Another development in the refuse sack market was the advent of three layer co-extrusion for recycled plastics. While co-extrusion has been available for many years, it’s application in recycled films had not been advocated because of the difficulty in blowing films in a low enough gauge to suit the individual layers.  Thorn Environmental Ltd solved this problem and are able to produce refuse sacks made from recycled plastic blown in three separate films that merge into one.

The benefits both from an environmental perspective and a marketing perspective are substantial. The fact that this technology produces sacks that are 20% stronger than traditional recycled sacks made from single layer extrusion means that less plastic is going to landfill. This technology also means that the product is produced more economically when compared on a strength for strength basis, as the same puncture and tear resistance is produced from thinner films. This results in savings for the consumer. Traditionally coloured film produced from recycled material has proven far more expensive than black. This is because black film is produced from mixed waste whereas coloured or white film can only be produced from clear or white film with the appropriate coloured master batch added (the majority of the materials added must be the same colour). The need to segregate waste in this fashion adds to the cost of production. With three layer co-extrusion coloured sacks or film can  be produced more economically as only the outside layer needs to be made from the clear or white segregated waste plastic that the expensive master batch is added to in order to colour the plastic. Whereas the two inner layers can be produced from the mixed un-segregated waste plastic that is considerably cheaper.

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