Page 146 - Shaping A Sustainable Future

Eco-Solution 5: Waste Reduction

One of the significant environmental and ecological This proposal, if implemented, will bring about a
contributors to waste at the nursery is the disposal of significant carbon footprint reduction and is encouraged.
plastics. The carbon footprint of plastic (LDPE or PET, However, it is understandable that business economics
polyethene) is about 6 kg CO emissions per kg of plastic. plays a severe consideration in its implementation.
2
The reduction of plastic products will directly impact Based on usage data provided by Island Nursery, a
and reduce the carbon footprint of Island Landscape potential 75 % reduction in plastic use is recommended,
Nursery’s business operations. If an alternative pot, with the complete replacement of current plastic pots
made from biodegradable coconut husks or plant- and potting bags in use.
derived plastic, is used as a substitute for the plastic pot,
the benefits will be significant. An estimated amount
of plastic waste is 2,000 kg annually, as provided by the
company.

Presentation of Data

Before implementing the solution, the current annual
CO Emissions estimated for Island Nursery business
2
operations are shown in Table 2.

Resource Annual Usage Annual CO Emissions (kg) Conversion Factor
2
Water 480 m 3 144 0.3 kg CO / m 3
2
Electrical 48,000 kWh 20,100 0.42 kg CO /kWh
2
Fuel - Diesel 19,200 litres 50,670 2.64 kg of CO /litre
2
Synthetic Chemicals 7,200 kg 8,442 2,800 kWh/ton fertiliser
0.42 kg CO /kWh
2
Plastics 2,000 kg 12,000 6.0 kg CO /kg plastic
2
TOTAL 91,350

Table 2: Current operations carbon emissions.

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