WATER are passionate about finding ways to reduce plastic, but we know that avoiding plastic altogether is extremely hard. However, our headquarters are based in Norway: a country where almost 40%of all plastic in Norway is being recycled. How does the country do that?
Household waste
In Norway, recycling starts at home. In most parts of the country, people have different trash cans at home: one for food waste(the green bag), one for general waste, and one for plastic(the blue bag). The country made recycling easy for the Norwegians, as they can put the three different bags, which are distinguished by different colors, in the same bin when they’re full. This is not all: In Norway, we also separate cans and glass, and there are special bins for paper.
After collecting the waste, plastics get transported to Bremen in Germany where different types of plastic are being separated by laser technology. Here, the plastics are melted and being turned into raw material for new plastic production.
Bottles and plastic bags
Another important part of dealing with plastic waste is recycling of bottles at the grocery stores. If you buy bottled drinks, such as soft drinks, you pay a little extra for the bottle: 1 NOK (0,1 GBP) for small bottles and 2.5 NOK (0.25 GPB) for big ones.
This doesn’t sound like a lot of money, but it definitely adds up. Once you finish the bottle, you return it at the local supermarket and get your money back. Additionally, because you have to pay for plastic bags at grocery stores, people often bring their own bags or reuse the plastic bags they bought before.
Although Norway is doing an amazing job, we do think that we all have a responsibility for when it comes to creating less plastic waste. We at PURE WATER do that by creating a water solution that doesn’t require you to serve transported, bottled water at your office, restaurant or school anymore.
Are you ready to start using less plastic? Get in touch!
