Eco-design
In general, polymer converters are committed to decarbonization, and the Velfor Group has been involved in eco-design for many years.
The light weight of plastic packaging, combined with the incorporation of recycled materials, means that it can play a key role in a low-carbon strategy, and eco-design means ever greater material savings.
Indeed, eco-design involves a large number of players throughout the product value chain, and even beyond, from users to recyclers.
It involves integrating environmental protection into product design right from the start. Its aim is to reduce the environmental impact of products throughout their life cycle: reduced use of raw materials, production, distribution, use and end-of-life. It is characterized by a global vision of these environmental impacts (taking into account material and energy consumption, etc.). The end-of-life phase is particularly important, and the 3Rs method is applied to “reinvent” packaging.
- Reduce: reduce packaging at source, reduce thickness for “just the right packaging” while preserving preservation and protection functions, and limit food waste.
- Re-use: e.g. the design of industrial transport trays that can be used for the same purpose for which they were conceived, by linking several logistical loops.
- Recycling: A dimension taken into account right from the design stage, reflected in the incorporation of PCR (post consumer recycled) materials.
Questions relating to the packaging and packing of parts need to be taken into account right from the start of the project. The design of the parts can be reviewed in order to :
- encourage stacking, which optimizes the filling of pallets in trucks and thus reduces the impact of transport;
- minimize packaging. Ideally, you’ll want to find a way of stacking the parts in a stable way, so you don’t have to use wrapping film.
Choosing the right plastic material is crucial right from the product design stage, and even more so when it comes to using recycled plastic materials.
For us, this conviction translates into :
- Favoring single-material packaging, more easily recyclable, with fewer possible components
- Reduced material thickness means less material used, which in turn reduces environmental impact.
- Offer recyclable biosourced materials (PET) that can be integrated into existing recycling channels
- Select more virtuous materials, biosourced compostable
- By incorporating recycled material (PCR), particularly for APET
- Grinding the production skeleton for over 30 years
Some packaging is also crushed internally, and this material is then reused for another application.
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