Colored bottles for special edition sales, commercial plastic jugs for mass production…we come across this simple tool quite often in our everyday lives, don’t we?
Just because something is common, though, doesn’t mean it’s without need for improvement. In today’s eco-conscious world one of the best approaches you can take is simply asking, “How can I go green?” Bottle companies are certainly bringing this up to attention, turning to custom blow molding to save space and swapping out their old blow mold design for a faster model. Little by little we can live in a world that’s just as efficient as it is fast-paced.
Want to know how blow molding works and what it can do to make your business run more efficiently? Take a look below and become an expert on bottles.
You might be the kind of person to swap out plastic bags with paper when you go shopping. It’s not enough to individualize the green effort — companies today have a huge responsibility to change the way they approach packaging to keep the world at large from becoming even more polluted. It’s estimated over 600 billion pounds of plastic are created and consumed every year worldwide. The United States alone is the third largest manufacturing industry to date.
Just how high do these figures get? The year 2013 saw a stunning 105 billion pounds’ worth of plastics and resins manufactured, still an increase from the year prior. Americans use two and a half million plastic bottles every hour on average, with recycling still a niche industry that deserves more attention. Learning how blow molding works gives you the first step toward reversing some of these astronomical figures. Even a design that’s half an inch smaller can slice your production down.
The American plastics industry employs over one million workers today in blow molding plastic, delivery, consultation, design, and custom creation. It contributes a staggering $375 billion to the economy and is expected to see some serious fluctuation over the coming years. Going green isn’t just a trend — it’s a necessity to reverse the very real damage consumption and poor recycling habits is doing to the environment. One study revealed that the next few decades could see there being more plastic in the ocean than fish. How can you change this?
The reason plastic has gotten glass and metal beat in many areas is its lightweight design and easy customization. A mere two pounds of plastic can deliver around 10 gallons of a beverage, such as juice or water. Compare this to aluminum, which needs three pounds to bring the same amount of product, and steel, which needs eight pounds. Glass remains the most frustrating for many, requiring 40 pounds to deliver a relatively small amount. Bottle companies are learning how blow molding works to provide custom options that deliver on a wide scale.
Blow molding, simply put, is carving and crafting plastic to better suit your unique needs. Your standard blow molding machine consists of three major parts — you have the extruder, the accumulator die, and the molds which containers will be processed. Manufacturing companies today are able to choose between extrusion blow molding, injection blow molding, and stretch blow molding. Bottles and containers are composed of nearly 55% HDPE packaging products, adding up to 40% of all HDPE used today. Your colored cylinder bottles might look nice on the surface, but they could be doing so much more.
What could custom plastic bottle design do to support the environment and save money in your industry? Figure out how blow molding works for your business model and find out first-hand.