The role of polyethylene packaging in consumer safety and ...

Polyethylene promotes cleanliness and safety

Polyethylene (PE) is used in many industries, including food and beverage, personal wellness, packaged goods, health care, and beyond.

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Product developers choose PE because it is versatile and durable, resistant to impact and chemicals, features low moisture absorption, and doesn&#;t retain bacteria.

Let&#;s dive into some of the ways high-density polyethylene (HDPE) and linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE) help keep consumers safe.

Polyethylene packaging keeps foods fresher, longer

Think of all the raw packaged meats behind and around the butcher&#;s counter at the grocery store. Once packed, those products will usually last a few days. They must be sold and cooked, or they will spoil and get thrown out.

Things would be worse without the HDPE and LLDPE packaging that encases many of those meats. Polyethylene films can more than double the amount of time some meat can stay fresh.1

The preservation power of PE packaging ensures fewer resources are wasted. That&#;s a financial benefit for stores and brands and a safety benefit for customers. It&#;s also an environmental plus. Besides helping reduce the waste of resources, less meat in a landfill means fewer methane emissions from meat decomposing there.

PE&#;s food-preserving qualities don&#;t stop at meat. They extend to HDPE milk jugs and freezer bags for frozen foods. The U.S. Food & Drug Administration designates polymers like HDPE as food-safe plastics. HDPE is nonporous and easy to clean, it resists mildew and mold, and it's dishwasher safe thanks to its high heat resistance.

Related reading: Food & Beverage trends report or one pager

The clear choice for personal care & beauty

Packaging for personal care and beauty products needs to be impact-resistant, portable, and preserve the chemicals and cosmetics within. That&#;s why polyethylene has been a consistent choice for brands in these market sectors.

PE packaging helps consumers to easily store and save products that can be difficult to contain and consume, like lotions and liquids. Consumers strongly prefer functional packaging that optimizes product use.2

PE containers offer a solution that&#;s reusable, resealable, and easily dispenses products compared to other forms of packaging. PE has strong barrier properties, is resistant to solvents and other chemicals, and is both durable and malleable.

As such, product developers use PE to create bottles for detergents, shampoos, lotions, shower gels, nail polish removers, pouches, and over-the-counter medicines, as well as cosmetics containers and other products. PE applications help keep contents safe on their trip from factories to stores, and ultimately, to consumers&#; cabinets.

PE&#;s advantages over alternatives

While glass and other packaging materials were once dominant in food, personal care, cosmetics, and other sectors, polyethylene has proven itself an effective successor in many cases.

One reason is, because it would take far more of those alternative materials by weight to perform the same function as plastic. For example, a study by Trucost found that substituting alternate materials for plastic in packaging would increase environmental costs from $139 billion to $533 billion &#; nearly tripling those costs.3

As a heavy material, glass also costs more to transport and requires more energy to recycle.4

Related reading: What converters should know about Shell Polymers&#; newly built polyethylene plant

Meet Shell Polymers&#; blow molding experts

Steeped in polyethylene applications for food & beverage, personal care products, household goods, and beyond, Shell Polymers&#; polymer and blow molding experts help converters achieve the results they desire.

Meet some of our team here.

We&#;re committed to building collaborative, supportive relationships with blow molders, injection molders, film extruders, rotomolders, and other converters. We describe this listening-based approach as a (Real)ationship.

If you are looking for more details, kindly visit SUNUA.

Reach out to us to learn more about how Shell Polymers can help your business succeed.

Polyethylene, one of the most common variations of plastic, is often used in the production of bags, bottles, containers and other mass produced items. But did you know, when properly manufactured, that polyethylene also can be used to create nearly indestructible, durable furniture products that can be used in correctional facilities, healthcare environments and shelters spaces?

Of course, there is a big difference in the way that plastic bags and durable furniture are produced. Bags, on one hand, are most often made of low-density polyethylene &#; a plastic variety that is used to produce softer products &#; while furniture is frequently made of high-density polyethylene, which is used for products that need to stand up to wear and tear and constant use.

And when manufacturers produce the furniture using rotomolding &#; the process of creating one-piece products by using a hollow mold that is filled with polyethylene then heated and rotated &#; they are capable of creating highly durable furniture, with thick surfaces and structural integrity.

But those are just a few of the advantages of buying polyethylene furniture. Below we outline five additional reasons why you should consider products made of this material for your intensive-use environment.

Easy to clean

As mentioned above, when rotomolded, polyethylene can be manufactured as a one-piece product. What are the advantages of this exactly? If manufactured seamlessly and with smooth surfaces, one-piece polyethylene products have no cracks and crevices where debris and fluids can gather. All of this together allows for the easy cleaning of the entire product using just a damp cloth, water and soap.

Chemically resistant

Premium polyethylene also can be chemically resistant to body oils and fluids, salt solution and cleaning solutions &#; adding years to the life of the furniture. This is especially important for high-use environments where there is a high turnover rate in occupants. This resistance provides highly necessary infection control not found in furniture made of inferior materials that may stain or include areas where fluids may accumulate.

Fire retardant

High quality polyethylene can pretty durable on its own. But the material can also be manufactured with additional, specially formulated, fire-retardant, high-impact materials that make it compliant with industry flammability standards. Look for products that comply with the following standards:

• State of California, Technical Bulletin No. 133, Flammability Test Procedure for Seating Furniture for Use in Public Occupancies
• UL Fire Test of Upholstered Furniture
• ASTM E Test Method for Fire Testing of Real Scale Upholstered Furniture Items
• NFPA 261 Cigarette Ignition Resistance of Upholstered Furniture
• UL94 HB Test for Flammability of Plastic Materials
• British Standard BS : , High Hazard Occupancy (BS EN -1: , BS EN -2: , BS : )

When properly designed, polyethylene furniture can be some of the safest and most tamper proof products on the market. When rotomolded, rectilinear shapes are replaced with smooth contoured surfaces. This creates an element of safety for those using the product and guards against sharp edges in challenging environments. Additionally, high impact polyethylene is break resistant and prevents users of the furniture from turning parts of the product into weapons or producing pockets or holes in the product where contraband or other undesirable materials can be stored.

Durability

As mentioned above, perhaps the greatest benefit of polyethylene products is their durability. High impact polyethylene furniture is structurally robust, dent resistant and cannot rust. Additionally, polyethylene furniture that is manufactured as one piece is much less likely to break than furniture that is produced using multiple parts connected with mechanical fasteners. In a nutshell, the fewer the pieces the fewer the problems.

Compounding

It is important to note that facilities should look for polyethylene products that have been manufactured using &#;compounding.&#; At Norix, compounding includes mixing all of the materials &#; polyethylene, color, fire retardants, etc. &#; then melting them together, making them homogenized and completely infused. The material is then extruded and chopped into small pellets with a die, then pulverized into powder before being rotational molded. That means every particle of the product contains equal amounts polyethylene along with all of the other additives, for superior coloring, fire retardant quality and durability.

Norix Furniture&#;s polyethylene, durable furniture products

Norix&#;s Forté Lounge Chairs | Forté Guest Chairs | Toughcare Series | Integra Series | Attenda Series

For more information, please visit polyethylene material exporter.