FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Every morning when Local 10 News anchor and environmental advocate Louis Aguirre walks his dog, he picks up all kinds of plastic trash. Despite there being widespread availability of trash cans, plastic bottles and bags still litter the community.
The pollution on the streets and waters of Miami Beach is just a microcosm of the devastation that’s playing out on a global scale.
“We are in crisis mode,” explained 5 Gyres Institute Co-Founder Dr. Marcus Eriksen. “From the Arctic to Antarctica, [on] almost every shoreline of every ocean in the world you’ve got piles and piles of plastics.”
The data and stats are staggering.
“There’s 380 million tons of plastic that’s produced every year,” said Miami Waterkeeper Education and Outreach Manager Erin Cover. “Estimates show that about 50 percent of that is single-use plastic.”
Our addiction to plastic is smothering our planet. According to 5Gyres, the new global estimate that analyzed trends of ocean plastic from 1979 to 2019 revealed that there are more than 170 trillion plastic particles, weighing approximately 2 million tons, afloat in the world’s oceans. It is killing our marine life by the millions, and compromising our very health. Toxic chemicals containing microplastics have been found in human blood, placentas, and even breast milk.
“Some of these chemicals can cause cancer, some can cause neurological disease,” explained the Director of the Program for Global Public Health at Boston College Dr. Philip Landrigan.
People worldwide are looking for ways to break free from the convenient and disposable lifestyle we are accustomed to. While some might find it too challenging, one South Florida Innovator believes – yes, we can.
Daniel Zabaleta is the brains behind Canovation, the Fort Lauderdale company responsible for the world’s first resealable can.
“What we actually developed was a way to add threads to the outside edge of a conventional can,” Zabaleta explained. “That allows you to now screw in a cap, once the can is fully filled and ready to go.”
Think of the aluminum beverage bottles that we see in the marketplace, only instead of a bottle, it’s a can. The difference is that this can allows consumers to not only reseal it after every use but also to lock in freshness and carbonation.
“So with what we’re trying to introduce is the ability to reclose and provide an air-liquid tight seal,” said Zabaleta.
The production process is cheaper than it would be with bottles. Aluminum is infinitely recyclable.
“We are giving brands and consumers an alternative solution that’s economical and scalable, and they will see it in the market when two years from now,” explained Canovation Chief Operating Officer Jeff Grajewski.
It comes at a time when there is demand for sustainable solutions in the beverage industry.
In 2022, the city of Miami Beach ended its decade-long $4 million sponsorship deal with Coca-Cola and instead hooked up with Pepsi, which provided plastic-free packaging for almost all of its beverages.
“There’s a new business reality, consumers are becoming more interested in the future of the planet and the society,” reflected PepsiCo VP of Food Services South Paul Mihovilovic. “And we’re not afraid to take bold steps, right to make sure that we’re changing the way we do business.”
The industry is indeed stepping up as more and more consumers become increasingly conscious of their plastic footprint.
“It is also changing the direction of industry,” explained clean water advocate Dave Doebler. “We’re using our purchasing power to tell [the] industry that we want plastic-free options.”
Canovation staff say the company’s new generation of cans is ready to shake up the marketplace with the options that consumers are searching for.
“No matter which configuration you’re making of our technology…it’s all made using the same machines and methods that make today’s cans,” said Grajewski. “And that speaks to how well it could potentially scale.”
The cans are also dishwasher safe and reusable, versatile to go from a beverage tumbler or to even become a dispenser.
The innovation is also being tested with food products and has caught the attention of Science Diet pet foods.
“We can put the same threading that we do on our beverage partners to be able to allow you to twist it into a pet food can,” said Grajewski.
Zabaleta explained that this innovation is personal, a legacy that he wants to leave behind for his children and the generations who will follow.
“I would really like to be able to say that, that this made a difference,” he said. “It helped us get rid of plastics…and I think that’s a really cool story to tell.”
Right now Canovation is still scaling production to be able to meet the demands of current industrywide manufacturing practices that can produce and fill cans at very high speeds. To get there, the company is working with the 100+ Accelerator Program, which is sponsored by Coca-Cola, AB InBev, Colgate, Palmolive, and Unilever.
Tips to Reduce Your Plastic Footprint
· Stop buying bottled water and instead look for beverages in aluminum or glass containers
· Avoid products like body washes and lotions with microbeads
· Purchase items secondhand
· Recycle responsibly
· Look for products in eco-friendly packaging
· Buy in bulk
· Choose clothing made with natural fibers
· Say no to disposable plastic cutlery
· Bring reusable tote bags when you go grocery shopping
· Take part in a local clean-up