LDPE, like all types of ‘virgin’ plastic, is made from oil. It is therefore not biodegradable or compostable (read more about these topics on the page: What are bioplastics?). LDPE is, however, excellently recyclable. In order to be able to recycle at high quality to A-class materials, it must meet a number of conditions:
- The film must consist of one type of material, i.e. not laminated with other types of material such as aluminum.
- The film must not be too dirty.
- The foil must be separately collected or separated afterwards.
Recycling of films can be stimulated by designing more products out of one material and by collecting clean streams separately on a larger scale.
The recyclate can be mixed with virgin PE. Depending on the application and requirements, from about 25% to as much as 100%. When a product is shown to consist of 80% or more recyclate, it qualifies for the Blaue Engel label (read more about this label on the page: What is the Blaue Engel label?).
KIVO produces films for various applications using recyclate. This can be used for non-food applications. Applications include: shrink film, cover film, cover sleeves, garbage bags, films for potting soil, gravel, wood, straw, and stone bags, films for E-commerce bags, etc.
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