Over the past few years, we’ve collaborated with a growing number of start-ups with sustainable objectives, some of which are already winning awards for their work. Now this summer, a surge of innovative products come to market, including LabCycle’s petri-dish.
There are single-use plastics we can live without and there are those that will be more difficult to eradicate – lab consumables fall into this category. Every year millions of tons of test-tubes, petri-dishes and other plastic components are used by the research and healthcare sectors, and after one use are destined for landfill or incineration. LabCycle present a new solution to this problem by offering a collection service for the waste, which their team decontaminate, granulate at their premises at Bath University, and send to us. We then use the material to mould new petri-dishes.
White Horse Plastics x LabCycle
The injection mould tool required was engineered by us in-house and funded by LabCycle’s equity investment – mould tools are often the greatest hurdle for start-ups because they are so expensive to design and build.
There are two material variants in LabCycle’s current portfolio; the first is the Jazz of our title – this is the industry name for a multi-coloured blend of recyclate gleaned from various components of the same material – in this case, Polypropylene. This mix is dyed black at White Horse Plastics with a masterbatch and used to mould petri-dish bases.
The second material is a Polystyrene Crystal mix, which can be used to make the more traditional, transparent petri-dish lids and bases.
We are incredibly proud to be working with LabCycle on this project. Helena, one of our QA staff, began our journey with sustainable materials when she introduced us to a hemp polymer blend she was excited about – it was one of the earliest offerings of the current crop of sustainable alternative and biopolymers. This led us to research the growing biopolymers market, and this summer, we also begin a major manufacturing project with another start-up, having helped them establish a stable manufacturing process for their intelligent, compostable blends of PHAs.
The UN states that, ‘implementation of The Paris Agreement requires economic and social transformation…’ that, ‘accelerated action is required…’
This is a challenging target for the global community, and particularly challenging for a company like ours that specialises in the moulding of thermoplastics. However, through our work with sustainable start-ups we have found a way to make a valuable contribution. We will share our traditional, specialised skills, and our enthusiasm, to help create the safer materials, processes and products of the future.
For more information on LabCycle’s mission on laboratory waste, visit their website – Home – LabCycle
If you have your own sustainable manufacturing goals, we can help. Contact us today with your enquiry via our website – Contact Us for UK Injection Moulding | White Horse Plastics