Recycling identification initiative

Retran was introduced in 2018 with a minimum recycled content of 70% which comes from post-consumer waste. This product has been adopted by most Bell customers.  

MD Peter Lennie said: “We have been absolutely delighted with the take up by Bell customers for Retran. With no reduction in strength the new film has excellent optical clarity and the switch from the original Virgin PET formulation to the recycled version has been easy."

Bell have confirmed there is no impact on cost and the performance of the film in assembly is equal to normal production. An added advantage of Retran is that it is suitable for kerbside collection and is 100% recyclable.

Discussions with Bell's major customers and high street retailers confirm that the way forward for plastic packaging is to recycle wherever possible.  Bell Packaging recognise this is proving difficult for many consumers as they don’t know which packaging can be recycled.

The proposed streamlining on the types of plastic available is supported by Bell. To ensure that the packaging supplied by the company is easily identified Bell have introduced a number of initiatives.

To help the end customers identify the recycling nature of Retran tubing all Retran products can be embossed with a recyclable logo. Containing a minimum 70% recycled content, Retran folding boxes are easy to assemble and have excellent optical qualities – here it also recommended that any new designs of box are identified using a recyclable logo.

Made using 100% recycled PET all new designs of formed insert will incorporate the recycled PET logo. Finally, end caps are made using various polymers depending on the application. Bell’s production is investing in new machinery to enable identification of each component using the appropriate recycled logo.

The move to identify the types of plastic being used will enable consumers and recyclers identify and separate the components easily.