Polythene bags are one of the quickest, most flexible, and most effective ways to package products. They can be manually tied or heat sealed – or used as part of a fully or semi-automated process. Most of the time, normal polythene bags in the right dimensions will suffice, but some applications require a bespoke solution. And that’s where custom polythene bags come in.
Polythene bags from NPF Packaging can be made with custom polymer blends, colours, and printing – which might be more important than you’d think at first.
Branding, printing and colour-coded packaging
Coloured polythene has so many uses – not just looks, as a lot of people first think.
Sure, you can use your company’s colour scheme in your coloured polythene bags, but you can also use colour to make processes quicker, safr, and to offer more protection to your packaged products.
Colour-coded packaging is useful in consumer and industrial packaging. For example, coloured polythene bags can be used to separate components for each stage in a kit build, or to make smaller sub-packages more visible.
And blue coloured polythene bags play a role in food production. Because there aren’t very many blue foods in the world, blue polythene is used to help production and kitchen staff easily spot if any plastic has accidentally been added to food.
Coloured polythene bags can be transparent, or made with a high opacity. High opacity can keep packaged contents private – but it can also be used to optimise temperatures. White is a very reflective colour, and can offer additional protection from sunlight. Black absorbs light and heat, which can raise temperatures significantly.
Coloured polythene bags can also help to highlight potentially hazardous materials, with additional support from printing.
Printed polythene
Clear labelling is vital in medical applications, and where safety is to be prioritised. Printing directly onto polythene bags makes absolutely sure that usage and safety warnings are always present, with no need for additional printed materials which could get lost.
Printed polythene bags are, of course, a powerful branding tool. Making your packaging recognisable and memorable gives you more sway among customers, and importantly, branding protects your business by making it easy to spot counterfeiting.
Read more about custom printed polythene packaging
Custom designs at the polymer level
Designing custom polythene bags goes much deeper than what you can see on the outside. Sometimes, polythene needs to be modified at the polymer level, blended with additives – or made in a way that saves money.
Using the right additives
Colour is just one additive that can be blended into custom polythene. There are many others, which all have different applications:
- Ultraviolet inhibitor (UVI) – UVI polythene additives protect your poly bags from UV light – which causes polythene to break down over time.
- Anti-static polythene – Anti-static additives prevent the build up of static electricity, keeping electronics safe and preventing sparks that could lead to fires.
- Ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA) – Polythene bags can crack when very cold. EVA makes polythene more stable at low temperatures, and is added to frozen food bags.
- Flame-retardant polythene – Polythene bags are flammable by nature, but halogen compounds can be added to the polymer blend to give it greater fire resistance.
- High-slip and low-slip polythene additives – High-slip polythene additives make it extra slippery. Low-slip polythene additives make it grippier.
Learn more about polythene additives
Avoid PPT with recycled material
With PPT (the Plastic Packaging Tax) now in full swing, some companies will experience greater packaging costs squeezing their bottom line.
The PPT must be paid on any packaging that contains more than 70% virgin material, at a rate of £200 per tonne (20p per Kg). That cost can quickly add up – but, by using a 30% recycled or custom recycled blend wherever possible, packaging and logistics costs can be greatly reduced.
Find out more about how we’re helping businesses pay less Plastic Packaging Tax.
Customising your polythene packaging can lead to better business outcomes
Ultimately, customised polythene packaging makes your offering more useful, more recognisable, and safer – and can make your business more profitable.
Custom polythene bags for your packaging operations reduce waste and save time – and by avoiding PPT with custom recycled blends, this all adds up to bigger cost savings.
Designing custom polythene packaging is more than just making your packaging pretty; it makes it functional. And when it comes to getting the best out of the world’s most useful packaging material, you need a polythene packaging expert.
Design custom polythene bags that work for your business
Get custom polythene bags made to your exact specification. Design a bespoke packaging solution that looks the part, and works perfectly. We’ll even help your business reduce the PPT you have to pay – and keep your packaging costs down.
Get a quote, or call us on 01773 820415, to tell us what you need.
