Earth-Friendly Sustainable Packaging

How to be more "Green"

Reduce, Reuse and Recycle:
Packaging is here to stay but there are ways to reduce the amount of packaging needed. First, look for products that use less packaging. Use packaging that has already been recycled or use packaging that is biodegradable. Buying in bulk also helps reduce the amount of packaging needed. Sometimes retailers can reuse lightly used bags or can recycle them for you. Reuse them at home for small trash can liners, lunch bags, animal waste holders, totes or containers for almost anything. Or you can collect them along with other recyclable material and take them to your local recycling center.

Did you know plastic grocery bags consume 40% less energy to produce and generate 80% less solid waste than paper bags? It takes 91 percent less energy to recycle a pound of plastic than it takes to recycle a pound of paper. It takes more than four times as much energy to manufacture a paper bag as it does to manufacture a plastic bag.

Current research demonstrates that paper in today's landfills does not degrade or break down at a substantially faster rate than plastic does. In fact, nothing completely degrades in modern landfills due to the lack of water, light, oxygen, and other important elements that are necessary for the degradation process to be completed.

Plastic Facts
Paper sacks generate 70 percent more air pollution and 50 times more water pollutants than plastic bags.

Plastic Facts
2000 plastic bags weigh 30 pounds, 2000 paper bags weigh 280 pounds. The latter takes up a lot more landfill space.

Current research demonstrates that paper in today's landfills does not degrade or break down at a substantially faster rate than plastic does. In fact, nothing completely degrades in modern landfills due to the lack of water, light, oxygen, and other important elements that are necessary for the degradation process to be completed.

American plastic bags are made from natural gas, NOT oil. In the U.S., 85 percent of the raw material used to make plastic bags is produced from natural gas. Bags are made from a waste product of refining either oil or natural gas that will exist whether converted into plastic or not. If not converted, this waste would be burned off, releasing greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere.

Actions Speak Louder than Words

International Plastics believes that there is more to being environmentally responsible than just mere words. We have been focusing on keeping our planet clean and healthy long before it was the popular and politically correct thing to do. With company and industry-wide policies that promote recycling, conservation, minimizing waste and promoting environmentally friendly charities, we lead the way in keeping the Earth green and healthy. We are a strong family-based company that wants to hand down a better and cleaner planet to future generations.

We offer additives for photo and compostability, but it cost more and won’t allow for recycling. Certain additives that are necessary for some properties in the film simply make it impossible to recycle.

Our bags are made from virgin FDA-approved resin. No post-consumer recycled waste. When using Regrind resin you need to make a thicker bag to get the same strength of a virgin resin bag.

Recycling: Our Corporate office saves two dumpster loads of paper per month from entering the waste stream through our recycling efforts. We Shred and recycle our paper whenever possible.

 On the manufacturing side: all plastic scraps are sold to scrap processors who regrind it and repelletize it. Then it is resold to plants that use the “regrind” into construction film, and other plastic products that can utilize the reprocessed resin.