Technicians at Silvergate have been working diligently to expand its range of sustainable plastics to meet increasing consumer demands for greener solutions. This range has been launched specifically to support plastic packaging producers who will be directly affected by the government’s proposed plastic packaging tax, which will come into effect in April 2022.
Commenting on the technical advancements used to create this range, Silvergate’s Technical Manager, Mark Loughlin, said:
“Since the government announced its intention to apply a tax on plastic packaging, we have been developing new technologies that support packaging manufacturers and the plastic industry as a whole. To ensure we developed the best possible solution, we set out a strict objective; we wanted to develop a prime performance solution so neither the properties of the masterbatch nor moulding polymer would be affected by the use of recycled raw materials. We have therefore identified high quality recyclates and developed a robust formulation to ensure this range performs like prime materials.
“Initially, we developed a white masterbatch that performs exactly like a virgin product. This would ensure we could fulfil requests for commodity and batch orders. Customers have taken such an interest in this range that we were able to quickly expand into other colours. As we are not limited to specific colour collections, we are able to successfully incorporate recyclates into the formulations of any colour the customer requests.”
Silvergate Plastics has been supporting the frontline efforts in the war against Covid-19. Mark added:
“The industry is currently working flat out to support the frontline and orders for cleaning and sanitising packaging products are through the roof. However, we are still fulfilling our usual orders and as committed as ever to rapidly provide customers with the bespoke formulations they require to meet their manufacturing demands at this difficult time.”
