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Advancing Additive Technology

environmental solutions
Meeting present needs, without compromising the Earth’s future.
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environmental
solutions

Corporate Headquarters
1002 Hunt Street
Picayune, MS 39466 USA
800.245.4623 Voice
601.798.1946 Fax
www.heritage-plastics.com

©2008 Heritage Plastics, Inc. All Rights Reserved

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Definitions
LCA (Life Cycle Analysis)
Determines the full environmental impact of a product,
Sustainable analyzing its original production, its upstream supplier
Development operations and its downstream customer use
and disposal.
“Development that meets LLDPE (Linear Low Density Polyethylene)
General purpose polyethylene (plastic) commonly used
the needs of the present, in blown film applications.
without compromising Source Reduction
Decreasing the amount of materials or energy used
the ability of future during the manufacturing or distribution of products
and packages. Source reduction is one of the EPA’s top
generations to meet concerns in regards to sustaining the environment.

their own needs.” Greenhouse Gas (Global Warming)

Gases which absorb outgoing terrestrial radiation, such
As defined by The WCED (World as water vapor, methane, CFCs, carbon dioxide and
nitrous oxide, thereby raising the temperature of the earth.
Commission on Environment and
Development) Carbon Footprint
The amount of greenhouse gas generated during
a product’s entire life cycle including raw material
production, manufacturing, transportation, distribution,
use and disposal.

Petrochemical
Chemicals derived from sources of petroleum or
natural gas.
References
Solid Waste
LCAs conducted follow the National Risk Management Research Laboratories (NRMRL) Life Cycle A mass of over 230 million tons of garbage generated
Assessment: Principles and Practices in conjunction with the US Environmental Protection by the US annually with the majority diverted
Agency (EPA) to landfills.

Resin carbon emission numbers were derived from the National Renewable Energy Laboratory
(NREL) US Life Cycle Inventory Databases and the European Union Life Cycle Data System
(ELCD)
Common Reference comparisons used the EPA’s Greenhouse Gas Equivalences Calculator;
www.epa.gov/cleanenergy/energy-resources/calculator.html
Carbon Number or CO2 eq (Carbon dioxide equivalent)
Commonly used measurement of the most prevalent
greenhouse gases and their Global Warming Potential
(GWP) by relating them back to CO2 (carbon dioxide).
For example, CO2 has a GWP of 1 while N2O (nitrous oxide)
has a GWP of 310.
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COMMITMENT Our Commitment To A

Sustainable Environment!
Helping Create Sustainable Products
For decades, plastic products have assisted in providing a clean, healthy and efficient living
environment for millions of people. Everything from a plastic bag to a milk carton; from a
styrofoam cup to a park bench contribute to an endless list of plastic products whose benefits
are immeasurable.

Heritage Plastics produces natural reinforcement additive compounds that reduce

petrochemical usage, energy usage and the carbon footprint (greenhouse gas emission)
in the manufacturing of plastic products.

Heritage Plastics: Products that help!

Source Reduction:
Reducing Petrochemical Usage Any change in the
We have developed additives that reduce as much petrochemical usage as design, manufacture,
possible in a product’s life cycle, while enhancing the product’s function in purchase, or use of
everyday life. materials or products
Reducing Energy Usage (including packaging)
Through formulations that make use of abundant natural mineral resources, to reduce their
our additives reduce the amount of energy used to manufacture products. combined impact on
the environment.
Reducing Carbon Footprint (Greenhouse Gas Emission)
By facilitating source reduction and manufacturing process efficiencies, our
additives have a profound positive impact on the amount of greenhouse
gas that is generated throughout a product’s life cycle.
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EDUCATION LCA (Life Cycle Analysis)

Determining True Environmental Impact of a Product
LCA determines the true environmental impact of a product. The analysis not only
looks at a given company process, but also looks upstream at supplier operations
and downstream to customer use and product disposal.

Through the LCA, the environmental impact of a product’s life can be measured in three
key environmental impact areas: its petrochemical usage, its energy usage, and its
carbon footprint (greenhouse gas emissions). These key areas are affected by LCA factors:
raw material production, raw material transportation, manufacturing process and disposal.
See Figure 1.

Total

 
LCA Factors Key Environmental
Impact Areas Environmental
Raw Material Production Impact
Where are the raw materials from?
Petrochemical Usage
What is their carbon footprint?
Energy Usage
Raw Material Transportation
How are the raw materials transported? Carbon Footprint
What distance did they travel?

Manufacturing Process
How much energy is used?
How energy efficient is the equipment?
Where does waste water content go?
How much scrap and landfill waste is generated?

Product End of Life

Is the product recycled, reclaimed or landfilled?
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Advancing Additive Technology

Figure 1: LCA: Determining the true environmental impact of a product.


Petrochemical
Usage

Your Product
LCA Factors


Raw Material Production
Raw Material Transportation
Carbon Manufacturing Process Energy
Footprint Product’s End of Life Usage

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RESPONSIBILITY It Starts With Us

Our Product’s LCA (Life Cycle Analysis)
We believe thoroughly addressing the LCA factors is the best way to evaluate the
environmental sustainability of any given product.

Our additives improve the environmental life cycle of products and have their own
sustainable life cycle history as well.

Applying the LCA factors to our Mineral Additive Products: See Figure 2

Raw Material Production

Where are the raw materials from?
What is their carbon footprint?


Raw Material Transportation
How are the raw materials transported?
What distance did they travel?

Manufacturing Process
How much energy is used?
How energy efficient is the equipment?
Where does waste water content go?
How much scrap and landfill waste is generated?

Product End of Life

Is the product recycled, reclaimed or landfilled?

Member of: SUSTAINABLE PACKAGING Association of Postconsumer

COALITION Plastics Recyclers
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Advancing Additive Technology

Figure 2: LCA of Mineral Additive Products from Heritage Plastics

The life cycle of our products shows reductions in all three environmental
impact areas: petrochemical usage, energy consumption and


carbon footprint (greenhouse gas emissions). Reduced
Raw Material Production Petrochemical
Our products are highly concentrated calcium carbonate additives. Calcium Usage
carbonate is a mineral that is created by a geological process known
as the "carbonate cycle," yielding massive amounts of calcium carbonate
deposits worldwide. The greenhouse gas emissions associated with
these minerals are minor compared to polymers (plastics). Polymers
account for a minor fraction of our products and recycled polymers
are considered where appropriate.

Raw Material Transportation

The greenhouse gas emissions generated by the transport of raw


materials is significant. We have minimized the transportation
factor associated with the production of our products by locating Our Additive
our plant only a few hundred yards from the raw material source.
For all other raw materials used, large volume via rail is the
preferred mode of transport in order to minimize
Products
fuel consumption.
Reduced Reduced
Carbon Energy

Manufacturing Process Footprint Usage
Our plants use state-of-the-art, high-output automated
compounding equipment. This helps minimize the energy
required to produce our products, and results in such high
efficiencies that greenhouse gas emissions, waste water, scrap
and landfill needs are kept to an absolute minimum.

Product End of Life

We work with our customers to show them how to reduce energy inputs
and optimize their product’s design. The addition of our additives does not
adversely affect a product’s recyclability. Our BioTuf™976 product is used to create
compostable products that help divert organic waste from landfills and into composting
operations across the country.
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INNOVATION Products With Sustainable Opportunities

We offer a sustainable product for every plastic application.

Our Sustainable Products

Product Application

HM10-Max™ Polyolefin Films

PolyMax™ Rigid Packaging

PolyCal™ Extrusion Coating

HiCal™ Injection Molding

StyroCal™ Sheet/Thermoforming and Injection Molding

BioTuf™ 976 Film, Sheet/Thermoforming and Molding

Compostable Compound
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Environmental benefits of our products

Replaces
Our products replace petrochemical-based plastics in polyethylene, polypropylene, and polystyrene-based packaging
and packaging components.

Reduces
Our additives reduce dependency on petrochemical-based products, in addition to lowering the energy used during
processing, and reducing the carbon footprint (greenhouse gas emissions) of the overall package.

Reusable
Mineral-reinforced plastics are ideal for heavy-duty applications, including pallets and dunnage trays which may be used repeatedly.

Recyclable
Plastic products containing our additives may be recycled.

Safe
Heritage Plastics products are FDA approved for food contact (CaCO3 on GRAS list).

BioTuf™ 976 100% compostable compound

This compound is 100% biodegradable and compostable and is ASTM D6400-certified for compostability.
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REAL WORLD A Simple Real World Example

Blown Film Application: Producing A Plastic Trash Bag
The LCA after replacing 20% of the original input material with Heritage's HM10-Max™

LCA Test Results Performance Comparison using HM10-Max™

0.85 Mil 20% HM10-Max™
700 in LLDPE
1.0 Mil 100% LLDPE
“Once we added HM10-Max™ to the formulation, 650

600
By using HM10-Max™ the performance of the film (bag)
everything changed. The test data revealed 550
is maintained at lower gauges (thickness). This means
500 less plastic will be used for the same product function.

Force (g)
profound positive results. The enhanced 450

400 1.0 0.85

Mil
performance properties alone that HM10-Max™ 350
Mil 1.0 0.85
Mil Mil
300
provided affected every one of the LCA factors. 250

Not only were we able to replace 20% of the 200

Dart Impact Test MD Tear Test

petrochemical material with HM10-Max™, the Reduction in Power Required Using HM10-Max™
LLDPE Blown Film with
extra strength it provided allowed us to 233 20% HM10-Max™
100% LLDPE
manufacture a thinner bag with even greater 232

Conversion Power kwh/ton

LLDPE
Blown Use of HM10-Max™ accounted for a
231 Film
performance properties than the original. significant reduction in the power
used to process the film (bag), saving
230
approximately 2,000 kwh per
Frank Ruiz 229
1,000,000 pounds processed.

228
Film Using
Frank Ruiz: A polymer chemist since 1976, 227
HM10-Max™

Frank is an expert in the use and development

226
of mineral reinforcement concentrates.
As a pioneer in the use of mineral additives Petrochemical Displacement Using 20% HM10-Max™
for commodity polyolefin and polystyrene 2650 LLDPE Blown Film with
20% HM10-Max™
applications, Frank helped develop manufacturing standards 2600 LLDPE LLDPE Blown Film
and polymer blend formulations that now make possible Carbon Number, CO2 eq lb/ton Blown
Film
2550 The displacement of petrochemical
the production of the thinnest plastic bags we have ever based-LLDPE plastic alone, reduced
2500 greenhouse gas emission by
known, possessing outstanding performance properties. approximately 7%.
Frank also pioneered the BioTuf™ compostable can liner 2450
Film Using
for Heritage Bag Company. BioTuf™ liners are used to help 2400 HM10-Max™

divert organic waste from landfills and into composting 2350

operations across the country. 2300

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Advancing Additive Technology

Figure 3: LCA after replacing 20% of the original input material with HM10-Max™
By replacing 20% of the original input material with HM10-Max™, all three environmental
impact areas were radically reduced:


Raw Material Production
Reduced
LLDPE bags are typically produced with 100% prime polyethylene resin. The displacement of
Petrochemical
polyethylene alone with HM10-Max™ reduced the greenhouse gas emissions by approximately Usage
7%. The ability of HM10-Max™ to improve the physical properties of the film provided an equal
performance bag at a significantly reduced gauge. HM10-Max™ (as with all our concentrates)
works well with recycled polymers – synergies that continue to minimize the environmental
impact associated with raw materials.
Blown Film
Raw Material Transportation
We have minimized the transportation factor associated with the production of 20% HM10-Max™


HM10-Max™ by locating our plant only a few hundred yards from the raw
material source. replacing 20%
Reduced of original
Manufacturing Process Reduced
Using HM10-Max™ to displace a portion of the polyethylene can also generate Carbon input material Energy


significant power savings. In this study, a power savings of approximately Footprint Usage
2,000 kwh per 1,000,000 pounds processed was realized. These findings
are considered conservative. Processing efficiencies were also improved including
greater throughput and less scrap.

Product’s End Life

The use of HM10-Max™ will not adversely affect a film’s ability to be recycled.If the film does go into
a landfill, the use of our additive effectively displaces a significant volume of the landfilled plastic stream.

Real World Facts


*This analysis is based on 1 million pounds of LLDPE (polyethylene)
processed per year, used in typical blown film application.

1 million pounds 200,000 pounds Taking 25 Burning 15,385 Eliminating the

LLDPE
(polyethylene)
– replaced with
HM10-Max™
= cars off the
road for 1 year !
= fewer gallons
of gasoline!
= need for 315
barrels of oil!

* See page one for data references.