Plastics have been in the news lately for being a major source of pollution. You might have questions, and you’re not alone. Here, we answer some of the questions we get asked most about plastics and recycling.
Yes! Plastic is derived from crude oil. Banning plastic puts pressure on its producer, the fossil fuel industry. Plastic bans also bring attention to climate change, pushes customers to reuse, and encourages businesses to create reusable options.
Every town has a different situation. To find out what your recycling program’s current policy is, contact your municipality. If they’re no longer taking certain plastics, try to avoid those in the store as much as you can. You can also inquire about local drop off facilities for those types of plastic.
Opt for produce that isn’t wrapped in plastic and bring your own bag to carry them in. If possible, buy from a farmers market where food generally is loose. If it’s a product you love, contact the company asking for non-plastic wrapping. Your consumer voice matters!
Microplastics are pieces of plastic that are 5 mm or smaller. They can be created to be that size–such as microbeads in soaps—and they can be broken bits of a larger plastic or material with plastic parts. A Friends of the Earth study of UK waters found that the four leading contributors are car tires (due to abrasion on the road), external paint (from buildings and road markings), plastic pellets (used to make plastic products), and synthetic fibers from clothing.
Yes. Non-recyclable and non-reusable plastics are the worst in that they take several lifetimes to break down and leach chemicals like BPA in the process. Plastic straws have taken the limelight in the single-use arena, but abandoned fishing gear, plastic bags, cigarette butts, and food packaging (including water bottles) are the more commonly found debris in the ocean.
Plastic is coded with numbers 1-7 that designate material. Not all plastics are recyclable, and some aren’t reusable. Refer to your local recycling center’s guidelines of what numbers are accepted at search.earth911.com
Plastic is the most complicated material to recycle because each number designates a different polymer design–in other words, a #1 can’t be recycled with a #5 because they melt at different temperatures. Municipal funding levels, community pressure, and demand for recycled plastics determine what gets recycled. Unlike metals like aluminum that can be recycled indefinitely, plastics degrade each time they’re processed, making recycling more expensive than manufacturing new plastic.
Plastic wrap extends shelf life by regulating contact with air. Since food waste has a larger carbon footprint than any country except China and the US, reducing waste is important. However, alternatives to plastic wrap like Bee’s Wrap, Green America’s People and Planet Award Winner, achieve the same goal while being reusable and eco-friendly.
Many vegan clothing companies use recycled plastic as a leather-free alternative, but plastics in clothing still break down into microplastics that marine life consume. Consider buying secondhand.
While plastic bans are a recent trend, the reality is that plastic has become so integral to society that it won’t disappear soon. We should get better at recycling it, but that alone won’t solve the plastic problem. While alternatives may be more energy-intensive and expensive than plastic, reusables last longer than single-use plastic and may be indefinitely recyclable or compostable, making their overall carbon footprint lower. Lowering our consumption of plastics, not buying to begin with, and opting for reusables are less energy-intensive than consuming more.
Here are eleven easy ways to kick the plastic habit. And a challenge: could you go entirely plastic-free?
Thermoforming plastic manufacturing is an essential part of the production process for many important industries around the world. The concept of heating and molding plastic sheets is one of the most effective, affordable, and fast ways to get a product made. It’s also one of the most efficient ways to produce parts and components used in the packaging, telecommunication, medical, and automotive industries, among many others.
While there are several subsets of plastic thermoforming, such as pressure forming, when it comes to low cost and high production speed for low-volume manufacturing of high-quality components, vacuum forming offers many advantages.
Our vacuum forming production experts at Advanced Plastiform, Inc. are here to answer all of the frequently asked questions about vacuum forming and show why it’s considered the simplest form of thermoforming, using just a plastic sheet and mold to create a prototype or component for products.
Answer: Vacuum forming is a simple manufacturing process that is a subset of thermoforming. With vacuum forming, a sheet of plastic is heated to become pliable before using vacuum technology to suction the plastic to a mold. The vacuum removes all of the air from between the flexible plastic sheet and the premade mold, allowing the heated plastic to form tightly against the mold’s custom-made shape for a prototype of the product part.
Answer: The thermoforming concept of vacuum forming was developed in the 1950s, with the very first vacuum forming machine being patented and used for mass production in 1964. However, other forms of thermoforming were being used prior to the years of consumer product booms, with thermoforming dating as far back as the late 19th Century.
Answer: Plastic vacuum forming has been one of the go-to manufacturing processes for low volume, high-quality items for decades due to its simplicity in forming plastic to a pre-made mold through the use of an air vacuum.
Answer: Pressure forming follows the same steps as vacuum forming, but differs in the way that the softened plastic sheet is fit to the mold. Where vacuum forming uses only vacuumed air removal to suction the plastic the mold, pressure forming uses a more enhanced technique of the same vacuum technology paired with air pressure from above to even more precisely mold the form.
Answer: The number one benefit of using vacuum forming is that it is cheap to produce a low volume of parts quickly, but there are other benefits as well.
Answer: Vacuum forming requires the use of thermoplastics that become easily pliable when softened with heat. Additionally, plastics that have high resistance to flames, chemicals, and even water is used in vacuum forming.
While a variety of different plastic choices exist, we often see HIPS used most commonly for high-quality, durable parts made through vacuum forming.
Answer: Yes! Clear plastic sheets can be formed onto molds via vacuum forming. In fact, the food industry uses the vacuum-forming manufacturing technique to create containers, lids, and clear insert molds made for food packaging.
Answer: Vacuum forming can be done on sheets of plastic between 0.0005 to 0.50 inch thick, although some machines used for prototyping may have restrictions that can only use plastic sheets up to 0.25 inch thick.
Answer: The vacuum-forming manufacturing process is responsible for the creation of hundreds of everyday products. Because of the low cost and high-efficiency levels, companies turn to a company who uses vacuum forming to create a number of household items. From large-scale items like the trays and linings in bathtubs and refrigerators, to smaller items like plastic eating utensils and food storage containers, it’s very likely your home is filled with products whose components were vacuum formed.
Answer: The biggest advantage of using vacuum forming compared to other thermoforming processes is that it is cheap and fast. If you are looking to produce high-production levels of items on a mass scale, injection molding or other types of thermoforming would be better options.
Is your industry in need of a fast, cost-efficient manufacturing process? Advanced Plastiform Inc. uses vacuum forming and other heavy-gauge thermoforming manufacturing processes to build high-quality, durable plastic components and parts. These vacuum-formed parts then go on to build usable products for appliances, equipment panels, everyday objects, and more.
Our plastic thermoforming company serves customers in North Carolina, South Carolina, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Georgia, Tennessee, and Virginia with the manufacturing of products and parts through vacuum forming. To inquire about vacuum forming, other subsets of thermoforming, or injection molding, call us today at 919-404-2080 or fill out our contact form to get started.
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