Polyethylene, a form of plastic, has long been a top choice for packaging in most industries. With many alternatives in the past, such as paper and cardboard, why do industries insist on the use of polythene for packaging purposes?
With polyethylene packaging products such as bottles, bags, and wraps forming up to a third of the total plastics manufactured, here are some reasons behind its popularity and ubiquity in industries all over the world.
1. Impermeability and Durability
Among the many benefits of polyethylene packaging is the ability to keep out air and moisture. Before the widespread use of polyethylene, keeping and shipping products such as fruits, vegetables and, most importantly, seafood was a major challenge. As such foodstuffs were prone to spoilage and contamination, it proved difficult to ship these products over long distances.
Polyethylene offers a cheap and easily mass-produced solution that solve these issues and remains one of the most suitable and efficient packaging materials for food processing, distributing, and retail industries. Moreover, polyethylene is flexible and much more durable than paper, with tearing under wear and tear a comparative non-issue when it comes to polyethylene packaging.
Alongside such strengths, polyethylene packaging products have long been appreciated by consumers for being waterproof, allowing them to bring home wet groceries with little to no leakage. Ubiquitous black trash bags line the bins of countless businesses due to their ability to keep trash residue from causing unsightly and unhygienic messes.
2. High Reusability
Polyethylene packaging is flexible, durable, and long lasting. As a testament to the many benefits of this material, many have come to appreciate its reusable properties. Polyethylene packaging products, such as ziplock and carrier bags, see popular repeated usage in both home and small business settings, with the most popular example being polythene bags being reused as bin liners.
Moreover, regular polyethylene is 100% recyclable, allowing industries to stay relatively sustainable when it comes to the usage of this material for packaging purposes.
3. Efficiency of Distribution
Compared to their paper predecessors, polyethylene packaging products are often made less densely than paper packaging products, and can be stored a number of ways without suffering damage.
This makes for a more efficient distribution process due to the ability of polyethylene packaging to be shipped out in larger numbers at a lower total weight than paper or cardboard packaging.
While this may seem trivial in the eyes of consumers, what this weight efficiency provides industries is the benefit of lower costs when it comes to buying and selling polyethylene packaging products. Due to the cheaper acquisition of more units of packaging products, the savings are often passed down to the consumer as well.
Conclusion
Polyethylene packaging has proven itself a reliable and cost-effective choice for industries. Due to the high supply and demand for such products on the market, it can be difficult to source a suitable supplier for your business.
Over at Allswell Polythene, we value sustainability, quickness of service, and affordable prices, which define our business models across many polythene products, such as wholesale plastic bags in Singapore. With over 20 years in the industry and an EcoVadis sustainability gold medal, Allswell Polythene is the wholesale supplier of choice for over 1,500 clients.