Two Ways Amey Plastics Can Help
The UK manufacturing sector is always looking at opportunities to introduce more sustainable ways to manufacture goods and components for our customers.
At Amey Plastics we use a couple of methods to reduce the environmental impact of the injection moulding process.
No. 1. Recycling and Reusing Sprues
If you are not already aware, the plastic injection moulding operation forms a waste material called 'sprues'. Sprues are the pieces of plastic that are left over after the operation is completed and the moulded component has been separated from the waste plastic.
In the past, this has just been considered waste and was disposed of accordingly. However, now, many injection moulding companies, including Amey Plastics, collate their waste sprue into polymer types and send this to a dedicated recycling service. Here, the waste sprue is ground up into a reusable finished product - generally a 10mm regrind - and returned to our manufacturing facility, where it is reused, good as new, to mould new components for our clients.
This process dramatically reduces the volume of virgin material required to produce our clients’ components, reducing the carbon footprint of the production process and the overall waste associated with it.
No.2 Using Sustainable Eco-Friendly Bio-Based Fillers
Fillers can be added to plastic for a wide variety of functional reasons, such as to add strength or reduce weight. However, eco-friendly bio-based fillers can be added as well, to reduce the overall amount of virgin material required for the manufacture of a component.
Where possible, Amey Plastic will use eco-friendly bio based filled plastic in the manufacturing process. Common types of filler could include wood flours, walnut shell, apricot shell and pecan shell.
The use of these eco-friendly fillers reduces the overall volume of virgin material required to manufacture a plastic component, making the whole process more sustainable.
It should be noted that for some components, such as those going into a medical environment, the use of these types of fillers or recycled plastic, is not suitable due to the highly regulated nature of the sector.
However, for many other components, the use of fillers and recycled material in the manufacturing process is an incredibly efficient and cost-effective way to create a more sustainable and eco-friendly product.
If you are interested in discovering how Amey Plastics can help you make your product more sustainably give us a call on 01730 266525 or email sales@ameyplasticsltd.co.uk.
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