Plastics are extremely convenient materials to use in packaging because of their durability. Unfortunately, they are a little bit too durable. Once they outlive their usefulness, they do not biodegrade. When they go to landfills, they break down into smaller and smaller plastic fibers that can then build up in the environment, including the bodies of animals and people. Plastics and micro-plastics also frequently make their way into the ocean where they threaten marine life.
There are other problems associated with plastics. They have a large carbon footprint because the process of producing them releases greenhouse emissions into the atmosphere. Fortunately, there is a way to divert used plastic products from landfills and the ocean, preserve natural resources involved in their manufacture, and save energy. It is called post consumer recycled plastic, also often referred to as PCR.
What Is PCR?
There are three types of plastic available for manufacturing new products, such as custom Mylar bags used for packaging:
- Virgin plastics
- Post-industrial or post-process recycled plastic
- Post-consumer recycled plastic
Virgin plastics are those created new from raw materials rather than from existing products. Compared to the other types of packaging, virgin plastics are much more wasteful.
Post-industrial plastic includes the little bits and pieces left over from the manufacturing process. While it is a little more efficient to use post-industrial recycled plastic in manufacturing new products, it doesn’t do as much to keep synthetic, non-biodegradable material out of landfills.
Post-consumer recycled plastic is made from products that have been sold to the end-user and recycled when they have outlived their usefulness. PCR is plastic that has been diverted from the landfill in single-stream recycling. In its former life, PCR packaging consisted of things such as milk cartons and shampoo bottles that have been collected and repurposed. Since many types of packaging made from PCR are themselves recyclable, the cycle can continue.
Impact of Using PCR
Every year, eight million metric tons of plastic waste end up in the ocean. Some of it sinks to the bottom, some floats on the surface, but all of it is potentially damaging. PCR plastic packaging helps reduce this plastic waste not only by diverting plastic from the landfill but by diminishing the need for virgin plastic to produce materials such as custom frozen food packaging.
Manufacturing packaging products made entirely of PCR reduces the carbon footprint by 60% compared to using virgin plastics. PCR also helps to conserve natural resources as fossil fuels are typically used as raw materials to produce virgin plastics.Read more mangadex
Adopting PCR packaging offers benefits to your business as well. Generally speaking, it is more expensive to produce virgin plastics than to use PCR. Not only that, but it is a way to draw attention to your product when compared with similar competitors. Many people are concerned about plastic waste and willing to spend a little bit more for a green product. visit the site beetv
In the past, there have been impediments to 100% PCR plastic products. However, both necessity and innovation are clearing those obstacles away, and more products are made with higher percentages of PCR plastic. Look for online sellers of recycled and recyclable packaging. click here youtuber streamer
