Thermoseal Group has invested in a new recycling plant that will reduce the amount of manufacturing waste going to landfill, according to the company. Situated at the company’s Wigan, United Kingdom, factory, the recycling plant can handle all lengths of Thermobar warm edge, turning them back into pellets that can be reused in the manufacturing process.
Mark Hickox, sales director of Thermoseal Group, said, “We have always been able to recycle the core material of Thermobar – polypropylene – but if it had the barrier tape attached, it would have to go to landfill.”
“Our new recycling equipment can remove the backing tape from the finished Thermobar, which means that any waste created during the extrusion setup process can now be shredded and reused. We can add up to 20 percent of the normal compound without any loss of performance, and it means that we send zero plastic waste in all the Thermobar production. Plus, the plant is also powered by a Solar PV System that we installed last year, so we are minimising our emissions in the process.”
This new investment forms part of the company’s ongoing sustainability strategy.
In 2023, new automated production lines reduced energy usage in Thermobar’s manufacture by almost 40 percent, and the company is expanding its steel stillage scheme, where Thermobar is delivered to customers without the need for cardboard packaging.
Thermoseal’s Thermoflex flexible spacer bar is supplied coiled onto plastic reels, in a plastic bag, inside a cardboard box. To prevent this packaging from being scrapped, the company has developed a system where, similar to Thermobar’s metal stillages, the packaging is collected and reused.
This unique packaging method has successfully diverted 80 percent of packaging away from landfill and has kept the price point of Thermoflex lower for customers.