In recent years, climate and environmental issues have been the centre of a lot of attention. People are more aware of the problems and trying to make a change and find a solution for them. Things like the ‘stop single plastic use’ movement, or how popular things like reusable cups, paper straws and bamboo toothbrushes are, show that the problematic situation we are currently going through environment wise, is on everyone’s mind.
And because this is such a hot topic right now, it is important that people understand that ‘plastic free’ does not necessarily mean ‘better for the environment’.
Using any material will have environmental costs and repercussions, and while some options are better than others in different situations, plastics provide many benefits depending on the product they are being used for. In the food industry for example, plastic packaging contributes to minimising food waste. The reality is that, in theory, all plastics can be recycled. But in reality, what happens is that they first need to be collected, sorted and then recycled. This process needs to be economical, and this is not always possible, and this is what generates plastic waste.
While plastic waste is the real enemy here, and not plastic itself, it is also important to consider more factors when it comes to deciding what packaging format is better for the environment, not just the recyclability of whatever material you decide is best.
As well as the recyclability of the packaging, experts need to also consider water and energy used, the distance the product has to travel, how high is the probability of the food being transported with a certain packaging material to spoil, etc. Although there is a trend to avoid plastic, it can be mis-leading as other materials will also have an environmental impact, and may even use more land, energy and water to create.
Euro Extrusions has years of experience in delivering quality products, including thermoplastic sheet and film in High Impact Polystyrene (HIPS), ABS and Polypropylene (PP). This includes HIPS Sheet, HIPS Roll, HIPS Film, ABS Roll, ABS Sheet Polypropylene (PP) Rolls and Polypropylene (PP) Sheet.
High Impact Polystyrene (HIPS) is 100% recyclable and its lightweight properties also make it a more sustainable choice of material in terms of transport and resulting emissions.
We at Euro Extrusions, try to stop the negative environmental impact from the beginning by offering material that as well as being recyclable, also can contain previously recycled content. This can be anything from 10% to 100% recycled material. In most circumstances we can also accept post-industrial HIPs waste that is created when our customers produce their products. This can then be granulated, processed then re-extruded.
We are also able to convert our customers’ own skeletal waste materials for them into their own rolls or sheet, adding performance enhancing additives if required, operating two dedicated HIPS production lines.
Euro Extrusions has worked with a wide range of industries to deliver high-quality plastics and offers customers a plastic waste recycling service. Euro Extrusions continues to invest in innovation, allowing it to adapt to its clients’ needs.
