As one of Africa’s largest manufacturers of woven polypropylene bags and polyethylene liners, Tufbag has increasingly turned to using recycled granules to better ensure the sustainability of our products.
Using recycled materials is not only more environmentally friendly but also helps us reduce production costs—savings that are passed on to our customers.
However, to maintain the high quality and consistency that we are renowned for, a critical step in the recycling process is the colour sorting of the granules before they are processed into pellets.
Let’s take a look at why this matters so much.
Quality
One of the aspects of a good-quality product is its colour consistency. When colours are not properly sorted during pellet production, the colour consistency can become severely compromised. This can be a major problem in industries where the appearance of a product is important.
For example, some customers require that their bulk bags be coloured and branded in a certain way. When colour sorting is not properly implemented, it can undermine entire batches that don’t meet customer specifications, leading to lost revenue and product delivery delays.
Homogeneity
In some cases, different coloured granules indicate slight differences in the polymer blend. Therefore, failing to properly colour-sort the granules can undermine the homogeneity of the final product, resulting in a compromised polymer blend that might not have the properties required.
Properly sorting and separating the colours before production ensures homogeneity and a more stable polymer. As a result, mechanical qualities like strength, flexibility, and durability are more consistently distributed.
Reduced Waste
When colours are mixed and a subpar product is created as a result, it creates waste. Customers rightfully don’t want to pay for something that is not made to the highest standards of quality, which results in the faulty product being discarded.
Properly sorting colours can minimise the amount of waste that is created because it ensures that the product meets the necessary quality standards the first time.
Waste reduction like this supports sustainability objectives while also cutting production costs.
Here at Tufbag, we use recycled granules as much as possible to create a more sustainable end product. Contact us today to find out more about our products and how we can help your company reduce its carbon footprint through partnering with sustainability-conscious suppliers.