Manufacturing & Innovation

Making the best waste bags requires expertise, experience and an unwavering commitment to quality. Starting from a deep understanding of users’ needs we leverage our knowledge of polythene manufacturing and global supply chains to deliver the bags you need at price points you can afford.

Blend / Extrusion

Multi-layer polythene for high strength LDPE and HDPE anatomy.

Weight / Volume

Bag design weight must be shown in kilograms and volume shown in litres.

Environmental / Sustainability

New manufacturing techniques and material blends have enabled us to use less plastic in our bags while advanced manufacturing techniques mean we have been able to increase significantly the proportion of recycled material across our entire range.

Pillow / Flat Seal

A two-dimensional bag design with bottom seal like a pillow case. Flat seals generally leakproof but can be clumsy to handle. Bags do not conform well to some receptacles. Flat seal liners are designated by two dimensions.

Star Seal

Without gussets, star seals eliminate gaps where leaks occur. Bag design conform easily to containers and distribute weight evenly. Star seal liners maximise carrying capacity. Star seal liners are designated by two dimensions.

Gusset

Flat style bag with both sides tucked in forming gussets. Where indented, the bag is sealed through four layers of film while the middle of the bag has two. Gusseted seal liners are designated by three dimensions.

Rolled

Very easy for staff to access and use. Labelling and bar coding printed on bags for traceability and compliance.

Flat Packed

Designed to make optimal use of storage space. Labelling and bar coding printed on bag for traceability and compliance.

Packaging

Packaging designed for end-user convenience. Clearly marked cartons with bar codes and batch numbers.

Printing

Double sided print and co-extruded colour for better text definition inside and outside bags.

Polythene Technology

Advanced Manufacturing & Innovation

Our R&D teams are always working on developing new blends to achieve the most robust product quality while optimising raw material use. The development of advanced resins and additives allows manufacturers to design thinner, lighter waste bags that are stronger and more durable than thicker bags made from lower quality raw materials.

More than the sum of…

Extrusion / Blend / Thickness

Quality and strength of the bags are not solely dependent on the micron (thickness) of the bag. When engineering Polycare bags and aprons we combine our industry leading blend and extrusion technology to ensure quantity and strength while reducing material required. This ensures cost savings and better sustainability while still providing the strongest and highest quality bags and aprons.

We often get samples made in a mixture of blends to get an idea of what will work for that particular bag, this gives us great insight to what the strength and quality will be like. We aim to provide the best bags that we can, while still being competitive. This does also involve speaking to our factory’s who can suggest different variations on the micron and blend.

Extrusion and Co-extrusion Technology

Extrusion

Film Blowing moulding Technology. HDPE and LDPE are thermoplastics produced by blow moulding. This is where they are extruded into thin tubes and then inflated with compressed air to heat and hold the plastics.

Co-extrusion

The principle of co-extrusion is that different materials are sent to the die to form a film layer respectively, and then each layer is combined to form a composite effect. The co-extruded machine has a more stable performance than the conventional single-die machine, and the thickness is more accurately controlled and can make different colours inside.

Three-layer co-extrusion / five layers / seven layers / nine layers / eleven layers: mainly used in bags with higher requirements, can partially replace composite bags. Different materials can be divided into different layers to achieve barriers and increase of strengthening the puncture ability which is important for testing.

Polymer
Blends

LDPE – Low Density Polythene

The most commonly used bag film, LDPE offers superior tear resistance compared to HDPE liners making it suitable for multi-purpose applications. LDPE is available in a wide variety of colours. On the downside, LDPE is not as strong or dense as HDPE and not as puncture resistant either.

HDPE – High Density Polythene Bags

HDPE liners are more puncture resistant than LDPE liners of the same thickness. HDPE liners can be made much thinner than LDPE liners while holding the same or greater weight. HDPE liners offer users substantial cost savings on a like for like basis.

Thickness & Microns

Microns are a measurement of thickness and in the past, were used to determine strength. However, there is so much more to quality and strength than thickness, such as the different blends and technology (extrusion and co-extrusion).

The bags we produce also vary based on its intended use. For example we produce domestic waste bags two of which are some of our biggest sellers, (BVDP28 and BVDP28L) that are 100% recycled bags. The reason for this is that the bags are taking general waste products and does not need to contain any HDPE or LDPE for strength. The benefit of this is that the bags are cheaper and are using 100% recycled material which is better for the environment/wastage.

Then on the other side we have our clinical bags most of which are 80% HDPE and 20% Recycled. This is the formula that’s used for most as it offers great strength which is needed for our clinical bags as they have to undergo a series of tests in order to gain its certificate. There are some bags such as MVN455 that are 100% HDPE Virgin, this gives the bags even more strength.

SoChlor

Polymer

MJZ005 & Sorbent Powder

Cardboard Sharps Box

Innovation

Technologies

SoChlor

Polymer

MJZ005 & Sorbent Powder

Cardboard Sharps Box

Research & Development

Sustainability

GV App

Videos

Waste Segregation