Grounded's PE laminate is a mono-material and can be recycled in either dedicated PE stream or soft plastics collections. It has similar performance and barrier properties to traditional plastics that are not recyclable and is suitable for use across a number of different industries.
The good?
LDPE is a highly recyclable material and has wide application across numerous packaging formats and industries
It is highly durable and affordable, and can be used across numerous different packaging formats
Available in high and low barrier structures
Considerably better than most non-recyclable multi-material laminates
The bad?
Made from virgin petrochemical materials.
More cost-effective than most bioplastic alternatives to flexible packaging
Soft plastic recycling is challenging. This material either needs to go into a dedicated polyethylene stream (#2 or #4) or a drop-off soft plastics collection stream, which are limited although growing rapidly
Doesn't contribute meaningfully in moving towards a circular economy but it's a starting point