Sustainability in Contract Manufacturing
As a family-owned contract manufacturer with over 60 years of experience, our operations have grown a lot over the last several decades. One of the key ways we’ve evolved over time is finding ways to incorporate sustainable manufacturing processes into our facilities.
Our investment in a state-of-the-art granulator machine reflects that commitment, helping us reduce waste, reuse materials, and support a circular manufacturing economy.
What Does a Granulator Machine Do?
A granulator is a key tool in plastic recycling. It takes leftover plastic from the production process, whether it’s edge trim, purgings, or unused thermoformed parts, and breaks it down into small, uniform pieces called “regrind.” These pieces can be reused internally or sent to plastic manufacturers to be turned into new products, like water bottles or packaging components.
The process works like this:
- Plastic scrap is fed into the granulator’s cutting chamber.
- Inside, rotating blades slice the material into smaller pieces.
- These are then passed through a screen to achieve the desired size.
- The final product is clean, consistent plastic granules ready for reuse.
Janco’s granulator, manufactured by Cumberland (a leader in granulation since 1939), is designed to handle high-volume parts and demanding materials. It’s powerful enough to manage even thick purgings and large thermoformed components—making it ideal for a busy medical contract manufacturing environment like ours.
How Plastic Regrinding Supports Sustainability
Using a granulator has wide-reaching environmental benefits. By regrinding and recycling plastic waste on-site, we’re able to:
- Reduce landfill waste: Instead of discarding scrap materials, we recycle them into a usable form.
- Conserve resources: Recycled plastic reduces the demand for virgin resin and fossil fuel extraction.
- Lower greenhouse gas emissions: According to a 2019 study in Technologies journal, reusing plastic significantly reduces the energy footprint compared to producing new materials.
- Support a circular economy: Regrind can be used in non-medical applications or by partners who produce industrial-grade plastic products.
The Plastics We Recycle Using Our Granulator
Janco works with a wide range of plastic materials across our medical manufacturing projects—and our granulator is capable of handling regrind from nearly all of them. We use the following plastics for contract manufacturing products:
- PET
- PETG
- PETE (Polyethylene terephthalate)
- HIPS (High impact polystyrene)
- TPU (Thermoplastic polyurethanes)
- Acrylic
PVC (Polyvinyl chloride) - Kydex® (a trademarked acrylic/PVC alloy)
- ABS (Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene)
- PC (Polycarbonate)
- PP (Polypropylene)
- PS (Polystyrene)
- HDPE (High-density polyethylene)
Many of these materials are excellent candidates for recycling, either into medical-grade components (where regulations allow) or into secondary applications through our supplier partners.
How Janco Uses the Granulator
Our granulator is fully integrated into our day-to-day medical packaging and thermoforming operations. When off-cuts or rejects occur, they’re immediately routed for regrinding, keeping waste out of the bin and in the production cycle.
Here’s how it benefits our process:
- Supports internal recycling workflows, reducing the need for disposal services.
- Provides cost-effective regrind material for plastic manufacturers.
- Minimizes downtime by managing scrap efficiently.
- Contributes to green manufacturing initiatives that our partners value.
Responsible Medical Manufacturing Starts with Smart Equipment
Sustainability in medical manufacturing goes beyond energy-efficient buildings or cleanrooms – it includes what you do with your waste. At Janco, we take pride in making responsible choices that benefit both our customers and the environment. The addition of our granulator machine is just one more way we’re building a smarter, cleaner future.
Want to learn more about our contract manufacturing capabilities?
Get in touch with our team to learn how we can add value to your next project!
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