Technology is such a rapidly evolving beast that sometimes it can be hard to keep up with it. However, if you are in the industry and following these evolutions as they happen, you can be let in on some incredible secrets and wild successes.
Take PolarSeal’s partnership with Techlan Clean Technology. A Llanelli-based business, Techlan was formed by a family in 2009 who were concerned about the use of materials in medical manufacturing and became worried about the waste that medical device manufacturers and converters created. PolarSeal has spoken before about how committed we are to sustainable practices within the medical manufacturing industry.
Because our goals align so perfectly, a partnership with Techlan was created.
Techlan has developed a highly innovative solution to recycle a difficult waste material that is generated as a bi product from medical manufacturing processes.
This waste product is called a silicone release liner, which is a difficult material to recycle and is often sent to landfill or incinerated at a high cost and with significant environmental impact.
(Above: Waste Rolls of Release Liner Being Packaged Before Sending To Techlan for Recycling)
While most users of medical adhesive products may not think much of release liners (the material placed on the adhesive material to prevent premature sticking), the fact of the matter is that many product manufacturing processes use adhesives that require release liners – from manufacturing advanced wound care products to consumer healthcare solutions.
Once the release liners have been used in the manufacturing process, they are rewound into rolls and stored ready for collection. Techlan transports these rolls to its recycling site in Llanelli, where it processes the waste liners through its innovative patented recycling process.
(Above: Re-liner. A 100% Recycled Release Liner)
The company uses contemporary technology to create release liners made from 100% recycled materials and sold under its trademark Re-Liner. Now that is a technological advance we can get behind.
Through their work, Techlan has offered an incredible boon for companies looking to put their best foot forward and lessen their carbon footprint.
Techlan provides a unique service, whereby previously once used waste materials are repurposed up to Eleven times in some industrial sectors. This is known as a ‘Circular Economy’ reducing waste and creating high quality material from discarded release liners. This unique solution has enabled Techlan to provide a service like no other, benefiting the economy and the environment in a straightforward process.
One of Techlan’s longer term key objectives is to be able to supply Re-Liner on a continual loop basis back to the medical sector for multiple re-uses.
“Our partnership with Polarseal has enabled an ongoing quantity of waste liner to be diverted away from landfill, completely recycled and then re-introduced back into the wider supply chain.
For every tonne of Re-Liner that is re-used there is a 670kgs CO2 saving. Polarseal are making a direct contribution toward these savings being achieved, by ensuring their waste is available to be recycled.
This is exactly why our partnership with Techlan is an economically and environmentally beneficial one for both. We are committed to reducing waste and understand our responsibility to this planet and the people who use our services.
Our partnership with Techlan, constitutes a third of PolarSeal’s overall sustainability initiative along with our use of renewable energy and our own waste recycling system, as well as having a positive impact in the medical device industry by developing more ways to recycle waste release liners. Find out more about our sustainability initiatives and what we are doing to have a greater and more positive impact on the world.