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There are no easy solutions when it comes to reducing the environmental impact of manufacturing. At Versa Pak, our approach to sustainability is all about balance. We focus our energy where the biggest reductions in environmental impact are possible – from operations, new equipment technologies, and material innovations – while producing film products that offer exceptional performance for our customers.
We recently spoke with Chief Growth Officer Eric Howard about our current efforts to minimize environmental impact through innovation.
Safety and Circularity in Operations
One of the biggest sources of pollution in the packaging industry is on the rails where incoming resin pellets are spilled. The Safe Quality Food (SQF) certification is one measure that not only ensures quality and safety throughout the food supply chain, but also reduces potential ground and water contamination, Howard shared. This external, independently verified certification means a manufacturer complies with aggressive cleanliness and environmental standards.
Versa Pak has been SQF certified since 2016. This means:
- We implement safety practices that minimize resin spill throughout the manufacturing process
- We produce packaging that is safe for food products
- We comply with all government and industry regulations
- We comply with applicable legislation
For our customers, SQF certification makes it easy to determine if we’re a facility you trust to manufacture polyethylene – all we have to do is send you our latest audit.
At Versa Pak, we also send every pound of industrial scrap we produce out for reprocessing. As our business grows, we’re sending more scrap for reprocessing than we’re able to reuse alone, so we sell the excess to other companies. Regardless of where our reprocessed scrap ends up, 100% of this material re-enters the plastic manufacturing stream.
Materials Innovation
For decades, the trend in the packaging industry has been to reduce, reuse, and recycle – a movement largely driven by end users. To reduce material usage, Howard said, the packaging industry responded by developing better resins that can result in a thinner gauge of polyethylene.
Material innovations have come a long way in the last few years. Versa Pak has exclusivity agreements with multiple bio resin producers, including post-consumer recycled and post-industrial recycled materials.
But there’s still a major caveat. “Thinner is better for the environment,” Howard said. “It’s not better for making cereal bags.”
One technology Versa Pak is currently exploring is micro-voiding. This process reduces the weight of the polymers themselves, which means we could produce a thicker material that can stand up to the functional demands of food packaging without the excess weight.
New Equipment Technologies
Materials innovation is just one piece of the puzzle when it comes to reducing the environmental impact of our manufacturing processes.
“What we’ve discovered is that we’ve taken the viability of raw material – the recycled material – about as far as it can go,” Howard said. “Now we’re seeking out manufacturing technologies to help push it even further.”
Versa Pak works closely with equipment manufacturers to develop new technologies for the packaging industry that can expand the limits of what’s possible. We’re currently testing several equipment technologies that allow us to produce or use higher quantities of post-consumer recycled material. This is something Versa Pak can proactively take to customers, Howard said, rather than waiting for them to demand change.
The Forefront of Polyethylene Innovation
At Versa Pak, innovation throughout the entire poly packaging manufacturing process and reducing our environmental impact go hand-in-hand. Subscribe to our newsletter to be the first to hear about packaging industry innovations like these.