At G-Force Europe, we have actively taken large strides to ensure we do our bit for the environment & help cut down on excess hard-wearing plastic waste.
As a UK manufacturer we use a form of manufacturing called rotationally moulding on site where polyethylene powder is heated in an aluminium steel oven around an axis and then cooled down to solidify and form the initial shape of the product in the tool.
After the product has been formed, we then trim the off-cuts and excess plastic around the edges to produce the best quality finish for the item before dispatch to our customer base.
A question we’re often asked – where does this excess plastic go and what steps do we take to recycle this waste plastic?
- How do we reduce excess waste plastic?
Every person, household & business has a responsibility & duty of care when it comes to reducing plastic waste. As a manufacturer we feel the need even more so with the demand for our products ever increasing. More demand means more production – which means more plastic waste.
To prevent a build up of waste plastic on site, we re-use the off-cut material from our ‘virgin’ grade plastic products through our granulator process. This helps to cut the waste plastic down in to small trimmings. The trimmings are then re-formed in to ‘recycled powder’ again ready for use in our machinery on site to create a hard-wearing plastic. This can be found in our recycling range of products.
More on our granulator & recycling process can be found here - https://www.gforceeurope.com/about-us
- How is plastic recycling supported in the manufacturing industry?
With the consumer now looking to shop eco-friendly, it’s essential that as a UK manufacturer we support our loyal customers with a wide range of recycled options and products. More businesses are now setting up services in their factories where they look to collect materials (such as our off cuts) and break these down further in granules. These granules are then sold back on to private limited companies to help manufacture their products with recycled plastics. The article below gives a good insight in to just how recycled plastic is widely used in UK manufacturing.
https://www.plasticexpert.co.uk/how-recycled-plastic-is-used-in-uk-manufacturing/
- Do we follow a recycling guideline/policy?
As a business, we make sure we follow a guideline and conform to a strict recycling policy. Under this policy, we aim to check and meet the following criteria…
- Can the consumer recognise our products as recyclable?
- YES - we state on our website which material our products are made from – typically this would be stated as recycled black polyethylene (MDPE).
- Are the products (off-cuts) widely collected for recycling?
- YES - the off-cuts and excess plastic from the products are trimmed down via our granulator process. The granules are then outsourced to a 3rd party factory/recycling site.
- Are the products (off-cuts) capable of being made into something new?
- YES - after the recycled powder is developed, we then can re-use this & start manufacturing via our rotational moulding process to create brand new products.
- Is the process financially viable? Is there a benefit for our customers?
- YES – the recycled powder is significantly cheaper per kilogram than our food grade virgin MDPE polyethylene. This allows us to be more flexible on cost and offer reduced rates direct to our customers for our recycled range.
- What recycled range or products do we offer to support this?
Using the recycling process that we do, it comes with a significant cost advantage that we use to help and support our customers. We understand that with the ever-increasing cost of living, fuel prices & plastic packaging tax – we need to help our customers where we can. Our recycled range allows us to do that.
Our recycled products ranges from mobile container trucks, plastic dollies, stacking containers, attached lid containers, plastic pallets & pallet boxes.
Our latest promotion is our ECO1210 610ltr plastic pallet box, which is a brand-new product introduced into our recycled range. It’s ideal to support customers for heavy duty storage & warehouse logistics/distribution and offers customers a cost-effective solution for this application. Large stock holding available for quick lead times! See link below for further information.
https://www.gforceeurope.com/recycled-plastic-pallet-box-610-litre-eco1210.html