For over a decade the industry has been developing high-strength blends. The chemistry is smart, but the concept is simple.
By making polythene thinner but every bit as strong, you get the functionality you need while saving 20% of the polythene.
It does get a little complicated in that high-strength blends are more expensive to manufacture. Weight for weight, you pay around 10% more but you use 20% less. There’s a genuine saving in both raw materials and the environmental impact of its production.
Here’s an example:
Paul the Pie Man used to buy 10,000 bags for 10,000 pies (apologies if that’s set your stomach rumbling). These bags had a thickness of 50 microns and, in total, weighed 100kg which is why Mike, Paul’s warehouseman, found he needed a pie every time he unloaded the bags from the van.
