Polythene
I often get asked about “green Polythene”. Many Arden customers continue to see the benefits of using polythene to wrap and send mail order catalogues, holiday brochures and the like, due to its ability to show-off the glossy contents, reduce weight and protect – cost effectively.
However we now have added to all of our agendas reduction of polythene usage, as do all supermarkets in the UK. There is the threat of Government pressure or legislation to reduce or eliminate Polythene.
So what choices are there? Well no single answer exists at present.
Bio-degradable polythene. It is good for your brand to use biodegradable polythene provided you tell your customers. It will cost you more however and of course you can’t buy and store a lot of stock – avoiding fluctuating oil increases – as by its very nature it will deteriorate over time. Exactly how well (if at all ) it degrades is entirely dependent on the end user’s local refuse department! If it is exposed to the air it degrades very quickly. If buried – and certainly if deeper than 12 feet deep – it degrades very slowly.
Starch Based Film. A new product and certainly sounds the best for the environment. This degrades due to damp conditions, such as being buried in a landfill site or placed in a consumer’s composite heap. However to date – very costly, possibly produces more fumes into the atmosphere during manufacture than it saves, and to date Arden Direct’s trials have not been able to “seal” during production. Perhaps one for future development.
Normal Polythene. Recyclable of course together with other plastics. Our advice therefore is twofold:- i) consider using a new blend of polythene with an additive to provide more strength, allowing a lower gauge (micron) of film to be used, and consequently reducing the amount of fossil fuel being used to produce. (Arden Direct have replaced all in-house stock with this alternative – care has to be taken however when using with printed film as its stretches more and can distort the print). ii) Do tell your end user how to recycle the polythene with your mailing pack.
I will keep you posted, and certainly invite contributions to this debate.
Sally Hollis