A Short Comparison Between Biodegradable And Recyclable Shrink Film

There are too many packaging applications that use shrink film. With the arrival of the pandemic, every industry, including packaging, came to a halt. Now, most of the manufacturing units are not functional, meaning that the global population has to rely on its reserves.

The pandemic will be over eventually. At that time, we will be busy again in the discussion about how to keep the environment safe from the impact of the negative side of the packaging processes. Packaging processes use a lot of plastic, which means that we have to work on measures to keep the environment safe from the impact of packaging waste.

In this article, we will discuss shrink film, which is one of the most commonly used materials in packaging applications. More specifically, we will talk about whether you should choose recyclable or biodegradable shrink film for your packaging applications.

Recyclable shrink film

The environmental concerns associated with the plastic are well-known, or infamous to be precise. Most of the companies look for alternatives to traditional plastic by asking for something recyclable. What usually surprises them is the fact that traditional plastic is the recyclable plastic. So, the recyclable shrink film is the one that companies have been using for a long time.

The real problem lies in the infrastructure that cannot recycle plastic. In many towns, waste management companies pick up plastic wastes, but they do not have the facility to recycle that plastic to make it usable again. That’s the reason those waste management companies ask consumers not to put shrink film in recycle bins. It leads most of those consumers into thinking that shrink film is not a recyclable material.

So, if you are looking for a recyclable shrink film, you can choose the traditional shrink film. The most necessary thing to consider here is the facility that will recycle the used shrink film to make it usable again. You can get in contact with specialized waste management vendors in this regard.

Biodegradable shrink film

Biodegradable shrink films used polymer-based plastics, which are produced using plants. These bioplastics do not take much time to biodegrade. Traditional plastic, on the other hand, can take up to one thousand years to biodegrade.

If you want to use a solution that is safer than shrink film made of traditional plastic, you can consider using biodegradable shrink film. These shrink films biodegrade, so you cannot recycle them, which means that once you have used a biodegradable shrink film, it becomes unusable for the future.

If you are not disposing of biodegradable shrink films through a proper composting process, the film might not biodegrade at the desired rate. You should follow standard disposal protocols to make sure that the film you throw away doesn’t become hazardous for the environment.

Which film is right for you?

Which film you should consider for your packaging applications depends on your particular requirements. If you are in contact with a specialized waste management company, you may want to use traditional shrink film, because they will recycle the plastic. If it is not possible for you to sign a contract with a waste management company or any reason, you should consider using biodegradable shrink film.