Plastics Saves Facts and Downloads
"Plastic Saves" is a series of infographics and display items created by the British Plastics Federation as part of its Polymer Zone initiative. Plastic Saves is a series of facts about plastics and the positive contributions plastics makes to society.
Various graphics can be downloaded below and the sources to all facts are also detailed.
Content
1 Sources
1.1 Plastic Saves Energy
1.2 Plastic Saves Carbon
1.3 Plastic Saves Water
1.4 Plastic Saves Fuel
1.5 Plastic Saves Lives
1.6 Plastic Saves Food
2 Downloadable Content
2.1 Infographic
2.2 Brochure
2.3 Pull Up Banner
2.4 Poster Set
1 Sources
Below details information on the various sources used. If you have any comments, suggestions or additional resources complete the feedback form found HERE
1.1 Plastic Saves Energy
Without EPS packaging, energy consumption would double when compared to alternatives
Source: http://www.americanchemistry.com/Media/PressReleasesTranscripts/ACC-news-releases/New-Study-Polystyrene-Foam-Cups-and-Plates-Use-Less-Energy.html
Insulating foams in buildings save 2,400 million tonnes of greenhouse gas in their lifetime
Source: http://www.cia.org.uk/Portals/0/Documents/Low_carbon_brochure_final2LR.pdf
The use of plastic composite panels in Swiss trains has led to a 25% reduction in weight and consequently significant energy savings
Source: https://www.bpf.co.uk/sustainability/Plastics_and_Sustainability.aspx
Recycling just one plastic bottle saves enough energy to power a 60W light bulb for six hours – Rutland County Council
Source: http://www.rutland.gov.uk/waste_and_recycling/facts__figures.aspx
1.2 Plastic Saves Carbon
Recycling 1 tonne of plastic bottles saves 1.5 tonne of carbon
Source: http://www.wrap.org.uk/content/fast-facts-plastics
To replace all the plastic bags being used in the European Union with paper ones in one year, you would need to cut down an additional 2.2 million trees, which would prevent 2,188 metric tonnes of carbon being absorbed by the trees
Source: http://www.letstalkplastics.com/facts/plastic-bags-versus-paper-bags - Sur la base de l'étude Denkstatt « The impact of plastics on life cycle energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions in Europe » PlasticsEurope, 2010
Compared to traditional building bricks, plastic building blocks emit 95% less CO2
Source: http://www.plasticseurope.org/documents/document/20121120170458-final_plasticsthefacts_nov2012_en_web_resolution.pdf
CO2 impact equivalents for producing 1kg of PVC compared to producing 1kg of other products
Source: https://www.bpf.co.uk//topics/12_Good_Reasons_to_Specify_PVC.aspx
1.3 Plastic Saves Water
Using plastics in modern washing machine drums reduces water consumption by 40-50%
Source: https://www.thedti.gov.za/parliament/2014/Plastics_part2.pdf
The production of plastic bags consumes less than 4% of the water needed to make paper bags
Source: http://plasticsindustry.org/APBA/Bags/index.cfm
Officials in Los Angeles recently released 96 million plastic balls into the 75-acre Los Angeles Reservoir in hopes of preventing 300 million gallons of water from evaporating each year
Source: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3194098/Could-plastic-balls-bring-relief-drought-stricken-California-Los-Angeles-releases-96-million-spheres-protect-reservoir-water.html
PVC pipes have the lowest overall failure rate when compared to other materials and are designed to last more than 100 years.
Source: http://www.usu.edu/today/index.cfm?id=51095
Over the lifetime of the average car, lightweight plastic parts save around 3,000 litres of petrol as a result – which would get you to and from New York almost five times!
Source: https://www.plasticsindustry.org/AboutPlastics/content.cfm?ItemNumber=788&navItemNumber=1280
For every 7 trucks needed to deliver paper bags, only 1 truck is needed for the same number of plastic bags
Source: http://www.rannv.org/documents/8/April%202008.pdf
The Boeing 787 Dreamliner is comprised of 50% plastic composites by weight and 80% by volume, which contributes to a 20% fuel saving
Source: http://www.boeing.com/commercial/aeromagazine/articles/qtr_4_06/article_04_2.html
Plastics pipes use less energy to produce than concrete or iron and since lightweight they save on transport costs and emissions in the building industry
Source: https://www.bpf.co.uk/sustainability/Plastics_and_Sustainability.aspx
1.5 Plastic Saves Lives
Over 3,000 police officers’ lives have been saved over the past 30 years due to the fact that protective vests are made with tough plastics materials.
Source: https://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R43544.pdf
Seat belts, when used, reduce the risk of fatal injury to front-seat passenger car occupants by 45% and light-truck occupants by 60%
Source: http://www-nrd.nhtsa.dot.gov/Pubs/811390.pdf
There are more than 10 million 3D printed hearing aids worldwide
Source: http://www.forbes.com/sites/rakeshsharma/2013/07/08/the-3d-printing-revolution-you-have-not-heard-about/
Every year, about 600,000 pacemakers, insulated by a polymer, are fitted globally -
Source: http://circ.ahajournals.org/content/105/18/2136.full
1.6 Plastic Saves Food
Wrapping bananas in a modified atmosphere bag extends shelf-life by 2 to 3 days
Source: :http://www.plasticseurope.org/documents/document/20131017112406-05_plastics_save_food_sept_2103.pdf
In Europe, only 3% of all products delivered to customers are spoilt during transport thanks to packaging – compared to 50% in developing countries
Source: http://www.plasticseurope.org/documents/document/20140415103254-05_plastics_save_food_march_2014_final.pdf
The shelf-life of beef can be extended by 5-10 days when using the most advanced plastics packaging solution
Source: http://www.linde-gas.com/internet.global.lindegas.global/en/images/MAPAX%20brochure17_4683.pdf
Wrapping a cucumber in plastic film extends its shelf-life to up to 14 days
Source: http://www.incpen.org/docs/CucumberGrowersAssociation.pdf
2 Downloadable Content
The following content is downloadable in PDF format. In the case of the brochure, posters and pull-ups they are all downloadable in print ready format.
