By Sarah Macklin 
Plastic is one of our biggest enemies at the moment (as well as carbon production which is contributing towards climate change and increased temperatures around the earth). In fact, Sir David Attenborough says that the climate change problems we face in the next five to 10 years are worse than the coronavirus pandemic. That’s a scary thought.
In the UK alone, around five MILLION tonnes of plastic is used every year, of which almost 50% is packaging. With online shopping becoming more popular than ever before, it’s not surprising that two and a half million tonnes of plastic is purely down packaging.
But which industry is mainly responsible for this hefty plastic usage? Construction. Did you know:
- 23% of plastic produced in the UK is used within the construction industry?
- 25% of total construction packaging waste is plastic?
- 3x more packaging waste is produced by construction than in every UK household combined?
The construction industry accounts for one quarter of all plastic used in the UK, which is enormous. With many households, like mine, trying to reduce their plastic usage, it seems like a futile attempt when you look at how much plastic is being used elsewhere in the country on a daily basis by huge firms and businesses.
So rather than individuals making a difference, it’s important for the businesses themselves to try and make a change (many of which are loath to do so because of additional costs).
That is exactly what Tembé DIY and Building Products are aiming to do. Tembé is an independent company based in Doncaster. They create building and decorating products for professional trades.
Tembé has declared a so-called ‘War on Waste Plastics’ and have launched a brand new green range of sealants and adhesives to reduce plastic waste as much as possible. The range is under the name Hippo Plastics.
With as many as 150 million used plastic sealant and adhesive cartridges sent to landfill every year, Tembé’s products could significantly reduce this figure if only more people switched to eco-friendly options.
These plastic cartridges are made from high-density polyethylene (HDPE), a form of plastic that won’t break down. Things usually breakdown because microbes begin to eat the substance. But microbes don’t recognise HDPE as food, and so it will sit for years, decades, without decomposing.
So how do Hippo’s products differ? Well, their new eco aluminium foil ‘sausage’ packaging has replaced the plastic cartridges that are, unfortunately, industry standard. It means you get the same product, but in different packaging that is more eco-friendly and can be recycled.
These packs are strong and durable, just like their plastic counterpart, but they’re so much better for the environment. They generate a huge 96% less waste and contain less than 1% plastic.
The foil pack can simply be loaded into your sealant gun, as you usually would the plastic cartridge, as demonstrated below:
Guy Malam, Managing Director of Tembé DIY, explains why his company’s move away from single-use plastics is a timely one:
Environmental issues are now dominating the news agenda and we can all do better, we all need to make changes. Figures on plastic waste in the construction industry make for shocking reading. Plastics are finding their way into our seas and oceans and of those plastics that are sent to landfill, some take over a thousand years to breakdown in the soil and it’s time the construction industry faced up to the issue. Here at Tembé DIY we hope to move the industry away from single use plastics and change the market forever.”
Guy Malam
