Michelmersh heading towards the elimination of plastic packaging

The company is testing alternative plastics derived from sugarcane for product packaging.

As part of its roadmap to sustainability, British brick manufacturer Michelmersh has taken a huge step towards completely eliminating plastics from packaging.

In collaboration with an award-winning plastics company based in Hereford, UK, the company is adopting innovative new bioplastic packaging made with 70% sugarcane polymer. The remaining 30% consists of recycled plastic in accordance with the current criteria for the UK’s Plastic Tax. Unlike fossil fuels, sugarcane is a renewable resource and is extremely effective at sequestering carbon. The crop draws in carbon dioxide from the surrounding air for photosynthesis, then releases the oxygen and stores the carbon left over from the process.

The new packaging is fully recyclable and above all carbon negative. Creating a polymer using sugarcane avoids 2.27 net tonnes of carbon emissions per tonne of plastic, unlike a fossil fuel polymer which generates 3.1 net tonnes of carbon emissions per tonne of plastic.

Michelmersh is already testing the new packaging for its Hathern Terracotta and Freshfield Lane branded products ahead of rolling it out to all its brands.