Buying Recycled Plastic Products for your Business
30/08/2009
A recent survey by Fitzpatrick Woolmer, providers of creative solutions to enhance public and open spaces, has shown that the market for recycled plastic products is growing as more businesses choose to invest in them. However, the research also showed that there are still a number of misconceptions about recycled plastic products.
Sustainable Procurement
Fitzpatrick Woolmer surveyed a cross section of clients to find out about businesses’ perceptions of products made from recycled plastic and about the material’s role as part of a sustainable procurement policy. Sustainable procurement is about companies taking environmental and social factors into account when making purchasing decisions.
The results of the research showed that almost 90% of those surveyed had some sort of sustainable procurement policy in place. Of those, over half said that recycled plastic products played a key role in that policy.
However, although over 80% considered the market for recycled plastic products to be a growth area, only 40% currently purchase products made from the material. Over 40% of those that haven’t purchased any recycled plastic products yet said if they knew a little more about recycled plastic products, and could be persuaded that the quality had improved, they would definitely consider buying them in future.
Misconceptions
The survey also showed that businesses don’t fully realise the wide range of recycled plastic products that are now available. The most common perception of how recycled plastic might be applied in green spaces was as benches, with only 26% associating recycled plastic with signage. A broad range of products are available such as recycled plastic signs, fencing, walkways and more.
Mark Woolmer, Fitzpatrick Woolmer Managing Director, commented on the findings: “Sustainable procurement is of growing importance and it is vital that procurers are well informed about the broad use of recovered materials. Landfill in the UK is a huge issue and one that we all have a responsibility to try and minimise - choosing recycled materials is key to this. The old perceptions of recycled plastic products being of poor quality and standing out like a sore thumb are not relevant to the recycled plastic available today."
Fitzpatrick Woolmer is a leading provider of creative sign and design solutions, including recycled plastic signs, for public and open spaces, With in-house graphic design capabilities, and on-site timber, metal and recycled plastic workshops, we provide solutions to meet all outdoor communication requirements.
