A PCR Revolution for Plastic Tube Packaging Manufacturers

PCR is an acronym that’s starting to be heard more and more by people working for plastic tube manufacturers. It stands for post-consumer resins, and they mark a bold and sustainable new direction for the industry. 

PCRs are good for the packaging industry, their customers, consumers and the earth. For the packaging industry, PCRs mean having a cheaper, never-ending supply of the raw materials they need to manufacture their products. They can do away completely with the first step of creating the basic ingredients of their products. 

For their customers, this can mean cheaper packaging costs and a faster turnaround time. The savings will likely be passed on as an added sales incentive for the consumer. 

But the big winner will be the earth. Making an industry-wide shift towards using PCRs in every aspect of packaging manufacturing promises to have a major impact on the world’s waste management practices. The earth, and especially the world’s oceans, will become much less polluted by plastics.

Plastic Manufacturing Hurdles

For years packaging manufacturers have had to stand by and watch as the world threw away a lot of plastic material that they could have reused to make new products, thus establishing an efficient circular use and reuse of much of the world’s plastic refuse. 

The barriers to them reusing this material were the materials themselves and the need for improved hygiene measures. Many of these products were used for packaging food and beverage products, and governments were rightly concerned about the plastics harbouring bacteria and pathogens. 

It was seen as safer to create all-new material that could be safely declared as hygienic because the material’s source was a known factor. 

In the early days, many manufacturers were unaware their industry would prove to be so dangerous to the health of the planet. The focus was on how many uses could be found for these miraculous materials without much thought to the disposal of the plastic products after they were used. 

But as the industry grew aware of the damage that plastics posed to the environment, manufacturers wisely began to standardise the materials for different uses. This created a few different materials instead of many different types. Product manufacturers knew that one material was used for dry food packaging and one was used for packaging liquids.

This was a calculated shift in the way plastics were produced in order to lessen plastic’s negative impact on the environment. And as these standard types became more widely used by product manufacturers and consumers, it naturally created an opportunity for a recycling system. 

Different types of plastic couldn’t be reused by combining them with other plastics without unforeseen consequences occurring. The resulting compound might have physical limitations, or the chemical makeup of two plastics might react unfavourably with each other. But the same types of material could be melted down and reused repeatedly.  

Introduction of PCRs

Once the plastics industry was able to concentrate its efforts on maximising the usefulness of just a few specialised plastics, the plastics began to improve. 

With the benefit of time and focus, manufacturers soon discovered the right formula of materials and processing to solve the hygiene problem to the satisfaction of many countries' food and beverage standards. 

Today one of these manufacturers is showing impressive strides in the use of PCRs in their products. Victor Packaging is a plastic tube packaging and PET bottle manufacturer in Thailand. They have concentrated on perfecting the process of PCR integration into their products with amazing success. Their products are fully certified by the Global Recycled Standard. And the resins they use in their PCR products are in compliance with the EU, Japan’s HOSPA, and the US FDA standard for food contact applications.

They have also created a PBL tube with 7 layers, and they are able to use PCR resins in the non-contact layers to provide an extra margin of safety for consumers. They have produced more than 50-million of these breakthrough tubes and hope they play a part in conserving the resources of the planet.   

Serving as an Example to Consumers

Victor Packaging, along with other plastics manufacturers, had to overcome two main hurdles to enable the widespread inclusion of PCRs in plastic packaging. But the third step is beyond the control of these pioneers in the plastics industry.   

The industry could only demonstrate its commitment to the health of the planet and publicise the recyclability of PCR-based plastics in the hope that consumers would get on the bandwagon and make recycling part of their daily routine. 

If your brand sees the wisdom in partnering with a packaging manufacturer that cares about the future of the planet, as well as furthering the packaging industry, get in touch with Victor Packaging today.