Is injection moulding environmentally friendly?
29 April 2019
With the focus on plastics, the environment and green credentials within the supply chain, more and more businesses are asking us - is injection moulding environmentally friendly?
Tex Plastics making our Injection Moulding more environmentally friendly.
Injection moulding is an energy hungry process creating plastic products, but given the need for the components we manufacture, it is our environmental consciousness which drives us to continually review and reduce our ecological footprint. This means regularly replacing machines with the latest energy efficient equivalents, being committed to recycling waste and designing out the C02 impact wherever possible. Current injection moulding methods are more environment friendly, because of efficient machinery and durable thermosetting polymers capable of withstanding abuse and extreme temperatures.
Three areas to consider when designing injection moulded components.
When thinking about how “green” a product is, there are three distinct areas that come under consideration. The first is the size of the carbon footprint for the life duration of the product—this includes the manufacturing process, however many years the product is in use, and disposal or recycling. Secondly, to evaluate the amount of new material use in the product, or the ratio of new to used material and thirdly, to consider the environmental effect when the product is completely disposed of.
Designing out the C02 impact
In addition to energy and material usage, one other core element Tex Plastics are highly efficient at is the reduction of waste. As advocates of lean manufacturing, the 5S process ensures we manufacture as efficiently as possible. The Tex Plastics design team will take you through our Design For Manufacture (DFM) process, to ensure you are aware of how you can minimise your products ecological footprint through optimising parts, process and logistics.