Cleaning our beaches for a cleaner environment

The staff at Berry Astrapak are not afraid to get their hands dirty, inspiring the participation of South African communities to clean-up our coastlines. Leading around 270 volunteers in this year’s International Coastal Clean-up Day on Saturday 21 September, the local plastics packaging manufacturer continues to set the bar in removing plastic waste from local beaches.

The International Coastal Clean-up, involving over 100 countries across the world, spearheads a global movement that campaigns for countries to unite in support of our oceans. The campaign inspires clean-up events that span over oceans and cut across borders.

In the face of the extreme climate crisis highlighted by the recent UN Climate Change Summit in September 2019, these beach clean-ups tackle a very prevalent global issue. There is immense pressure to take action and respond to the urgent call for more sustainable lifestyle habits and a cleaner environment.

While it certainly makes a difference to mobilise teams to promote the collection of litter, caring for our oceans goes beyond beach clean-ups. There is a mandate to prevent such plastic pollution in the first place. When proper recycling methods are applied, the cycle of pollution is broken, allowing plastics to be circulated back into manufacturing processes.

Berry Astrapak’s Managing Director, Craig Matthews, fully supports the coastal clean-up movement, saying: “Volunteering for coastal clean-ups such as these should be the minimum of our efforts. As a company, we aim to find creative solutions, initiate innovative plastic packaging designs to reduce wastage, and increase our percentage of recycled plastic in our products. As consumers, we can no longer afford to make uninformed decisions about our plastic purchases. Berry Astrapak joins efforts with this initiative and is committed to minimising the plastic packaging industry’s impact on the environment.”

The International Coastal Clean-up movement has become a ‘beacon of hope’ around the world as they have succeeded in creating a campaign that inspires action as well as the union of a multitude of communities.