Plastic alternatives

[moustachebandit]

Think this is the right place for this?

The company I work for produces a significant amount of plastic products, and I am very keen to try and move the company onto more environmentally conscious / naturally derived plastic alternatives.

I am interested to know what compounds are currently out there, or coming to market that are considered a good plastic alternative? I am currently looking at PLA and also doing some research into Hemp. However my knowledge of organic / environmentally friendly plastic alternatives is limited so hopefully someone might be better aware of whats out there.

For the core products the plastic alternative would need to be fairly robust and most importantly usable in an injection moulding machine.

I am also looking into what could be done in terms of greener packaging. At the moment the company uses a lot of blister & film packaging, and I want to move this to something more sustainable and environmentally friendly.

Just interested to get peoples opinions and insight on what works and what doesn't.

Thanks

[Eric Mc]

Nothing wrong with plastic per se. In fact, it's a better way to use hydrocarbons than simply burning them.

The problem is what to do with plastic when plastic objects reach the end of their useful life. A lot of it can be recycled - so that has to be good too.

(I look on my stash of unbuilt plastic kits as my personal "carbon capture" programme ).

[moustachebandit]

The drivers behind this are a market desire to go plastic free / or utilise environmental alternatives. The product in question is considered relatively disposable, so once at the end of its usable lifecycle if it just breaks down to nutrient matter then thats better for the environment (and gives everyone a warm fuzzy feeling).

[2fast748]

Our kids have been bought bamboo based stuff recently (crockery/cutlery), although my 20 month son did eject one (plate) from his high chair the other day and broke it so not sure how tough it is!

[Eric Mc]

For every bamboo plate a child breaks, a giant panda dies,

[moustachebandit]

You cant injection mould bamboo!

[Liokault]

One of my suppliers of plastic parts https://www.skaza.com/ has n alternative plastic that they use for drinking cups etc (look at the web site). They are virtually indistinguishable from standard plastic....because they are basically standard plastic, just sourced from corn (IIRC). Its in no way recyclable despite what it says on the website.

[Monty Python]

Apart from what you find on Google, you're unlikely to find anything else as any major breakthroughs in the area are likely to be patented. We're working in the area, but beyond that I can't disclose what we're doing.

[Tempest_5]

PLA is alright and easy to use but suffers from the environment it is in. I designed & made up some nice courtesy light brackets on a 3d printer for my Land Rover using PLA but after only a week sat outside in the current heat they have warped. Any part under load has crept. I will have to redo them all in ABS now.

PLA also absorbs water. I also discovered when I warmed up a slightly distorted print in warm water to bend it straight that prints also shrink by about 15% in these circumstances.