Flexible plastic packaging producer Amerplast is driving the Circular Economy by investing in a new advanced plastic bag recycling machine. Amerplast has invested in an EREMA Intarema^® 1108 TE plastic bag recycling machine. They have been producing consumer products plastic film packaging since the 1990s and their stock products contain a minimum of 20% of recycled raw materials.

This investment is part of their AmerGreen sustainability commitment which includes dedication to the following:

• Firstly, we achieve reduction in food waste by delivering the best flexible packaging system that extends the shelf life of food products in a natural way.
• Secondly, we are progressively converting our PE materials to PE from renewable resources.
• Thirdly, we are maximizing the use of recycled materials in our production and to design flexible packaging solutions that are recyclable and completely integrated in a circular economy.

The new EREMA plastic bag recycling machine will improve their internal plastics recycling by enabling the recycling of a wide range of internal plastic bag scrap. They’ll not only increase their internal recycling of plastic bag film, but they’ll also increase the value added of the recycled plastic bag film enabling them to develop new plastic bag packaging solutions to meet important food safety regulations.

According to Amerplast research, “the use of recycled raw materials significantly reduces the carbon footprint of the packaging and also the need for virgin fossil based raw materials. Transition to Circular Economy and the circulation of plastics is a necessity when we are creating a better and more sustainable future. We need to make the most of our limited resources and work together against climate change.”

“We consider this investment to be an excellent addition to our production portfolio. It represents the latest technology and will further increase our material efficiency and broaden our recycled flexible packaging portfolio. We see recycling and recycled packaging solutions to be the cornerstone of sustainable use of plastics. This is yet another concrete step we are taking towards the circular economy of plastics”, says Tuomo Riihimäki, Amerplast COO.

The INTAREMA^® TE offers double degassing which enables the recycling of printed production and industrial plastics waste as well as other features that make it ideal for plastic bag film recycling. You can learn more about the EREMA Intarema^® TE model range here.