Earth Day takes place every year on the 22nd April and aims to raise awareness about the importance of environmental protection. The day was first held in 1970 when millions of people took to the streets to protest and raise awareness about the negative impact continuous industrial development was having for our planet.
The day is organised by the Earth Day Network and has gone from strength-to-strength becoming a truly global event. It is estimated that more than one billion people in 192 countries now take part in Earth Day with the overall aim of improving the environmental situation on Earth.
Each year Earth Day promotes a different campaign focusing on a specific environmental issue. Last year the theme focused on Climate and Environmental Literacy and this year the campaign revolves around Ending Plastic Pollution in our oceans.
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Preventing Ocean Pollution
Plastic pollution is a serious problem for our oceans. Plastic bags, bottles, packaging and fragments all end up in our oceans. All of this plastic injures and poisons marine life, including fish, seabirds and marine mammals. In 2010, a California grey whale washed up dead on the shores of the Puget Sound in Washington. After carrying out an autopsy, scientists found that the whales stomach contained more than twenty plastic bags, small towels, duct tape and surgical gloves.
This shows that it is not just plastic which causes pollution in our oceans. The quantity of marine debris is increasing worldwide. The waste debris that ends up in our oceans can come from a variety of sources including domestic waste, overboard discharges from ships and discarded fishing gear, such as fishing nets. Abandoned fishing nets are a growing problem for the world’s oceans and that is why Citron Hygiene, with the help of their suppliers, have taken measures to regenerate discarded fishing nets into our standard floor mats range.
From Fishing Nets to Floor Mats
Abandoned fishing gear causes serious problems in the ocean and is now a global issue. Hundreds of marine animals are killed each day by abandoned fishing nets. 2 Extraordinarily, an incredible 640,000 tonnes of fishing nets are left in our oceans each year, which contributes 10% of all marine litter. These nets can result in the accidental capture of marine life, such as dolphins, fish, whales, birds and turtles. This can lead to them dying after becoming trapped in the mesh for a number of reasons, such as being unable to find food or perishing when the nets sink under the weight of the marine life they trap dragging all organisms to the bottom of the ocean.
This is why Citron Hygiene have taken the necessary steps to ensure that our standard mat range is made from 100% regenerated ECONYL® nylon 6 yarn. The yarn has the same functional properties as virgin nylon yarn, which is used in most mats. The problem is that virgin nylon yarn is made from crude oil, whereas ECONYL® yarn is made from pre and post-industrial or consumer waste such as fishing nets, fluff from old carpets, discarded yarn, fabric scraps and industrial plastic waste.
Using ECONYL® yarn floor mats will help reduce the number of abandoned fishing nets in the ocean, lower the environmental impact of a buildings floor mats and in turn can contribute to a positive environmental certification.
ECONYL® Regeneration System
The ECONYL® Regeneration System is the world’s most efficient industrial system for the production of Nylon 6 and is 100% regenerated from waste materials.
In addition, the ECONYL® yarn can be regenerated over and over again for an infinite number of times without compromising quality. This creates a closed loop system whereby the waste can be rescued, depolymerised, transformed into ECONYL® nylon 6 yarn and then re-commercialised.
Eco-Friendly Floorcare Solutions from Citron Hygiene
Next time you use floor mats in your building just think for a second how they are made and where the materials have come from? ECONYL® yarn is used in our standard mat range, which is available in a variety of sizes and colours. Effective floor mats will help keep your building free of dirt reducing cleaning costs. Find out more about Citron’s commercial floorcare solutions and how we ensure that all our anti fatigue mats are recycled.
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