Cortec VCI exemplifies ‘Circular Economy’ in action


Cortec Corporation continues to lead the market with a vibrant recycling programme that produces VCI film (under the distinguishing VpCI brand) with up to 20% recycled film content.

Cortec Corporation continues to lead the market with a vibrant recycling programme that produces VCI film (under the distinguishing VpCI brand) with up to 20% recycled film content.
 
As the US plastic bag industry seeks to increase the percentage of recycled content in shopping bags to 20% by 2025 for greater sustainability, Cortec is already far ahead in the field of VCI (vapour corrosion inhibitor) packaging. 
 
More than 20 years ago, Cortec  patented the technology for making anti-corrosion film using recycled plastic resin. 
 
On average, Cortec  regularly manufactures its popular VpCI  -126 film with 15% pre- and post-consumer recycled content, significantly outpacing recent ARPBA milestone goals of reaching 10% VpCI  films and bags recycled into reprocessed resins for use in extrusion and converting downstream recycled content shopping bags by 2021 and 15% recycled content bags by 2023. 
 
Moreover, Cortec achieves this in a specialised market that helps industries protect metals from corrosion during shipping or storage. 
 
Cortec’s VpCI  -126 film can be extruded and converted into many different formats and sizes depending on the needs of the end user—from the manufacturer who wants to protect a small metal gear in a VpCI  -126 Top-Seal (zippered) bag, to the plant manager looking for an easy way to preserve a large industrial asset in VpCI  -126 film during storage or shipment.
 
Cortec  has been able to minimise its own plastic film waste for decades by recycling in-house VpCI  -126 scrap at its Cortec  Advanced Films (CAF) plant in Cambridge, Minnesota. 
 
Several years ago, Cortec  was able to extend this recycling opportunity to a major off-road equipment assembly plant that receives engine components from dozens of suppliers across the US and the world. After assigning a Six Sigma Black Belt to study the proposal, the manufacturer adopted the recycling programme and eliminated its outdated specification of adding oil to VpCI  -126 packaging, since testing showed no impact on corrosion protection.
 
This in itself saved the customer several hundred thousand dollars per year by reducing chemical liability insurance costs, allowing them to reuse corrugated plastic liners that previously had to be disposed due to oil contamination, and letting them participate in Cortec’s recycling programme.
 
Because the VpCI  -126 bags are also no longer oil-contaminated, the customer bales them and sends them back to CAF for reprocessing into new film. Cortec  pays shipping costs and gives Cortec  Advanced Films in Cambridge, Minnesota, world’s largest integrated VpCI  /VCI compounding, extrusion, converting and recycling plant the customer credit in return. 
 
“Their suppliers’ garbage is now a revenue stream for their plant,” explained Mike Gabor (Cortec  VP Sales, Eastern North America), who played an important role in launching the recycling programme.
 
Despite inevitable challenges, the firm commitment of both parties to make the programme work has helped them to establish a true “circular economy,” which is not as easy as it is popular. The result is that CAF is helping save hundreds of thousands of pounds of plastic from the landfill or incinerator and transform it into quality new product while reducing carbon footprints for both companies.
 
The same recycling service is available for European customers at Cortec’s EcoCortec plant in Beli Manastir, Croatia. In addition to being the first Croatian bioplastics plant, EcoCortec  is home to Europe’s largest VpCI  film extrusion, converting, and recycling centre. Access to this recycling service in the heart of Europe is a huge advantage to EcoCortec’s customers that no competitor can match.
 
With the recycling programme’s success and CAF’s and EcoCortec’s capacities to implement even more recycled content into its VpCI  film, all that Cortec  needs now is for more customers in the US and Europe to sign up for the benefits of the recycling programme.-- Tradearabia News Service