Atlantic Poly Blog

Atlantic Poly Provides A Brief History On Polyethylene

Darren Kincaid - Monday, August 09, 2010
The history of manufactured plastics goes back more than 100 years; however, when compared to other materials, plastics are relatively modern. Their usage over the past century has enabled society to make huge technological advances. Although plastics are thought of as a modern invention, there have always been "natural polymers" such as amber, tortoise shells and animal horns. These materials behaved very much like today's manufactured plastics and were often used similar to the way manufactured plastics are currently applied. For example, before the sixteenth century, animal horns, which become transparent and pale yellow when heated, were sometimes used to replace glass.

Alexander Parkes unveiled the first man-made plastic at the 1862 Great International Exhibition in London. This material -- which was dubbed Parkesine, now called celluloid -- was an organic material derived from cellulose that once heated could be molded but retained its shape when cooled. Parkes claimed that this new material could do anything that rubber was capable of, yet at a lower price. He had discovered a material that could be transparent as well as carved into thousands of different shapes. Then in 1907, chemist Leo Hendrik Baekland, while striving to produce a synthetic varnish, stumbled upon the formula for a new synthetic polymer originating from coal tar. Baekland had coined "plastics" as the term to describe this completely new category of materials.

The first patent for polyvinyl chloride (PVC), a substance now used widely in vinyl siding and water pipes, was registered in 1914. Cellophane was also discovered during this period.

Plastics did not really take off until after the First World War, with the use of petroleum, a substance easier to process than coal into raw materials. Plastics served as substitutes for wood, glass and metal during the hardship times of World War's I & II.   After World War II, newer plastics, such as polyurethane, polyester, silicones, and polypropylene joined PVC in widespread applications. Many more would follow and by the 1960s, plastics were within everyone's reach due to their inexpensive cost. Plastics had thus come to be considered 'common' - a symbol of the consumer society.

Atlantic Poly Plastic Bags have many uses

Darren Kincaid - Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Atlantic Poly’s polyethylene bags are popular and commonly required items. These bags are also known as clear poly bags and are always available with an opening at the top. They are mainly required for packaging purposes, and these bags can be heat-sealed or secured with a bag-tie. These bags are useful for many needs, such as:
  • For the storage and protection of art and furniture
  • Packing of electronic parts
  • For the packing of garment and bedding covers
  • Bags for waste disposal
  • To pack goods that are in transit
  • Retail display
  • Sale of goods at craft and pet shops
  • To package food and medical devices
  • Bags for freezer grade
Polyethylene Bags are mostly made from a polyethylene film which is created by using a Blown Film Extrusion process. In the process small plastic pellets called resin are melted down conditions and pressed through a circular die gap to form a lengthy tube of plastic. Whilst in this state the plastic is stretched to the desired size and thickness to form the different gauges of plastic. The bags are made by cutting rolls of this film and heat sealing them. Rolls of this sheeting is sent through a machine which takes in material of a proper length, the machine then cycles to place a seal on it and then cuts it off to make an individual bag.

Atlantic Poly Envirotech Recycling Division Wants To Help Your Recycling Efforts

Darren Kincaid - Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Atlantic Poly Envirotech Recycling Division Wants To Help Your Recycling Efforts

If you are disposing plastic bags or any of the such, Atlantic Poly wants to help in your contribution to our environment. We have the capabilities to remove the material and recycle it into some of our recycled products. While recycling plastic bags might seem like just a small action, it is actually one of the most important you can take for the environment. Recycled plastics can be used to create new plastics, reducing the need to find new sources of oil. Plastics also create a significant percentage of our solid waste. Garbage dumped into the ocean has created a large area in the Pacific Ocean called the Pacific Garbage Patch, an area covered in floating plastic that is twice the size of the state of Texas. Removing plastic bags from the waste cycle plays an important role in reducing land and water pollution.

Recycling plastic bags helps reduce the use of new plastics. It also helps reduce the use of wood. Most recycled plastic bags become part of a plastic-lumber composite material, reducing the need to cut down forests to create lumber products. In an era of increasing environmental constraint, thinking wisely about reuse rather than using new materials makes sense.

Atlantic Poly Plastic Bags Are Reuseable

Darren Kincaid - Wednesday, July 07, 2010
Atlantic Poly’s Plastic Bags Are Reuseable  - Atlantic Poly can be the source of all your polyethelene needs. We offer a wide variety of products to suit your poly needs. One of the most common are  plastic bags.  They are multi-purpose bags made of polyethylene. Plastic bags can be used for varied purposes such as to wrap food, store extra stuff while traveling, and to hoard wet or dirty clothes. They are also ideal as trash bags during journeys. Strength, durability, versatility, and variety are some of the key advantages of Atlantic Poly’s plastic bags.
 
Plastic bags aren’t just used for household purposes they can serve industrial purposes as well. Self-adhesive, resalable drawstring or tote bags are the most commonly used plastic bag. Shrink bags, and durable plastic bags for heavy machinery are all used daily in the industrial areas. Many food items that are available these days come in a wide variety of plastic bags, each suiting a different purpose. Some bags that are used in the vegetable and fruit sections come in rolls that can be easily cut off. These have opening at one end and do not have any sealing attachments. Plastic bags that need to be vacuum-free are made of more durable plastic and are closed from all sides except for a small opening through which the air is sucked out to create a vacuum inside before sealing it. Many of the bags Atlantic Poly provides are supplied to grocery chains, and when consumers use those bags they become useful bags for other items they own.

Polyethylene Bubble wrap: Great for protection and stress relief

Darren Kincaid - Friday, July 02, 2010
Some people wonder how sensitive products should be wrapped in the bubble wrap product. Well first of all the bubbles should be INSIDE. By doing it this way all of the surface sections are protected by several bubbles at the same time. Not to mention, since the external plastic layer will distribute the sharp impact on a group of bubbles simultaneously, and also it protects the individual bubbles from unnecessary breaking.

Polyethylene bubble wrap can come in various sizes. It can range from 1/4 inch (6 millimeters) in diameter, to an inch (26 millimeters) or more, to provide added levels of shock absorption during transportation. In addition to the degree of protection available from the size of the air bubbles in the plastic, the bubble wrap itself can offer some forms of protection for the object in question. Atlantic Poly also offers anti-static type of bubble wrap. So when shipping those sensitive electronic parts and components, an anti-static bubble wrap dissipates a static charge, thereby protecting the sensitive electronic chips from static which can damage them.

And who cannot deny the recognizable "popping" sound bubble wrap makes when compressed and punctured? According to many stress relief programs and sites, bubble wrap is one of the leading causes to reduce stress. Acknowledging this alternative use, some websites provide a "virtual bubble wrap" program which displays a sheet of bubble wrap that users may "pop" by clicking on the bubbles. So here at Atlantic Poly, Inc. our bubble wrap protects in so many ways.

Polypropylene Making A Difference in the Gulf Oil Spill

Darren Kincaid - Monday, June 28, 2010
Polypropylene Making A Difference in the Gulf Oil Spill

Did you know mechanical recovery of oil by oil sorbents is one of the most important countermeasures in marine oil-spill response? Polypropylene is the ideal material for marine oil-spill recovery due to its low density, low water uptake and excellent physical and chemical resistance.  If you are currently or plan to support the Gulf clean up, give us a call to discuss how we can quickly and economically help equip you to get the job done.

Recycling Tip on Mailing Lists

Darren Kincaid - Tuesday, June 22, 2010
If you’re interested in living a more eco-friendly lifestyle like we are at Atlantic Poly, here’s something you can do that will help protect the environment and preserve your sanity... reduce the amount of junk mail you receive by 90 percent.

Get Off the Lists - You can also go to OptOutPreScreen.com, which can enable you to remove your name from lists that mortgage, credit card and insurance companies use to mail you offers and solicitations. It’s a centralized website run by the four major credit bureaus in the United States: Equifax, Experian, Innovis and TransUnion.

Most businesses check with one or more of these companies before accepting your credit card or granting you credit for a long-term purchase. They are also a huge source of names and addresses for credit card, mortgage and insurance companies that routinely send junk mail to attract new customers and solicit new business. But there’s a way to fight back. The federal Fair Credit Reporting Act requires credit bureaus to delete your name from their rented lists if you make the request.

Use Anti Static Ploy Tubing to package sensitive devices with varying lengths

Darren Kincaid - Wednesday, June 16, 2010
Anti static poly tubing is an economical way to package or enclose objects of same width but various lengths. Poly tubing can be heat sealed or taped at either one or both ends. Surface resistivity of 1012 ohms/sq.in.  Amine-free, PAS tubing is designed for applications in which Faraday Cage Protection is NOT required.  Anti static material effectively eliminates the hazard of electro-static damage to sensitive electronic components during packaging, storing, handling, and shipping.

POLY or PVC Shrink Wrap Uses

Darren Kincaid - Sunday, June 06, 2010
PVC SHRINK COLLARS - Commonly used as a security measure on medication bottles. Available in a variety of gauges, colors, and prints. Horizontal or vertical perforations are available for easy open. All sizes are custom.

PVC PREFORMED WINE CAPS
- Commonly used on wine and champagne bottles as a security measure.

POLYETHYLENE SHRINK BUNDLING FILM - Single wound shrink low density polyethylene generally used to shrink wrap bundles of newspaper, cases of bottled water or soda, individual boxes, etc.

POLYETHYLENE SHRINK PALLET COVERS - Clear shrink pallet covers are stock for some standard sized pallets. Custom sizes are available in a variety of sizes, gauges and prints. Shrink pallet covers are used by covering the pallet with the bag and applying heat with a hand held propane powered heat gun.

PVC SHRINK WRAP BAGS - Used for shrink wrapping a variety of small items, generally in small quantity. Bags are stocked in sizes ranging from 6"x6" up to 14"x20" . Bags with a rounded top are also stocked, commonly used for gift baskets. The bags would be sealed with a tabletop heat sealer and shrunk with a hand held 110V electric industrial heat gun.

Why Use Vapor Barriers

Darren Kincaid - Tuesday, May 25, 2010

In cold climates, insulation alone is not enough to keep our costly heat from escaping. Given the slightest opportunity our precious heat will find its way out in an alarming way.

Once we understand the principle that warm air is attracted to cold air, and not the other way around, it should become almost a matter of pride to keep that warm air in!  Although some heat is lost by conduction through the insulation, most of the heat loss in a building is through air movement, or air infiltration, through the walls.

That's where vapor barriers come in. A vapor barrier – also known as vapor retarder – is merely a continuous sheet of impermeable material installed on the inside, i.e. the warm side of the wall, and it's designed to keep the warm air from escaping through or around the insulation and other building components.

There are several reasons for wanting to keep the warm air inside the house through a vapor barrier installation; among them:

  • Energy efficiency
  • Heating costs
  • Preventing the deterioration of the building materials (wood, insulation) by moisture (hence the alternate term moisture barrier). In winter, as the heated air meets the cold air, it creates condensation, which is water of course. The vapor barrier is designed to prevent this phenomenon from taking place.
  • Health problems caused by molds