Why I Love Plastic
I worked in the plastics industry for years. I was the director of the art department for a plastic bag manufacturer. Since I worked directly with customers who often knew nothing about flexographic printing and the properties of plastic packaging, I needed to know as much about the product as possible so I could be a point of knowledge and help the customers choose the best type of bag for their needs.
I remember the first time I went to the factory to the plastic being extruded. Most of the bags we made were High Density Polyethylene (HDPE), though sometimes a customer wanted bags with a clearer look, in which case we would use LLDPE (Linear Low Density Polyethylene). It was fascinating. The HDPE Granules were made from recycled plastic. They went into the machinery and what came out was this billowing tube of plastic sheeting. In turn, that was made into our very specialized style of plastic bags.
Anyway, working in the plastics industry really gave me an appreciation for the product. So much of what we use on a daily basis is made out of plastic, most often HDPE. Although some people want to make you think that only paper is recyclable, plastic is actually highly recyclable and knowing that it can be used over and over and over again gives me a very good feeling.
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