Sustainability
Sustainability
Rutan offers a variety of sustainable films.
From reprocessed manufacturing scrap to recovered consumer plastic and plant-based additives, Rutan blends recycled and renewable content into blown film — helping brands cut waste and meet packaging sustainability goals.
Post-Industrial Recycled
Plastic waste diverted from the waste stream during a manufacturing process.
In Rutan’s manufacturing process, PIR content is generated from internal scrap (pre-consumer) — “trim” from the edges of a film roll, start-up scrap produced while a machine reaches the correct settings, and rejected rolls that didn’t meet quality specifications.
To be used in blown film again, this scrap must be reprocessed into a usable form. That is achieved by granulation and pelletizing: the film scrap is fed into a grinder, then an extruder, to be melted and cut into pellets.
Why use PIR
Consistency
Because PIR has not been contaminated by consumer use — food residue, paper labels, or mixed plastics — it is much cleaner and more predictable than PCR. That makes it easier to maintain the melt strength required to keep the blown-film bubble stable.
Sustainability goals
It allows manufacturers to claim a percentage of recycled content on their packaging, appealing to eco-conscious brands.
Cost efficiency
Using reprocessed internal scrap reduces raw-material waste and lowers the overall cost per pound of the finished film.
Post-Consumer Recycled
Plastic materials used by a consumer, disposed of, collected through a recycling program, and reprocessed into new resin pellets.
Integrating PCR is the final step in closing the loop. While PIR saves money and reduces factory waste, PCR actively removes plastic from landfills and oceans — the primary driver behind current sustainability mandates in the packaging industry. It also brings real production considerations.
Considerations
Gels & aesthetics
PCR resins often contain microscopic impurities such as leftover paper fibers or different plastic types. In a thin blown-film bubble these create “gels” — they look like tiny seeds in the plastic, and in very thin films a gel can act as a stress concentrator, causing a bag to fail or tear at that point.
Odor & color
Because PCR originates from household waste — detergent bottles, agricultural uses, food containers — the resin can sometimes carry a faint scent or a grayish / yellowish tint.
Bio-Based Additives
Plant-based biopolymers and pro-degradant additives integrated into traditional film production — with fully recyclable end materials.
Incorporating plant-based biopolymers into traditional film production is a significant shift from purely petroleum-based manufacturing toward a hybrid model. By converting crystalline starches into amorphous resins, these materials can be seamlessly integrated into the blown-film process.
Have a packaging challenge?
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