Sigma Plastics Group is expanding production of stretch film with "bio-assimilation technology" to all five of the company's stretch film facilities in North America.
The Pompano Beach, Fla.-based company said production of Sigma Stretch Vanish, which it said breaks down the plastic in the environment, uses the Eclipse brand additive from Smart Plastic Technologies LLC of Buffalo Grove, Ill. Sigma first launched the Vanish product in late 2021.
"We evaluated numerous products to provide an option for our customers that would take care of any of our products that were not properly recycled and leaked into the environment," Sigma CEO Mark Teo said in a statement. "Expanding production and taking our partnership with Smart Plastic to new levels will be a tremendous highlight of 2022 for Sigma Plastics as we continue striving for environmentally responsible products and practices," Sigma CEO Mark Teo said in a statement.
Sigma initially produced 500,000 pounds of the stretch film. Expanding production will create an estimated 30 million pounds of Sigma Stretch Vanish in 2022.
Smart Plastic said the stretch film, which can be recycles, degrades "to a molecular weight that can be consumed by microorganisms, resulting in nothing more than CO2, water and biomass" in marine, terrestrial and landfill environments over six to 24 months. The company uses the term "bio-assimilation technology."
Sigma has film manufacturing locations in Lyndhurst, N.J., Shelbyville, Ky., Tulsa, Okla., Riverside, Calif., and Belleville, Ontario, Canada. Combined capacity is more than 700 million pounds per year.