“Making sure that consumers recycle our products starts with us. Not only do we need to provide recycled products, we also need to provide the proper information to our customers about recyclability. It is important that we help our customers choose the right products, so that the chances of them being recycled by the consumers increase,” says Arie den Hertog, Product Manager at Modiform. “We decided to make an infographic in order to provide a concise overview of what would be the best option concerning recyclability, as this differs per country.” Recently, the team at Modiform has updated their infographic, and the renewed version is now available for everyone to use as a guide.
Click here to see a large image of the new infopraphic
Changes in the assortment
According to Den Hertog, it is Modiform’s goal to make sure that their products get recycled by the consumers, and over the years, their assortment has changed in order to increase the chances of them being recycled by the end user. “For example, since last year, we no longer have any thermoformed pots with carbon black. Plastic containing carbon black is not detectable in the recycling process, meaning that it won’t get recycled. Instead, we offer grey or taupe colors. Our next step is to make the carry packs more recyclable as well. Again, those are products that don’t always get recycled well among consumers.”
Why an infographic?
Modiform has investigated how plastic gets recycled in various European countries, and there are several differences that their customers can take into consideration when purchasing their products. “For example, the packs of polystyrene (PS) can end up at the consumer, and there are only a few countries where this material gets recycled. Polystyrene is recyclable in Belgium, Germany, and Norway, but not in Great Britain, Italy, The Netherlands, Poland, Denmark, or Sweden. Therefore, if a customer is looking for products for the UK, for example, it might be better to order our products made of PET or cardboard.” Den Hertog notes that there are many sustainability efforts underway in European countries to improve recyclability, “but for now, our infographic offers an overview of the best material options per country, in order to optimize recyclability. We will keep an eye on the developments and update our infographic frequently with new insights.”
Click here to go to the new infographic.
For more information:
Modiform
Arie den Hertog
AdenHertog@modiform.nl
www.modiform.com/en/