There is a lot of confusion and misinformation out there regarding recycled content in plastic products and materials.  While we cannot speak to all of the industry, we feel it is important to let you know about our practices.  

We use mainly four different varieties of High-Density Polyethylene (HDPE). They are virgin, off-spec virgin, post-industrial recycled and post-consumer recycled. 

• Virgin HDPE refers to the material made for industry to soften with heat and mold into a product.  We use this mainly for custom orders where consistency of color and maintaining documented specifications is important.   

• Off-spec virgin HDPE is the same as virgin, but through the manufacturing process the desired properties are not exactly met.  With our process we can blend this together and adjust for the range of specifications and still make a good sheet but are unable to document its exact composition.  We use this for products that are slightly less finicky than those that require virgin material.   

• Post-Industrial repro or post-industrial recycled HDPE Is roughly 80% of what we use. It comes from scrap from manufacturers of milk jugs or other HDPE products, it is ground up and shipped to us. Another source is repro pellets, typically made from reclaimed shrink wrap.  

• Post consumer recycled HDPE Is what people bring to the curb in the form of milk jugs, detergent bottles, shampoo bottles, buckets, coolers etc. These items are typically dirty inside and out and crumpled making them difficult to clean and re-use.  While clean usable material like this is available it is typically tricky to use and can be quite inconsistent.  While we continue to try to improve the process to enable us to use this material, it is rarely an economic choice for our customers.   

In conclusion, while the plastics industry is striving for improvements in post-consumer recycling techniques, it is an industry-wide challenge that has huge economic and ecological benefits. So, we are all working hard on expanding the incorporation of postconsumer recycled plastics into our products.  In the interim we focus on post-industrial recycled materials as the best material for our process and our customers.