New Year, New Website!

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Our recycling technology isn’t the only thing that got upgraded at the end of 2018. We pride ourselves in always advancing forward, constantly making improvements and looking for new ways to make our brand better, including updating our website! 

Not only did we give it a new, cleaner overall look, we also did a complete website audit after beginning the installation of our new recycling technology to make sure we were giving you the most accurate and up-to-date information on our products and capabilities. The products page got a complete makeover as well, giving you more in-depth information on each product. Other improvements to the website are the new visuals on our closed loop program and sustainability scorecards, making it easier to understand how the program works and how we can partner with you to improve your sustainability.

Every upgrade to the website was done to make it easier for the customer to find and understand the most important information about Greencore® Products.  Check out all of the improvements by exploring the rest of our website. If you have any questions or comments, send us a message through the contact us page! 

Petoskey Plastics’ 40th Anniversary of Recycling

petoskeyplasticsCarbon Footprint, Eco-Friendly, Recycling

Petoskey Plastics started out as a small operation converting roll stock into plastic bags. In 1978, not long after operations began, Petoskey Plastics started recycling in-house, grinding down industrial scrap from Dow Chemical Company and turning it into trash bags. From there, our passion for recycling grew exponentially.

Petoskey Plastics constantly sought out new material to recycle and equipment that would help them recycle more. Every few years the team would travel to Düsseldorf, Germany to look at the European wash lines and other recycling equipment. However, it wasn’t until 1992, when Petoskey Plastics received a grant from the state of Michigan for $1.2 million, that we were able to match the amount with the company’s own money and buy the recycling equipment we needed in order to expand. Soon after we introduced our first closed loop recycling line, creating Can Sacks® from recycled bottle deposit bags.

Since then, the company continued to grow and thrive, eventually adding a recycling facility in Hartford City, Indiana in 2000. In 2009, Petoskey Plastics’ GreenPE® earned SCS Certification for its recycled content. Many of the products we make contain at least some sort of recycled plastic, with a number of our customers opting to join our closed loop program. This year we are celebrating our 40th year of recycling. What better way to celebrate than installing a new $8 million wash line that will not only allow the company to recycle more, but also create a higher quality recycled product. With its installation expected to be completed later this year, we are excited to see the results of this investment!

Fresh Look at Our New Packaging on Our Retail Trash Bags

petoskeyplasticsretail trash bags

Who says environmentally friendly can’t look great too?

Our improved packaging displays the Greencore® benefits in a clear, visually appealing way.

Products include:

FG-GCRTB-11 13 Gallon Tall Kitchen w/ Flex-Strength®

FG-GCRTB-31 30 Gallon Large Trash w/ Flex-Strength®

FG-GCRTB-40 39 Gallon Lawn & Leaf

 

5 Tips to Make Your Summer Parties More Eco-Friendly

petoskeyplasticsCan Liners, Carbon Footprint, Eco-Friendly, Recycling Bags, Trash Bags

With summer right around the corner, it’s time for backyard parties and holiday barbeques. From disposable dishware to aluminum drink cans, summer parties create huge amounts of trash. This summer you can have fun at your gathering while keeping the environment in mind. Here are five helpful tips for being more environmentally conscious while hosting and attending summer festivities.

1. Reuse decorations. Many decorations can be reused for multiple years or repurposed from other seasons or events. Check local thrift stores for fun decorations before buying new and donate them if you are not going to use them again. By reusing decorations, you cut down of the amount of waste that gets thrown away ever year.

2. Ditch the disposable dishware. According to Waste Management, Americans toss out enough disposable cups, fork, and spoons to circle the equator 300 times. If that is not practical for the amount of people at your event, try to use disposable dishware that contains recycled material or is biodegradable.

3. Buy local food. Buy local food whenever possible. Shipping food from all over the world uses an enormous amount of fuel and resources. Plus, local fruits, vegetables, meat, eggs, and dairy are fresher and typically cost less.

4. Carpool! There is no need for everyone to drive separately if they are going to the same place. Carpooling cuts down on fuel emissions and costs. Also encourage people to walk or ride their bike if possible.

5. Have clearly marked recycling and trash containers. It is important to provide guests with clearly marked recycling and trash containers. It may also be useful to have a list or visual aid on each container of what they should recycle and what goes in the trash. If you have an outlet for composting, try setting up a receptacle for food waste.

We’ll help you clean up and keep the environment clean! Did you know that your trash bags and can liners used at summer parties can also be eco-friendly?

Our Greencore® can liners and recycling bags are made with up to 70% post-consumer recycled material, reducing carbon pollution by as much as 20% over regular bags. These tough bags are puncture resistant and durable enough to handle your biggest summer party messes. By using our products, you can further increase your sustainability and cut down on waste.
Check out our eco-friendly products here.

5 Tips for a More Environmentally Friendly Spring Cleaning

petoskeyplasticsCarbon Footprint, Trash Bags

Spring is here, which means spring cleaning is here, too. While practically no one actually likes to do the spring cleaning, it does make you feel good once you get rid of all of those bags full of garbage and old junk. However, spring cleaning does tend to create a lot of waste, but not to worry, we’ve got some helpful tips for you. Whether you’re cleaning out your office or your home (maybe both!), here are five ways to spring clean with less waste!

  1. Get rid of outdated technology. There are a lot of places now that will recycle your old CDs, VHS tapes, computers, cell phones, etc. Or if it is in good condition, you could sell it online for a little extra cash. How many obsolete computers are in storage at the office? Talk to your boss about recycling them rather than tossing them in the garbage. Bottom line is, with personal or work technology, you can do more than just throw it away.
  2. Reuse when possible. Old clothes? If they’re in good condition, donate them to a charity or resale store. Many resale stores are always in need of business clothing so talk to your coworkers and see what people can bring in to donate. Donating and reusing rather than throwing it away cuts down on the amount of waste that goes to landfills.
  3. Use reusable cleaning supplies rather than disposable. What this means is using sponges and reusable cloths to scrub and dust rather than a bunch of paper towels. Not only will it reduce waste, but it’ll probably clean better than paper towels as well.
  4. Choose “green” cleaning products. Try to avoid using cleaning products that contain toxic chemicals that could be considered household hazardous waste; these kinds of cleaning products can contaminate other recyclables if not cleaned and disposed of properly.
  5. Recycle! This one may be obvious, but recycling can really cut down on the amount of waste created during spring cleaning. Old newspapers or magazines? Recycle it. Dishes you no longer need? Drop it off at the resale store. Empty packaging? Recycle it.

There are plenty of ways to cut down waste while spring cleaning. To decrease environmental impact even more, you can use our Greencore® Trash bags that are made with up to 65% post-consumer recycled material, instead of trash bags with no environmental benefit. If you want to read about more ways to be environmentally friendly while spring cleaning, check out some of these websites:

Greencore® is a division of Petoskey Plastics serving a multitude of markets in the custom packaging industry. Our constantly evolving research, technologies, and materials have led to a long list of high-performance polyethylene products that are both good for the environment and good for the customers. Some of our products include can liners, retail trash bags, recycling bags, compactor bags, and Greencore® Can Sacks™. Learn more at greencoreproducts.com.

7 Easy Ways to Shrink Your Company’s Carbon Footprint

petoskeyplasticsCarbon Footprint

There are a lot of benefits to making your company greener. Not only does it help the environment, but it can also lead to major cost savings in the long run. Going green and utilizing green technology can help businesses cut down on energy bills while simultaneously increasing productivity and innovation. While you may really care about the environment and want to restructure everything in your business to make it sustainable, sometimes that just isn’t an option. Barriers like the type of industry your business is or lack of capital for environmentally friendly upgrades keep some businesses from reducing their carbon footprint. Even if that is the case, we’ve found seven easy ways to shrink your company’s carbon footprint that anyone can do!

  1. Switch to more energy efficient lighting and make sure lights are switched off when out of use. Energy saving lightbulbs use anywhere between 25%-80% less energy than traditional lightbulbs, thus saving you money and reducing the amount of energy consumed. In addition, make sure that lights are turned off at the end of the day or when they aren’t being used.
  2. Recycle more. This seems like a pretty obvious idea but the reality is that people, and especially companies, don’t recycle enough. This could be because people don’t know what to recycle or where to take it, but recycling is extremely beneficial. It diverts waste away from landfills and helps the environment in addition to reducing your company’s carbon footprint.
  3. Travel less frequently. With all of the new technology there is now, sometimes videoconferencing or even a phone call would suffice rather than driving or flying in for a meeting. Cutting down on travel means cutting down on carbon emissions.
  4. Go paperless (or try to). This is another obvious one, but it is still important. The less paper used = the more trees saved. A great way to reduce paper usage is to make your documents and files digital.
  5. Use products with recycled content. There are plenty of companies that make and sell office supplies made from recycled material. These products take less energy to process and manufacture than regular products, so try swapping out your regular pens for some that were made from salvaged paper and plastic or use trash bags made with recycled content (like our Greencore® can liners and recycling bags) rather than typical virgin plastic bags.
  6. Switch up your supply chain. A good portion of a company’s carbon footprint comes from their supply chain. When trying to decrease your own company’s carbon footprint, partnering with sustainable and environmentally friendly suppliers, like Greencore®, can really help.
  7. Last but not least, turn off your computer at the end of the day. The reasoning for this is very simple: you are not there, so why should it be on? Even if you let it go into energy saving sleep mode, you’re still using more energy than if it were just turned off.

In summary, even if you only implement a few of these ideas, it will still help decrease your company’s carbon footprint, thus helping you save money and the environment.

Greencore® is a division of Petoskey Plastics serving a multitude of markets in the custom packaging industry. Our constantly evolving research, technologies, and materials have led to a long list of high-performance polyethylene products that are both good for the environment and good for the customers. Some of our products include can liners, retail trash bags, recycling bags, compactor bags, and Greencore® Can Sacks™.

Learn more at greencoreproducts.com.

Petoskey Plastics, Greencore’s manufacturer, named finalist for Plastics News® Processor of the Year 2017

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This award honors companies with superior achievement among plastics processors.

Petoskey, MI:  Petoskey Plastics was named one of four finalists for the Plastics NewsProcessor of the Year Award for 2017, which is sponsored by the Plastics Industry Association.  Plastics Newsannounced the finalists in their January 8thedition.  Petoskey Plastics was named a finalist in 2016 as well and is once again the only blown film company among the finalists.

A processor is defined as a manufacturer that forms finished plastics parts.  For a private or  public company or corporate operating division to qualify for the award, they must be engaged in North American plastics processing for at least the past five years.  Candidates were then evaluated on the following criteria by members of the Plastics News’editorial staff:

  • Financial Performance
  • Quality
  • Customer Relations
  • Employee Relations
  • Environmental Performance
  • Industry/Public Service
  • Technological
  • Innovation

The Plastics Newsarticle announcing the finalists’ states, “Environmental performance is Petoskey’s strongest category in the Processor of the Year hunt.  But judges also have high marks for financial performance and the other five categories.”

One customer reference remarked about Petoskey Plastics, “Everyone is very accessible, all the way to top management.”

Petoskey Plastics hosted Plastics Newseditor Donald Loepp and senior reporter Bill Bregar at their Hartford City, Indiana plant on January 11thfor the final round of the Processor of the Year selection process to show the recycling lines and newest technology.  The winner will be announced on March 7that the Plastics NewsExecutive Forum in Naples, FL.

Plastics News is a weekly, 46,000-circulation trade newspaper delivering global news to a primarily North American market. Founded by Crain Communications Inc. in Akron, Ohio, in 1989, it covers the business of the global plastics industry.

Petoskey Plastics is an environmentally focused recycler and plastic film, bag and resin manufacturer providing superior products and solutions. Headquartered in Petoskey, Michigan, the company provides products and engineered solutions for a variety of industries including automotive, industrial, institutional, retail, construction and home improvement.

Petoskey Plastics has facilities in Michigan, Indiana and Tennessee.  Learn more at www.petoskeyplastics.com