Common Food Packaging Products And Are They Recyclable

Common Food Packaging Products And Are They Recyclable

Food packaging is an important factor in the food industry. And if you play a role of an entrepreneur in the food industry then you already know food packaging is a must to grab the attention of your customers, the right way!

Do you think, it would be a good manner if we just think about food packaging and never about disposing of food containers? Nope, this isn't going to happen!

Let us think differently. Let us hit the bullseye at once for both our needs of Aesthetic packaging that is even environmentally friendly, to curb the building stress over the environment!

Why should you think along the lines of the environment?

Of course, you should! Rather, we might think along these lines, why we should keep the environment out of our business strategies and thinking lines ever!

Here is your WHY:

  1. The environment is the starting point of everything, why not conserve it now and avoid regretting later?
  2. Equally promising options come for food packaging under the label of environment friendly and they do good with aesthetics as well!

Common Food packaging products and their recyclability:

1. Plastic Utensils

Generally, plastic utensils are now made using plastic 5 or plastic 6(polypropylene or hard polystyrene) and these both are recyclable.

But one thing that needs to be taken under revision is the container size, as the amount of time needed would be more, which makes an impact that these are regarded as tantrums given in the recycling process.

2. Plastic Cups

Plastic cups are known to be made of various varieties of plastic, namely foam, polyethylene, polystyrene, or polypropylene.

Out of these four, here is the basic ideology when it comes to their recycling nature:

  • Polystyrene (PS): Hard polystyrene cups, similar to foam (expanded polystyrene) are not recyclable. 
  • Foam: Foam cups are made of expanded polystyrene (EPS), a type of polystyrene (plastic #6). Styrofoam cups are not recyclable.
  • Polyethylene (PET): PET is made from plastic number one. It is widely accepted for recycling
  • Polypropylene (PP): PP plastics, or plastic number five, are becoming increasingly accepted by curbside recycling programs.

3. Drink Lids

Drink lids are known to be made of various varieties of plastic, namely polystyrene, PET / polylactic acid, or PLA polypropylene.

Out of these four, here is the basic ideology when it comes to their recycling nature:

  • Polystyrene (PS): These, similar to cups are not accepted for recycling.
  • Polyethylene (PET): PET lids are recyclable but due to their size, may not be accepted in all the recyclable programs. 
  • PLA: These lids are not recyclable but compostable

4. Paper Cups

Usually, paper cups for coffee are lined with a thin plastic coating. This is done to prevent leakage from the plastic cups.

If we need to recycle, then that thin plastic line has to be removed. And this adds to the recycling cost. Thereby the curbside recycling programs do not involve recycling this material.

5. Plastic Bags

High-density polyethylene (plastic number 2) or low-density polyethylene (plastic number 4) is recyclable.

But these are not usually accepted in the curbside recycling programs, the reason being they are not usually separated easily from the rest of the garbage.

And if handled carelessly, they can damage the recycling equipment.

6. Plastic Wrap

Generally, plastic wraps to wrap the food and other such utility are made from low-density polyethylene (LDPE, plastic number 4) or polyvinyl chloride (PVC) categorized as plastic number 3.

Although some units use them for recycling majority of the proportion remains at a distance because there is a chance of spoiling the recycling equipment.

Conclusion

How about bringing equally sustainable and promising results when the talk is about Food Packaging We know you don't want to lose any of your valuable customers but surely want to keep your client list going up and above!

Looking for some quality, affordable, sustainable, and aesthetic food packaging options? The team at Ambica Enterprises crafts all of their packaging solutions to make sure your food looks as impressive as it tastes!