Month: April 2020

Choose insulating polystyrene packaging that helps produce stay fresh for longer

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With shoppers being advised only to leave the home for essential journeys due to Covid-19 and a vast amount of shopping now being done online, product preservation is vital.

Having the right packaging has become essential, especially as many food businesses move to making deliveries as their main source of income.

Food businesses, in particular, need packaging that protects the product from damage and helps to keep it fresh to lengthen its lifespan.    

Keep food deliveries fresh with polystyrene packaging

Protecting profits and retaining customers through quality is important at all times, but never more so than in these unprecedented times when economic uncertainty looms. 

Using quality, cost-effective polystyrene packaging is a good way to ensure that standards remain high and customers are satisfied. 

The long-held popularity of polystyrene packaging is down to its ability to offer exceptional protection and provide insulation. 

Choosing polystyrene packaging for food, particularly for deliveries, will help to ensure that it reaches its destination without being damaged or its freshness being unduly affected. 

The benefits of using polystyrene packaging for food include:

  • Lightweight and easy to transport
  • Offers a high level of insulation to help preserve freshness
  • Foam-style packaging helps to absorb knocks to protect from damage during transit
  • Cost effective 

How will polystyrene packaging help to keep food fresh?

As a poor conductor of heat, polystyrene packaging is ideal for keeping food produce cool and, therefore, fresher for longer. 

Due to the way in which it is made – and with 95% of its make-up being air – polystyrene packaging helps to trap air in small pockets. This then protects the atmosphere around the food as an extremely efficient insulator.

This can be applied to hot food and cold food as the air in the packaging will retain its temperature for longer due to it being trapped there. 

Protect deliveries

As well as helping to maintain the temperature of food, polystyrene packaging will help to protect fresh food from damage. 

This includes helping to prevent bottles being smashed during transportation or boxes dented and the contents broken. 

Especially, in regards to maintaining the lifespan and freshness of fresh fruit and vegetables, the buoyant structure of polystyrene packaging will cushion any blows that might bruise or damage the fresh produce. 

Bruised fruit and vegetables will see their freshness deteriorate quickly and can even be left unsaleable or inedible due to damage suffered if not packed and treated carefully in transit.

The air that is used in polystyrene food packaging creates a protective atmosphere for delivery and will go a long way in helping to guard against such accidental damage and protect your food stocks.

When your trade has become heavily reliant on delivery it is important to make sure your packing will protect your produce – and your reputation for quality. 

Vertapak provides a wide range of top-quality polystyrene packaging that is designed to protect and insulate goods. 

To find out more about our polystyrene packaging products and how they could help your business please get in touch. 

Is polystyrene recyclable?

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As a form of protective, hygienic packaging polystyrene is ubiquitous, meaning disposing of it properly is essential – but the question is often asked ‘is polystyrene recyclable?’

The short answer is ‘yes, but due to the restrictions on curbside recycling, it is not always apparent how easy it is to recycle polystyrene. 

As a result, the capacity to recycle polystyrene can be overlooked.

Due to its wide use across numerous industries recycling polystyrene wherever possible is essential to help reduce waste and protect the environment.

    The good news about polystyrene is that it is 100 per cent recyclable. 

    Where can you recycle polystyrene? 

    While councils generally recommend that individual households put polystyrene in the black bin along with their general waste, recycling is readily available within the industry.

    For such protective product polystyrene shrinks down to very little when recycled due to the fact that the product is 98 per cent air – and just two per cent polystyrene.

    Many polystyrene manufacturers also offer recycling facilities allowing the polystyrene to be used once again. 

    Polystyrene recycling involves breaking the product down so that it can be used once more. As there is such a large amount of air in polystyrene the recycling process means that the product is greatly compacted and easy to transport and store ahead of being used again. 

    Durable properties suit re-use

    The properties that make polystyrene such a popular packaging material mean that it is extremely durable, and without proper recycling and disposal can take up to 1,000 years to biodegrade. 

    This makes the need for appropriate recycling methods to be put in place vital when considering the waste footprint of your company and its ethical commitments. 

    This durability can also offer up other uses of polystyrene as a secondary solution for recycling. Polystyrene is commonly used as an insulating material and for protecting plants, while there are companies that can use polystyrene to create products such as garden furniture and household items. 

    As a product in itself polystyrene is clean and free of CFCs, allowing it to be recycled and reused easily. 

    Mindful of the part businesses and individuals must play in tackling the global waste problem and plastic pollution, polystyrene manufacturers often offer recycling facilities to help customers meet environmental objectives.

    Vertapak is committed to producing and using products in an effective way that makes the most efficient use of the product. To this end we break waste polystyrene into beads before mixing it with new beads and moulding into blocks so that it can be used once more. 

    Efficient packaging has an important part to play in protecting goods from damage – including food and electrical goods, which is also an import part of avoiding waste.

    As an important packaging solution, it is vital that polystyrene is disposed of carefully to reduce the impact of waste on the environment. 

    Talk to use about recycling polystyrene

    Vertapak manufactures high quality polystyrene and is committed to maintaining high standards. To discuss your packaging needs – and concerns about recycling – please get in touch with Vertapak.