Post Industrial Recycled

material

Recycled plastic material derived from manufacturing waste and scrap generated during industrial production processes, before the product reaches consumers.

In Simple Terms

Post industrial recycled (PIR) plastic comes from factory waste like trimmed edges, rejected parts, or purged material during production. This clean manufacturing scrap is reprocessed into pellets and sold as recycled content resin, offering cost savings compared to virgin material.

Why It Matters

PIR provides a sustainable, cost-effective alternative to virgin resins while helping manufacturers reduce waste disposal costs. It typically offers better quality and consistency than post-consumer recycled content since it hasn't been contaminated through consumer use.

Technical Details

PIR material maintains relatively consistent properties since it originates from controlled manufacturing environments. However, it may have undergone additional heat cycles during reprocessing, potentially affecting molecular weight and requiring property verification. Melt flow index and intrinsic viscosity testing help confirm processing characteristics match application requirements.

Real-World Examples

HDPE bottle manufacturing

Trimmed flash and rejected bottles from blow molding operations are ground and reprocessed into PIR pellets for non-food packaging applications

Film extrusion waste

Edge trim from LLDPE film production is collected, cleaned, and pelletized to create PIR content for garbage bags and industrial films

Injection molding regrind

ABS parts that fail quality inspection are ground in-house and blended with virgin resin at 10-20% PIR content for automotive interior components