Plastic Resin Pellets
Throughout the last few decades, plastic has become a centerpiece for the majority of products we produce, distribute, purchase, and use. Plastic has drastically changed the landscape of how we function in our homes and businesses, and even changed the way we shop and travel. Today, there are very few places that you can go to that are free from plastic. Plastic has given manufacturers the opportunity to maintain high-volume demands in the market whilst saving the money on more expensive material, like metal or wood. What’s more is that plastic has a long lifespan designed for durability and daily use.
Plastic is even considered a raw material, especially plastic resin pellets, often washed ashore on beaches around the world. Plastic resin pellets are small morsels generally in a cylindrical shape with a diameter of only a few millimeters. These small morsels are industrial raw material transported to manufacturers to melt, mold, and reproduce the plastic into new molds and final products.
What Can Be Made from Plastic Resin Pellets?
Since manufacturers use plastic in many engineered products today, there is an opportunity to recycle plastic resin pellets and use the melted, broken-down material for future products. Below is a list of products that plastic resin pellets can be used for once the material is ready for remolding:
- Cleaning Products
- Foam Packaging
- Lawn Furniture
- Medical Equipment
- Parts for Transportation
- Plastic Bottles & Bottle Caps (for cosmetics, beverages, milk jugs, prescriptions, etc.)
- Plastic Bags & Food Wraps
- Plastic Lumber (for park benches, decks, fences, playgrounds, etc.)
- Piping
- Tupperware
- Waste Receptacles
- Writing Utensils
- & Many More
Cracking Process and Formation of Polymers
As the main base of plastic, plastic resin pellets can be optimized and transformed, once they’re broken down, to fit specific manufacturing requirements. First, they go through what is called the cracking process. This is where the resins are created with high heat that breaks down and cracks the hydrocarbons within the plastic
Once the cracking process completes, the end result becomes what can be described as a chain, or the formation of polymers. Cracking and breaking down plastic with variable chains and polymers allows manufacturers to customize the way plastic is characterized and therefore remolded. These differences are what allow the resins to be used in different applications. For instance, soft drink bottles need polyethylene terephthalate. But for thicker bottles used for prescriptions or milk require a higher density polyethylene. Also, hot products used in the food industry may require a special type of polymer. The clear plastic wrap would be very thin and made from polyvinyl chloride.
The world is full of ways to create plastics for so many uses. Plastics can be created in an insurmountable amount of shapes, sizes, and colors. The process is not difficult, but color pigments are added to as they are being created.
Contact Plastic Service Center for Plastic Resin Distribution Michigan
Contact Plastic Service Centers in Clinton Township at (888) 44-PLASTIC to get information or a quote on your plastic packaging needs. You can also reach out to us on the contact form on our website.
Source: What’s plastic resin pellet? (International Pellet Watch)