DavidPlastic packaging allows us to preserve, protect, store, and transport items in a variety of ways. A large number of goods that people buy would not make the trip to their home or shop or would not survive long enough to be consumed or utilized if they were not packaged in plastic.
Contents
- Why Use Plastics Packaging?
Finally, plastics are utilized since they provide a unique set of benefits.
Durability: Plastic is among the most durable materials known to man. Because of its extremely long polymer chains, it is very difficult to break.
Safety: When dropped, polycarbonate is shatterproof and does not break into deadly shards. For more information on the safety of plastic packaging, as well as its safety in contact with food, check out plastic packaging safety.
Hygiene: Packaging for foodstuffs, medicines, and pharmaceuticals is particularly well suited to plastic materials. It can be filled and sealed without the need for human assistance. The components used in the production of both plastics’ raw materials and additives meet all food safety regulations at both national and European Union levels.
Security: Packaging can be used with tamper-evident and child-resistant closures, allowing for the production and use of plastics. Users can examine the status of the product before purchasing since the transparency of the package allows them to do so.
Light Weight: Plastics packing materials are lightweight yet durable. As a result, plastics-packed items are simple to lift and move by customers and team members in the distribution chain.
Design Freedom: The limitless variety of pack shapes and layouts that may be generated by the industry’s materials and processes, including injection and blow moulding to thermoforming, are enabled by a combination of properties and processes. Furthermore, the extensive colour palette and ease of printing and decorating aid brand recognition and information for the customer.
- Pack for All Seasons
Polymers are excellent for packing since they’re flexible and adaptable and may be moulded into any form or colour to complement the product. Polymer packaging may be formed in an almost infinite variety of shapes, colours, and technical characteristics. Packages can also contain anything else, such as liquids, powders, solids, or air bubbles.
3.1 Plastics packaging saves energy
Because it is made of lightweight materials, packaging can help to save fuel during the transportation of packed items. There are fewer emissions and cost savings for distributors, merchants, and customers because of less gasoline used.
Yoghurt pots are heavier than those made of plastic. One made of glass weighs about 85g, whereas one constructed of plastic only weighs 5.5g. The packaging in a truck full of goods packed in glass jars accounts for 36% of the weight. If packaged in plastic pouches, the packaging would account for just 3.56 per cent
3.2 Plastics packaging is optimal use of resources
Because of the high strength-to-weight ratio of plastic packaging, it is possible to pack a given amount of goods in plastic rather than other materials. If no plastic packaging is accessible to society and alternative materials are required, overall package consumption, energy, and GHG emissions will rise.
3.3 Plastics packaging prevents food waste
We throw out 50% of the total food waste in the UK at home. Every year, 7.2 million tonnes of food and drink are thrown out by British families, with half of it being edible food that could have been eaten. The average household spends £480 each year on wasted food, rising to £680 for a family with children.
Plastic packaging with a high barrier and saleability protects against deterioration and increases shelf life. Plastic modified atmosphere packaging can extend shelf life from 5 to 10 days, cutting food wastage in supermarkets from 16% to 4%.
Clients would visit a fruit vendor who had a variety of berries, fruits, and vegetables. A particular kind of berry or vegetable might be sold in bulk. The majority
3.4 Plastics packaging: continuous improvements through innovation
In the UK’s plastics packaging sector, there is a long history of innovation. The amount of plastic packaging required to pack a given amount of product has been reduced over time, without compromising strength or durability. For example, a 1-litre plastic detergent bottle that weighed 120g in 1970 now weighs just 43g, a 64% reduction.
4 Plastics Packaging Means Low Environmental Impacts
4.1 Oil and gas in context – carbon savings with plastics packaging
The BPF predicts that the use of plastics in packaging will account for only 1.5% of overall oil and gas consumption. The chemical building blocks for plastic raw materials are derived from by-products of the refining process that would otherwise have had no other uses. While most of the oil and gas is used in transportation and heating.
According to a 2004 study in Canada, using alternative materials to replace plastic packaging consumes 582 million gigajoules more energy and generates 43 million tonnes more CO2 emissions. Every year, the energy saved by utilizing plastic packaging is equivalent to 101.3 million barrels of oil or the amount of CO2 produced by 12.3 million passenger cars.
4.2 Re-usable plastics packaging
Long-life artefacts are produced from a variety of polymers. Returning crates, for example, have an average lifespan of more than 25 years, and reusable bags are becoming increasingly popular in sustainable commerce.
4.3 A strong recycling record
Plastic packaging is recyclable, and a growing number of types of plastic packaging are composed of recycled materials. In June 2011, the Government Advisory Committee on Packaging (ACP) announced that 24.1% of all plastics packaging was recycled in the UK in 2010/11.
Recycling one tonne of plastic bottles saves 1.5 tonnes of carbon and the energy in one bottle would run a 60-watt light bulb for 6 hours.
4.4 Energy from waste
Plastic packaging may be reused six or more times before it loses its structural integrity. After its existence, plastic packaging may be sent to an energy from waste facility. Plastics have a high calorific value. A mixed basket of polymers manufactured from Polyethylene and Polypropylene, for example, would have a significantly
5 Find A Packaging Supplier
Venturepak is a supplier of plastic packaging in the form of injection moulded tubs, pots and buckets. All products on offer are tamper-evident, produced from high-quality food-grade polypropylene, and conform to the highest standards of food safety and hygiene regulations. Most of our products can also be decorated using in-mould labelling (IML) techniques. Stock is held at our facility in St Helens, Merseyside, meaning goods can usually be dispatched immediately following receipt of an order for delivery 1-3 days later.