Energy Superfacts: Use and reuse of plastic crates

Crates to recycle

The piles of plastic crates stacked at the back of the supermarkets and warehouses are not waste. Don't worry, they are recycled and recyclable. In Italy there is a consortium that recovers plastic crates and reuses or recycles them. In 20 years, market sellers have used (perhaps without even knowing) 85,923 re-used boxes. 

This has saved: 

  • 148 thousand tonnes of CO2 emissions, equivalent to 60 thousand cars a year
  • 2.2 million gigajoules of energy, equivalent to the consumption of 500 Italian citizens in a year
  • 599 million litres of water, equivalent to 60 thousand Olympic swimming pools
  • 133 thousand tonnes of virgin raw material, equal to the weight of 13 Eiffel towers