Plastic Recycling (Flexibles)

Flexible Plastic

We buy all types of flexible plastic waste from businesses throughout the mainland UK and we like to think that we pay the very best prices for it.

Flexible Plastic Recycling has many benefits and one of those is the amount of money it can give you, especially if you have contained and pre-sorted it properly. It’s not an absolute requirement but the better you gather the material together and the better you sort it into it’s different grades then the higher the price you are more likely to get for it.

At Enviroline we like to help our clients to identify the materials they have and (where needed) introduce a system that compliments their working environment and at the same time separates the plastic film (or flexible plastic) into the grades that will give the best return.

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What is Flexible Plastic?

Flexible Plastic (or Plastic film) is a thin gauge material used primarily as packaging. Examples include carrier bags, refuse sacks/bags, bubble wrap, pallet covers, pallet wrap and stretch wrap.

The main flexible plastic polymers are Low Density Polyethylene (LDPE) and High Density Polyethylene (HDPE) but Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC), Polypropylene (PP) and some other polymers are also used.

 

Identifying Flexible Plastic Films

At first, identifying the different types of Flexible Plastic or Film may appear a little difficult and confusing but fortunately most businesses tend to generate the same type of waste over and over again and this makes the identification process, easier on each subsequent occasion.

Unfortunately Flexible Plastic films are a little more difficult to identify than Rigid or Semi-Rigid Plastic by polymer type, as plastic containers are now required to have one of the seven polymer identification codes, whereas most Flexible Plastic Films do not carry such symbols.

If you would like to know how you can recognize the different types of plastics (Flexible and Rigids) then simply enter your name and email address below and we’ll send you a comprehensive pdf document that will give you all the information you will need to become an expert.

 Please note that care should be taken if performing burn tests on plastic films, as gases emitted by some types of polymer, such as PVC, are toxic and be sure to perform these in a safe environment because of the fire risk when burning small amounts of plastic.
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The Main Grades of Flexible Plastic Film are:

  • Low Density Polyethylene                    LDPE
  • Linear Low Density Polyethylene         LLDPE
  • High Density Polyethylene                   HDPE
  • Polypropylene                                      PP
  • Orientated Polypropylene                    OPP
  • Polyvinyl Chloride                                PVC
  • Co-extruded Recyclable Films             LDPE & HDPE
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Baling:

Baling is the most common and probably the best way to prepare plastic films for transportation purposes. Mill Size bales are the preferred format but the most important part is separating the Flexible Plastic Film into regular grades.

Single grade material is always going to demand a better value but more commonly, the Flexible Plastic Film we buy at Enviroline is not always of one grade and not only clear and can all too often be mixed material such as 70% LDPE with 30% PP

We’ve listed below all the different types and grades of baled material we are interested in and if you would like more details about each grade then click on the pdf’s by the side and it will help you understand what is required to produce better bales of material that will get you a greater price when selling it.

 

Classification/Grades of Flexible Plastic Film:

99:1 Film Flexible Plastic

 

98:2 Film    Flexible Plastic

 

Flexible Plastic95:5 Film

 

Flexible Plastic90:10 Film

 

8Flexible Plastic0:20 Film

 

Flexible PlasticJazz Film

 

 

Businesses that generate more than one type of flexible plastic film ideally need to decide if it will be collected separately or co-mingled. Most business usually collect all Polythene’s (LLDPE, LDPE, MDPE, HDPE) together and have grades such as Polypropylenes (PP), Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) and other films collected separately.

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What We Need in Order To Offer You a Price
  • Four or more digital photographs
  • A brief description of the material
  • A roughly idea of how much you have of it
  • Where it is located
  • How it is stored
  • A small (about the size of the palm of your hand) sample sent in the post to us

 

What end products can be produced from recycled plastic film?

Recycling Flexible Plastic Films uses grinding and plastic processing machines to produce plastic pellets that can be used in extrusion manufacturing of new films, injection moulding of components and profile extrusions. Also Recycled Flexible Plastic Films can be used in the manufacture of plastic lumber/wood looking type products.