Are you buying a true "PCW"​ stretch film?

With a multitude of industries providing widely varied products and services, the need for reliable, durable and economical wrapping solutions at the point of despatch is paramount. One option many industry operators have considered is reinforced stretch film, which initially offers savings in material use and increases load stability. Whilst this may indeed be true, there are drawbacks for companies that are attempting to achieve greater sustainability credentials and long-term financial and material savings.

With current technologies, it is possible to include recycled material into the base and "banded" sections of a reinforced film, however, at present, this is not always the case. It can thus be claimed that the reinforced portion of a film is “green”, but the base material of the wrap is still manufactured from virgin origin. When you consider that the banding is only a fraction of the structure of a roll of film, this is still only a minuscule contribution to maintaining a sustainable product. Because of this, a roll of reinforced pallet wrap is highly likely to incorporate additional costs due to falling under the qualifying threshold of 30% recycled material needed to claim exemption for the UK plastic packaging tax.

So despite claims in some sectors that banded reinforced films are kinder to the environment, the “green” benefits are admittedly minimal in reality.

In addition, some manufacturers may be reintegrating offcuts from their production process, back into their films, possibly claiming this to be a recycled product. However, the legislation states that the materials used to create a PCW plastic product must be from verified post-consumer recycled origin.

Excelerate Ltd has, for some time, dedicated efforts to produce a truly green pallet wrap that is not only kinder to the environment but retains the impressive strength, stretch and clarify that virgin materials are easily capable of displaying. Our solid wrap Goliath PCW and breathable ExcelAir PCW films contain 30% post-consumer plastic waste overall and are exempt from the UK plastic packaging tax, providing an immediate saving from the outset. The films can also be recycled at the end of their useful lifespan, making even greater contributions to your fully circular, sustainable supply chain and adding valuable materials back into the recycled plastics industry. As a frontrunner in recycled film development, Excelerate is able to provide documentation confirming that we manufacture films with verified post-consumer recycled plastic waste.

Additionally, these products possess equivalent performance to our original films, with stretch capabilities of up to 300%, saving considerably on material use per pallet, leading to high tension properties that promote safe, stable loads and reduce potential damages whilst in transit.

But this is not where we cease innovating. 30% recycled material may be the UK benchmark for the packaging industry, yet Excelerate Ltd is striving to introduce strong, reliable films with even higher proportions of post-consumer plastic and remain at the leading edge of material conservation and reuse. Our end goal is to produce a 100% post-consumer derived stretch film, keeping performance at the highest level. So keep watching for greater improvements, in the pipeline, coming soon.