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According to one product manufacturer’s analysis, HDPE can be shredded, melted and molded into products 10 times before its quality is compromised.
Dutch garbage and recyclables receptacle maker ESE World recently studied the number of times it could mechanically recycle the plastic without a significant loss of quality. Canadian Packaging reported on the test, which was led by ESE plastics specialist and scientist Jeanett Köhn.
In each cycle, the plastic was injection-molded into products, which were again shredded for recycling. Each time, the plastic’s properties were analyzed with the help of outside experts.
“Decades of developments under production conditions have put us in the position to process and treat recycled material in such a way that the quality of the products is on a par with virgin material,” said Udo Fröhlingsdorf, ESE director of product development and marketing, according to the publication. “The findings of this series of experiments now allow us to engage in more targeted research and to develop further future-oriented methods.”
Plastics in Packaging reports the experiment took place at the company’s Neuruppin, Germany location.
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