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| It may sound ironic to hear
plastic-converting companies going green. But going
green is still applicable to our business. Plastics, by
convention are usually durable because we, as consumers
insist on it. Nobody likes their products to give way or
biodegrade way before the use-by-date. Imagine your
clothes, made using polyester, start to have holes in it
only after a few washes. Or your bottles start to leak
because of cracks that have formed due to
bio-degradation after 2 weeks. Not a pleasant thought?
This is prevented by adding UV stablisers into most
plastics, which ultimately causes bio-degradation to
take a very long time. |
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| So what are we as consumers, to
do? In this aspect, the most green anybody can be is to
move into the concept of the 3R's, which translate to
REDUCE, REUSE AND RECYCLE. |
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| Many organisations claim to go
green in their marketing pitch. But do they? We at U-lik
do. And below is how we accomplish it. |
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| REDUCE |
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1. |
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We have a large solar
power generation installation our factory
rooftops. This very long term investment is
extremely expensive and has a long gestation
period. However, the immediate effect is that we
will help the nation move into renewable energy
production, reducing our dependence on
coal and gas. Furthermore, we will reduce
carbon dioxide emissions by approximately
800 tonnes a year! |
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2. |
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U-Lik
uses inverter technology and servo motors to
reduce electricity consumption. |
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3. |
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We
also run hybrid machines, which drastically
reduces electricity consumption. |
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4. |
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The use of hot runner
system molds also eliminate unnecessary
waste. |
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5. |
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Parison controllers on
our EBM machines help produce better bottles and
yet reduce the consumption of plastics
raw material. |
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6. |
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High tension power
supply which reduces transmission power
lost. |
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| All the above investments cost
a great deal of money and is usually very low on the
priority of most companies. However, at U-lik, we
believe that the future of our children is important and
that profits should not come at a long term
environmental costs. After all, we all share the EARTH. |
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| REUSE |
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1. |
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All possible material
that is consumed by us is reused. All
plastic converters will produce ends and parts
which will need to be reused. We also do that
here, using the lower grade reruns for products
that do not require super high standards. Do
take note that our PHARMACEUTICAL grade bottles
only use virgin grade material. Strangely, this
is not a government requirement at all. However,
we believe that we should set the industry
standard by insisting on doing so. Any
recyclable materials are only used on chemical
and industrial grade bottles. |
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| RECYCLE |
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1. |
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Ultimately, some plastic waste that we generate
cannot be used. And these are then sold to
recycling facilities nearby. |
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