The Universal Recyclability of Extruded Plastic Tubes

The Universal Recyclability of Extruded Plastic Tubes

The Recyclability of Extruded Plastic Tubes

toothpast hands with toothbrush

 

Millions of people use extruded plastic tubes every day. They’re one of the world’s most used products. Everyone who has ever bought toothpaste before has used this type of product.

But they’re also used for packaging artists’ oil paints, hair conditioner, glues and epoxy resins, and face creams. In fact, they may be the most important packaging ever invented for the cosmetics industry.

Walk into a pharmacy or drugstore, and you’ll be amazed by the number of products that use some variation of the standard tube packaging. The manufacturers of these tubes have made it an easy choice for cosmetics manufacturers. The sheer variety in diametres and capping systems of today’s extruded tubes, not to mention the low per-unit cost of this type of packaging, have made it impractical for cosmetic manufacturers to look for any other alternatives.

 

Automation Reduces the Cost

This packaging is so efficient and inexpensive because of the way it’s manufactured. Extrusion is a process that squeezes the products out like the way a chef makes pasta.

A hopper holds the extruded plastic material until it’s hot enough to assume a soft but still manageable consistency. The material is forced through the extruder’s nozzle and forms a hollow tube. As it comes out of the nozzle, it’s sliced off into smaller tubes at regular intervals, and these sections are cooled to maintain their form.

Then they have the customer’s choice in types of caps attached to them. The tubes are also printed with the customer’s product information and logos among the steps in this manufacturing process. They may also be made out of specially coloured plastic which matches the customer’s logos.

These plastic tubes can be manufactured a fraction of the time it takes some packaging to be made. They’re light, puncture-resistant, and with the various surface textures available today, they take printer ink very well. These products are some of the boldest and most colourful on retailer’s shelves.

The reduced weight and toughness of these tubes mean lower shipping costs and less breakage than other types of packaging. This is another reason why manufacturers are sold on the value of extruded tubes as a form of packaging.

 

The Real Value is in Their Recyclability

But many people aren’t aware that the plastic used in these extruded tubes has been developed to be completely recyclable.

Back when manufacturers hit upon the idea of plastic tubes as packaging materials for gels and liquids, they also thought of using old recycled tubes as the material for new tubes. They envisioned a system that was self-perpetuating.

Sadly, communities and the general public hasn’t been as quick to jump on the recycling bandwagon. If they were to step up their efforts, a significant amount of the plastic that ends up in the world’s oceans would instead by making up a new generation of plastic extruded tubes.

To learn more about why your brand should make extruded tubes the packaging for your products, contact Victor Group in Thailand, a leading manufacturer of extruded tube packaging.