Designing to recycle
In a circular economy, the goal is that all the material that’s used to make the products and packaging gets re-used for the same purpose. Not down-cycled into other goods.
To accomplish this, we consider the materials we use. Our preference is to use transparent mono materials. These materials contain the least amount of contamination. Using color, PE seal layer and more also contaminates the material, making it harder to recycle. This decreases the economic value and increases the environmental impact.
We consider various elements (product specifications, storage, transportation, …) when choosing a material for our customers. But we mainly focus on two materials: PET and PP. PP has existing recycling streams.But obtaining PCW PP is more difficult due to the availability and unsuitability of the offered material (PP is usually reused in building and construction applications).
Our PET contains PCR. So it has had a former life. This causes slight deviations in color or small black dots. This means using RPET in your packaging can affect the material characteristics. We solve this by treating our RPET flakes in our Solid-State Polymerization (SSP). This machine eliminates chemical impurities, guaranteeing your packaging is food safe. We are EFSA certified for this process. ANL Packaging is a BRCGS certified company. The packaging we produce is always compliant with all regulations in force. All recycled packaging produced by ANL Packaging is guaranteed food safe.
Bioplastics
A lot of possibilities exist. But finding your way through all of the options and picking the material that suits your needs the best is quite a challenge.
Biomaterials that can be thermoformed are hard to find. But we have some options available. First this to consider is why you want to switch to a biomaterial. What characteristics are you looking for? And how does your packaging need to perform in your production? If you are comitted to having bioplastics in your packaging, ANL Packaging guides you through all the types and helps you make the choice that fits your specifications best.