For most of these materials, in recent years, we have also introduced recycled version.
With a view to a circular economy, we have sometimes converted production to the exclusive use of this material, not having found substantial differences in the result in technical terms: an ethical aspect that can also have an economic implication in compliance with the Plastic Tax in force in some countries.
Recycled materials are divided in the same way as virgin ones, but represented by codes that denote their “nature” with an initial “r” (rPS, rPP, rPE).
The general characteristics therefore remain the same, but with less control and less stability between origin and batches: what is recycled can come from different sources and processes, so you can find batches in which the material is “softer” than the previous or subsequent, and – in the case of light colors (where it is most noticeable), where there are slightly different shades. However, we are talking about details that the customer should know about, but which are completely manageable.
The waste can be industrial or post-consumer (from objects already used/consumed, and disposed in order to allow their recycling and re-entry on the market), and usually in black color, but for more selected types it is available also in light color (natural or “milky”).