Orca Hygiene launches recyclable ‘wine box’ dispenser of sanitiser gel to protect from COVID
Orca Hygiene has launched a wine box style dispenser of sanitiser gel, the first of its kind in the UK, which reduces the amount of plastic waste that has soared due the Covid pandemic.
The recyclable, five litre pack is intended to provide an environmentally friendly alternative to the widely available single-use plastic containers.
The leading manufacturer and specialist solutions provider of health and hygiene products says millions of empty liquid soap and hand sanitiser plastic bottles, have been dumped in landfill sites along with billions of other pieces of single use PPE, including masks and gowns since the pandemic hit.
The wine box style dispenser is made out of reinforced lined wholly recyclable card, made from 78% recycled materials and contains either quality alcohol or alcohol-free hand-sanitise gels, rubs and surface disinfectants, which are dispensed through a small tap. The products are manufactured by Orca Hygiene in regularly monitored, sanitary environments and meet the relevant BS EN standards.
Orca Hygiene said the dispenser had been created in response to growing concerns that the Covid crisis was leading to millions more tonnes of plastic waste being sent to landfill. Even before the pandemic hit the amount of plastic being dumped had topped 29 million metric tonnes a year in the UK.
As such the Orca box provides 66% less plastic by weight than conventional plastic five litre jerry cans and the whole box and bag reduced the volume of waste by 85% when compared to the same sized plastic container.
With many businesses having to quickly respond to new Government protocols around “Hands, Face, Space”, packaging usage has often been a second thought, as health has had to be the primary consideration.
As a result Orca warned that Packaging Recovery Notes (PRNS), and their respective targets, will have gone out of the window leaving many businesses being faced with hefty bills when they submit their audit.
Plastic can be 10-12 times more expensive to buy PRNs for and the Orca Box offers the opportunity to make larger commercial off-set savings when set against high hygiene product use.
Doug Cowie from Orca said: “Orca Hygiene wants to play our part in reducing the amount of plastic waste we produce and we came up with the idea of offering a recyclable alternative as a way of dispensing sanitised hygiene liquids and gels, which is also easy to use.
“We all have a responsibility to consider the environment in everything we do and we are conscious of the extra amount of single-use plastic that is now in circulations. It has been shown than through careful waste management and recycling technology the amount of waste can be reduced by nearly 80% over the next 20 years.”