Where can I get the mailer bags?

 

You can buy a bundle of 10 mailers bags, about 3 months supply, on our website.

 

Do I need to pay for the mailer bags?

 

Yes, but we’re subsidising the cost and selling them to you at 50% of the price we pay for them to help facilitate this process as much as we can.

 

What can I put in the mailer bag?

 

Put the empty BIB bags of Oat M*lk, and piercer in the Minor Figures mailer bag - max 9 of them - and drop the parcel at your local Royal Mail office, or through a post box if it’s thin enough.

PLEASE make sure that no jubilee clip, no metal, no tube, and no cardboard go into the mailer bag because they won’t be processed and/or will lower the quality of the recycled product.

 

Why 9 bags?

 

So that the whole mailer bag weighs under 1,000g - which is the maximum weight limit for Royal Mail 2nd class pre-paid returns.

 

Do I need to clean the refill bags before putting them in the mailer bag?

 

You don’t need to clean them, but make sure to squeeze the last drops of Oat M*lk out before placing it in the mailer bag along with the piercer. Any liquid remaining in the bag will increase its weight and limit the number of bags you’re able to return in one mailer bag.

Additionally, the recycling process only allows for 50% moisture level (30g of liquid per Oat M*lk bag) before it goes through the pretreatment drying process and gets recycled - which isn’t much.

 

What happens to the bags when they reach the recycling centre?

 

The Enval recycling center is located some 130km from London. The recycling bags go into the microwave oven at 600° C to be pyrolyzed into oil, gas and aluminium.

The gas created in the process is used to power the Enval plant. The oil can be used for fuel, and tests are under way to use it to make recycled plastics and adhesives. The aluminium comes out as aluminium flake and is 99% pure so this goes back into foil. 

Minor Figures x Enval - what happens when the mailer bags arrive at the recycling centre

 

Why do you put aluminium in the bags?

 

Plant-based milks are light sensitive and aluminium serves as a light protecting barrier, ensuring it stays fresh and tasty.

 

 

What’s the carbon footprint of the BIB Barista Oat M*lk?

The BIB creates 42% less carbon emissions than the same amount of Oat M*lk packaged in TetraPaks.

1L BIB = 225g CO2e

1L Tetra = 388g CO2e

This means a 10L BIB of Barista Oat M*lk has the same carbon footprint as a 6L case of Barista Oat M*lk.

BIB uses 76% less packaging material than Tetra.

 

What’s the carbon footprint of recycling with Enval?

 

BIB has a much better end of life carbon footprint.

Thin plastics and plastic aluminium laminates and silicon can be recycled but currently aren’t because of the costs associated with the collection, processing and supply chain required to recycle the output materials. 

Recycling our Barista Oat M*lk 10L doesn’t only offer a continued life of the materials, it also reduces the End-Of-Life carbon footprint by 17% compared with kerbside to landfill collection alternatives, and by 97% compared to Tetra kerb-side management.

Barista Oat M*lk 10L, kerb-side: 7g CO2e / 10L

Barista Oat M*lk 10L, recycled by Enval: 5.79g CO2e / 10L

Barista Oat M*lk Tetra 10L equivalent, kerb-side: 220g CO2e / 10L

 

Wouldn’t it be better to use rigid plastic?

 

Compared to rigid containers, flexible packaging requires -50% less energy use during production, reduces plastic use by -60%, and decreases packaging weight by -68%. 

 

 

How much power does the plant use?

 

 

Part of the output from pyrolyzing plastics is a light gas similar to propane. Enval uses this in a  generator to power the plant. This means that once the plant starts it does not need any external power. In comparison with virgin plastics, the energy consumption is over 75% lower.