Clamshell packaging: can we recycle it? If not, what more can be done?

Are you aware that while both our popular clamshells and the local bottles we generally purchase during the summer are made of the same raw material PET, one is recyclable and the other is not? PET is a material that is extremely recyclable. While your local recycling program may accept plastic #1 bottles and jugs, clamshells, tubs, trays, and lids are unlikely to be accepted. These clamshell trays and tubs are manufactured by a clamshell packaging factory. 

The point is that these bottles, but not the clamshell trays or tubs, will be accepted by a local recycler. So, are these clamshells playing a part in creating pollution. Do you really want to know, what could be done to stop every health hazard because of this? Do you truly desire to discover why? This article will answer all of your unanswered questions related to this theory.

The Manufacturing procedure is what makes them different!!

PET container manufacturers use a range of methods to generate a variety of different types of PET containers. They create clamshells using the thermoforming process and bottles and jugs using the blow moulding. These many processes result in PET materials of differing grades, each with a distinct function.

PET, regardless of its grade, is 100 per cent recyclable. PET thermoform containers, on the other hand, provide a number of recycling challenges.

 

Recycling is a nightmare!

Recycling is not fun when it comes to clamshell packaging items. A clamshell packaging factory creates clamshell tubs and trays through the various heating process. In this manufacturing process other than trays.

The principal difficulties inherent in recycling PET thermoform containers such as plastic clamshells. Due to their powerful adhesive, these containers typically include labels that are difficult to remove. They generate more fine particles during processing and have a lower bulk density than that PET bottles, complicating the manufacturing process of clamshells and bottles being processed concurrently.

Material recovery facilities (MRFs) have difficulty distinguishing plastic clamshells from identical containers made of different plastics, as well as PET bottles when they're being processed. This results in "infection" of the final PET bales for export to be processed, which are then manufactured.

MRFs strive to produce the purest bales possible of a specific commodity in order to maximise market value. Plastic #1 bales would be entirely composed of bottles and jugs.

When clamshells are recycled alongside bottles and jugs, recycling companies suffer income losses due to the lower-quality PET plastic. As a result, despite the fact that clamshells are made of recyclable PET plastic, many recycling programmes and material recovery facilities (MRFs) would refuse to accept them for recycling.

Can they be repurposed rather than recycled?

Please keep plastic clamshells out of your recycling container if your local recycling programme does not accept them. However, do not discard them; they are recyclable. Indeed, NAPCOR claimed that the United States recycled more than 100 million pounds of PET thermoform material in 2018.

Containers made of clamshells from a clamshell packaging factory must not be discarded. The most effective technique for reducing the number of plastic clamshell containers ending up in landfills is to simply stop using them. Purchase produce in more environmentally friendly packaging wherever possible and carry leftovers home in your own reusable containers. There are, however, a plethora of simple and clever ways to repurpose them. They have a range of applications, including the following:

  

ü  Organize crayons, pens, and markers

 

ü  Serve as disposable lunch containers

 

ü  Organize and categorise the contents of a drawer with ease

 

ü  Make Christmas décor or gift baskets from scratch (decorated with ribbons and flowers)

 

ü  Maintain a tidy, tangle-free yarn while knitting or crocheting

 

ü  Construct a miniature prize chest for youngsters (decorated with ribbons, glitter and foil)

 

ü  Used to house saplings

Final words:

Clamshells are made in a clamshell packaging factory using PET but use a different manufacturing process than that of plastic bottles. So, all in all, the raw material may be the same in both items, and recycling the former item is almost a nightmare. Especially the stubborn stickers glued on the clamshell tubs and trays are a nightmare when a commoner tries to remove them.