Today, 22nd April, is the day on which over 1 billion people around the world will mark Earth Day.
Organised by EarthDay.org, Earth Day serves as a powerful reminder of the crucial need for environmental preservation, and the importance of sustainability. It inspires us to unite and take meaningful action, whilst collectively calling for further steps to be taken to protect our precious planet.
Plastic production has now grown to more than 380 million tons per year, with more plastic being produced in the last decade than in the entire 20th century. Whilst the detrimental environmental impact of plastic production, use, and disposal, is widely acknowledged, part of EarthDay.org’s mission is to raise public awareness.
Along with their proposal to phase out single-use plastics by 2030, EarthDay.org are campaigning for a bold 60% reduction in global plastics production by 2050. Their ultimate goal to forge a plastic-free future. This Earth Day, K2 are wholeheartedly getting behind their campaign and the Plastics vs. Planet theme.
Packaging materials form the largest part of the global market for plastics, and the global mobility industry has relied upon plastic packaging products for decades. Through collaborative work with our partner network, K2 are committed to driving industry-wide change.
As highlighted in our recently published, 2023 Sustainability Report, in March of last year we launched a programme of plastic reduction, and asked our supply chain partners to transition, where possible, to more sustainable packing materials, pushing for a move away from polychips, plastic tape and bubble wrap in favour of paper tape, paper bubble wrap, pleatwrap or paper blankets, and paper void fill or reused and then shredded paper.
In May 2023 we began collecting baseline data to measure the amount of these materials our supply chain uses, to help us better understand and report on our progress. Though we do not have a full year’s data set yet, we are pleased to report that we have seen an increase in the average percentage of global moves where no polychips, plastic tape or bubble wrap are being used, with 19.15% of global moves in 2024 having been completed using sustainable alternatives*.
By the end of this year, K2 are asking our supply chain partners stop using vinyl tape, bubble wrap and polychips, to help us protect the planet and reduce our environmental impact.
In the battle between Plastics and our Planet, we’ve chosen our side.
Keep an eye on our LinkedIn page for details of the activities that our global offices are co-ordinating as part of a week-long celebration of sustainability, inspired by Earth Day.
*Representative of the 60.8% of K2’s total global moves that took place between 1st January and 5th April 2024 that data has been supplied for.
