Introduction
Hose packaging such as toothpaste tubes is usually not recyclable, because in the design of traditional toothpaste tubes, there is a layer of aluminum plating layer sandwiched between plastics, which is very difficult to peel off, and the recycling factory cannot process it together with other plastics. However, in 2019, Colgate announced that it had completed the design of a fully recyclable toothpaste tube, which was the world's first all plastic toothpaste tube with a recyclable design recognized by the American Plastic Recycling Association (APR). Colgate plans to complete the replacement of all recyclable toothpaste tubes by 2025, when all product packages will be 100% recyclable.
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Colgate all plastic toothpaste tube was the first to obtain the approval of APR recyclable design
In order to make recycled toothpaste tubes, Colgate chose HDPE, a plastic that can be widely recycled and commonly used in bottle making. Because HDPE material is hard, it is not suitable for making ultra-thin layer and flexible extruded pipe. However, Colgate packaging engineers in the project later found that they could use multiple levels of HDPE in the design. The team tested 12 different combinations and finally found a formula that enables people to squeeze out all toothpaste as comfortably as before, while protecting the integrity of the product and meeting the needs of high-speed flow of the production line.
"Colgate wants to make pipes part of the circular economy by maintaining the productivity of this plastic and eliminating waste," said Noel Wallace, CEO and President of Colgate Palmolive. "As we test new packaging materials, product formats and refillable models to reduce our use of plastics, this progress can have a significant impact in today's market." in order to be recognized by APR, Colgate also simulated the plastic recycling process, and tests show that its toothpaste tubes can be fully recycled at the municipal recycling facility (MRF) in the United States Normal operation on the conveyor belt.
Colgate uses radio frequency identification (RFI) tags to track these tubes and prove that they can be correctly classified with other plastic bottles. In order to further show that the all plastic toothpaste tube can be reused after recycling (another key part recognized by APR), the collected waste toothpaste tube successfully produced a new recycled plastic bottle through the regeneration process.
Steve Alexander, chairman of APR's board of directors, commented: "APR is pleased to cooperate with Colgate on this important project. Plastic hose is one of the most widely used plastic packaging forms, but it can not be recycled on a large scale. There is still a lot of work to be done in the future, but we believe that Colgate has made a good start."
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Work done by cprra for plastic recyclable design in November 2019 plastic recycling branch of China synthetic resin Association (CPRRA)/
China Plastics Sustainable Development Association (CSPA) signed a memorandum of cooperation with American APR, introduced APR's plastic recyclable design guide into China, and carried out a series of industry research, localization transformation and standard approval.In June 2020, cprra released the definition of recyclability design of plastics in China, promoted the recognition of international institutions APR and pre, and realized the technical logic unification of global recyclability definition; The first plastic sustainable development whole industry chain solicited the best case selection of "easy recycling design Golden Apple Award".
In September 2020, he became a member of the independent expert group of CGF global plastic waste Action Alliance.
In November 2020, WWF released the report on the recycling and recycling status of plastic packaging in China undertaken by cprra.
In December 2020, a study on the metabolic end flow direction and the proportion of subdivided components of waste plastics in China, represented by 15 cities such as Beijing, was carried out to find out the plastic recovery volume, types and flow direction of urban recyclable packaging stations.
In January 2021, cprra decided to cooperate with APR and pre to assist Chinese enterprises to apply for APR and pre certification, and carry out a series of consulting services for recyclable and renewable design; On January 13, more than 6000 people witnessed the release of China's first pet recyclable design guide, as well as the development status and practice of plastic recyclable design in China, the Market Research Report on PET bottle recyclable design, and the Research Report on pet variegated bottle recycling.
In June 2021, the industrial standards of the design guidelines for pet products, HDPE hard products, PP hard products, and PE recyclable for film and flexible packaging were fully prepared under the guidance of relevant departments.
In August 2021, the preparation of group standards for recyclable and renewable design guidelines for plastic products was carried out in an all-round way; The 7th pet technical committee meeting discussed the revision of the design guide for recyclable pet products, and supplemented the test methods and evaluation indexes; At the same time, the problems encountered in the actual production of PET recycling enterprises aresummarized, hoping to guide the upstream to make reasonable changes through the preparation of recyclable recycling design guidelines, which is more conducive to the recycling of plastic products.
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