Skip to main content
Sister Publication Links
  • Sustainable Plastics
  • Rubber News
Subscribe
  • Sign Up Free
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • News
    • Processor News
    • Suppliers
    • More News
    • Digital Edition
    • End Markets
    • Special Reports
    • Newsletters
    • Videos
    • Podcasts
    • Injection Molding
    • Blow Molding
    • Film & Sheet
    • Pipe/Profile/Tubing
    • Rotomolding
    • Thermoforming
    • Recycling
    • Machinery
    • Materials
    • Molds/Tooling
    • Product news
    • Design
    • K Show
    • Mergers & Acquisitions
    • Sustainability
    • Public Policy
    • Material Insights Videos
    • Numbers that Matter
    • Automotive
    • Packaging
    • Medical
    • Consumer Products
    • Construction
    • Notable Leaders in Sustainability
    • Processor of the Year
    • Best Places to Work
    • Women Breaking the Mold
    • Rising Stars
    • Diversity
    • Most Interesting Social Media Accounts in Plastics
  • Opinion
    • The Plastics Blog
    • Kickstart
    • One Good Resin
    • Pellets and Politics
    • All Things Data
    • Viewpoint
    • From Pillar to Post
    • Perspective
    • Mailbag
    • Fake Plastic Trees
  • Shop Floor
    • Blending
    • Compounding
    • Drying
    • Injection Molding
    • Purging
    • Robotics
    • Size Reduction
    • Structural Foam
    • Tooling
    • Training
  • Events
    • Plastics News Events
    • Industry Events
    • Injection Molding & Design Expo
    • Livestreams/Webinars
    • Editorial Livestreams
    • Ask the Expert
    • Plastics News Events Library
    • Plastics News Executive Forum
    • Injection Molding & Design Expo
    • Plastics Caps + Closures: A Global Online Event
    • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum
    • Bioplastics Live
    • Numbers that Matter Live
    • PFAS Live
    • Plastics in Politics Live
    • PN Live: Mergers and Acquisitions
    • Polymer Points Live
    • Sustainable Plastics Live
    • Plastics Caps & Closures Library
    • Plastics in Healthcare Library
    • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum Library
  • Rankings & Data
    • Injection Molders
    • Blow Molders
    • Film Sheet
    • Thermoformers
    • Pipe Profile Tubing
    • Rotomolders
    • Mold/Toolmakers
    • LSR Processors
    • Recyclers
    • Compounders - List
    • Association - List
    • Plastic Lumber - List
    • All
  • Directory
  • Resin Prices
    • Resin Prices Overview
    • Commodity Thermoplastics
    • High Temperature Thermoplastics
    • Engineering Thermoplastics
    • Recycled Plastics
    • Thermosets
    • Europe - Virgin
    • Europe - Recycled
    • Europe - Feedstock
  • Custom
    • Sponsored Content
    • LS Mtron Sponsored Content
    • Conair Sponsored Content
    • KraussMaffei Sponsored Content
    • ENGEL Sponsored Content
    • White Papers
    • Classifieds
    • Place an Ad
    • Sign up for Early Classified
MENU
Breadcrumb
  1. Home
  2. News
May 27, 2015 02:00 AM

Orbis works to boost use of recycled plastics

Jim Johnson
Senior Reporter
  • Tweet
  • Share
  • Share
  • Email
  • More
    Reprints Print
    Jim Johnson
    Norm Kukuk said Orbis wants to use more recycled content in its products.

    Orbis Corp.'s entire business is based on the manufacture of reusable plastic packaging, but the company wants to take that reuse concept a step further.

    The subsidiary of Menasha Corp. is working to increase the amount of recycled plastic used in its products that include pallets, containers, totes, trays and cases.

    It's all part of a larger sustainability push at both Orbis and Menasha, according to Norm Kukuk, vice president of marketing at Orbis, based in Oconomowoc, Wis.

    “There is a big part of Orbis and our parent company Menasha that sustainability is important for us as a private, family-owned company,” he said.

    That includes the use of recycled plastics in its new products when appropriate.

    It's an approach that can help out with raw material supply as well as customer costs, Kukuk said.

    Plus, he said, the idea of reusing plastic to make new reusable plastic products just works.

    “When you look at material, where there's times throughout the year or in past years where material supply has been an issue,” Kukuk said, “ ... having this off prime [recycled plastic] allows us opportunities to help balance what we can get in virgin vs. having an alternative material with the off prime, the regrind.”

    Buying back used plastic pallets and containers from customers also helps when determining the true cost of reusable products.

    “It is a benefit that a lot of times customers won't include into their payback model, their benefit model, that should be, and is a good opportunity for them to get some money back towards a new product or just some cash back in general for that material,” Kukuk said.

    While Orbis works to recapture plastic used in products that the company makes, the firm also buys recycled plastics from other sources.

    Orbis has established a laboratory at its location in Menasha, Wis., that can test recycled plastic to determine its properties and best reuse.

    The company also tests finished goods with recycled content.

    “What we do is we will test all of our products. If we have 25 percent regrind in a product, it has to perform at the same level as a product made out of virgin material. So we always make sure that we have that right equation,” Kukuk said.

    Educating customers about end-of-life recycling options is a process. “If you are done with it and need to find a home for it, we'll take it back and make new products out of it for you,” he said. “We want customers to be more aware. We need to figure out how to build that awareness around to get that material, that end-of-life usable product.”

    Orbis, meanwhile, also is placing an emphasis on creating new products to help smaller format stores that are becoming more and more popular around the country.

    These dollar, convenience and drug store-type operations, for example, typically have more limited areas to receive shipments when compared to their big box competitors.

    “There's enough of those kinds of outfits that they have critical mass,” Kukuk said.

    “A lot of those outfits, they don't have the back dock doors and the large entryways that the bigger boxes will. And they will often use the same doors as the consumers will use, the front doors, to get product in and out. To do that, historically, it's been a longer unload cycle,” he said.

    So Orbis is out with smaller size pallets and pallet-dolly combinations aimed specifically at helping employees more easily get merchandise from delivery trucks to store floors.

    Orbis has created what it calls a “pally” — a pallet-dolly hybrid — that allows merchandise to be moved directly from the truck and into the store floor for immediate display. That cuts down on unloading time.

    The company also created smaller pallets, compared with the typical 40-inch-by-48-inch unit, which will more easily fit through smaller doors at these smaller stores, Kukuk said. These 42-inch-by-30-inch units will fit through standard front doors and can help cut time by eliminating the need to unload trucks by hand.

    Such an approach not only cuts down on employee time, but also the amount of time a delivery truck driver spends at each stop. Less time at each store means more stops for a driver on the route, Kukuk said.

    “How can we best use their time and the amount of time they are at one store?” he said. “How do we get them to a store, unload, and on to the next store as quickly and safely as possible?”

    RECOMMENDED FOR YOU
    Greif adds to blow molding business with acquisition
    Letter
    to the
    Editor

    Do you have an opinion about this story? Do you have some thoughts you'd like to share with our readers? Plastics News would love to hear from you. Email your letter to Editor at [email protected]

    Most Popular
    1
    An 8,000-ton dream for Milacron, 20/20 Custom Molded Plastics
    2
    US Merchants opens curtain on growing injection molding operations
    3
    Report: Tekni-Plex may be for sale
    4
    Plastics processors face automation needs, sustainability demands
    5
    Rising costs prompt delay in Corpus Christi PET plant construction
    SIGN UP FOR OUR FREE NEWSLETTERS
    EMAIL ADDRESS

    Please enter a valid email address.

    Please enter your email address.

    Please verify captcha.

    Please select at least one newsletter to subscribe.

    Find more newsletters at plasticsnews.com/newsletters.

    You can unsubscribe at any time through links in these emails. For more information, see our Privacy Policy.

    Get our newsletters

    Staying current is easy with Plastics News delivered straight to your inbox, free of charge.

    Subscribe today

    Subscribe to Plastics News

    Subscribe now
    Connect with Us
    • LinkedIn
    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    • Instagram

    Plastics News covers the business of the global plastics industry. We report news, gather data and deliver timely information that provides our readers with a competitive advantage.

    Contact Us

    1155 Gratiot Avenue
    Detroit MI 48207-2997

    Customer Service:
    877-320-1723

    Resources
    • About
    • Staff
    • Editorial Calendar
    • Media Kit
    • Data Store
    • Digital Edition
    • Custom Content
    • People
    • Contact
    • Careers
    • Sitemap
    Related Crain Publications
    • Sustainable Plastics
    • Rubber News
    • Tire Business
    • Urethanes Technology
    Legal
    • Terms and Conditions
    • Privacy Policy
    • Privacy Request
    Copyright © 1996-2023. Crain Communications, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
    • News
      • Processor News
        • Injection Molding
        • Blow Molding
        • Film & Sheet
        • Pipe/Profile/Tubing
        • Rotomolding
        • Thermoforming
        • Recycling
      • Suppliers
        • Machinery
        • Materials
        • Molds/Tooling
        • Product news
        • Design
      • More News
        • K Show
        • Mergers & Acquisitions
        • Sustainability
        • Public Policy
        • Material Insights Videos
        • Numbers that Matter
      • Digital Edition
      • End Markets
        • Automotive
        • Packaging
        • Medical
        • Consumer Products
        • Construction
      • Special Reports
        • Notable Leaders in Sustainability
        • Processor of the Year
        • Best Places to Work
        • Women Breaking the Mold
        • Rising Stars
        • Diversity
        • Most Interesting Social Media Accounts in Plastics
      • Newsletters
      • Videos
      • Podcasts
    • Opinion
      • The Plastics Blog
      • Kickstart
      • One Good Resin
      • Pellets and Politics
      • All Things Data
      • Viewpoint
      • From Pillar to Post
      • Perspective
      • Mailbag
      • Fake Plastic Trees
    • Shop Floor
      • Blending
      • Compounding
      • Drying
      • Injection Molding
      • Purging
      • Robotics
      • Size Reduction
      • Structural Foam
      • Tooling
      • Training
    • Events
      • Plastics News Events
        • Plastics News Executive Forum
        • Injection Molding & Design Expo
        • Plastics Caps + Closures: A Global Online Event
        • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum
      • Industry Events
      • Injection Molding & Design Expo
      • Livestreams/Webinars
      • Editorial Livestreams
        • Bioplastics Live
        • Numbers that Matter Live
        • PFAS Live
        • Plastics in Politics Live
        • PN Live: Mergers and Acquisitions
        • Polymer Points Live
        • Sustainable Plastics Live
      • Ask the Expert
      • Plastics News Events Library
        • Plastics Caps & Closures Library
        • Plastics in Healthcare Library
        • Women Breaking the Mold Networking Forum Library
    • Rankings & Data
      • Injection Molders
      • Blow Molders
      • Film Sheet
      • Thermoformers
      • Pipe Profile Tubing
      • Rotomolders
      • Mold/Toolmakers
      • LSR Processors
      • Recyclers
      • Compounders - List
      • Association - List
      • Plastic Lumber - List
      • All
    • Directory
    • Resin Prices
      • Resin Prices Overview
      • Commodity Thermoplastics
      • High Temperature Thermoplastics
      • Engineering Thermoplastics
      • Recycled Plastics
      • Thermosets
      • Europe - Virgin
      • Europe - Recycled
      • Europe - Feedstock
    • Custom
      • Sponsored Content
      • LS Mtron Sponsored Content
      • Conair Sponsored Content
      • KraussMaffei Sponsored Content
      • ENGEL Sponsored Content
      • White Papers
      • Classifieds
        • Place an Ad
        • Sign up for Early Classified