How do we take care of our environment?
Our company will always be tied to the environment. Our food-safe ice comes from the cleanest water, and we rely on that resource to create the products we do! Whether it's for your cooler you take camping, the ice in your drink at the end of the day, or the ice that is used in concrete to help our thriving construction industry, it's easy to take for granted.
At Party Ice, we are committed to finding ways to do our part to protect and sustain the environment around us. There are three big ways we are able to take action
Reduce our energy consumption and carbon emissions from the manufacturing and distribution processes.
GPS with sensors have been implemented to measure the ice in our merchandiser at customer locations. As well as being a benefit for our customers, this also significantly cuts down on transportation costs. With locations all over Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island, this new merchandiser ice measurement system allows us to streamline our distribution process, and has reduced fuel consumption by 18% company wide.
Party Ice is actively exploring solar options to offset electricity usage at our manufacturing plant and office location as well.
Reduce waste in the production process.
Every industry has aspects that are unique to their specific manufacturing or production process. For our industry, many types of recycled plastics are not able to work with the specific equipment we need to use for packaging our products. Using bags made from recycled materials can actually create much more waste if there is a part of the production line they are incompatible with.
Making our bags from virgin materials means less waste across the entire production process. Our bags take up less space on a smaller roll, which reduces the amount of transportation required, and puts less excess material into the environment. Using virgin materials allows our company to use less material which helps the environment and overall waste when producing the higher performing products that we use.
Why don't we make our bags from recycled materials?
Did you know that using recycled materials to create plastic bags can actually be more of a detriment to the environment versus using raw materials? Using new materials allows us to use less resin, which creates less waste to produce a higher performing product. This also means more impressions per roll, so there is a higher yield on pallets when they are shipped, as opposed to bags made from recycled materials which are larger in size, weigh more and take up more space.
Creating bags from recycled materials as compared to virgin materials, also takes higher heat and therefore more energy to produce. That's why we create our packaging from virgin materials, making them easier to recycle. When properly disposed of and sent for recycling, our bags offer a multitude of ways to be reprocessed, which is not always an option for bags made from already recycled materials.
As well as caring for our planet, we also care for our employees! Sometimes the process of making bags from recycled plastic materials can release fumes with higher toxins, and require more exhaust in work facilities to clean the air and keep it safe for employees.
These are just some of the reasons we have made the decision to make our bags from virgin materials, for the good of our environment. And these were the very reasons why LEGO, the most recognized global brand and the largest toy manufacturer by revenue in the world, announced in September 2023 that it would not use recycled plastic bottles to make bricks, backtracking on their initial announcement. After more than two years of testing, the company abandoned the plan, stating that the recycled plastic bottles were not sustainable enough and did not reduce carbon emissions.
While the quest for more sustainable and environmentally safe materials continues, we are opting for the most efficient, effective, and environmentally friendly solutions.