All Poly

All Poly tanks (National Poly Industries - manufacturers)

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from Don Matthews
to sales@allpoly.com.au
Sep 25, 2008 4:00 PM
Recycling spent poly tank
mailed-by gmail.com

Dear All Poly,

I notice you sell poly rainwater tanks and wondered if you could help me.I am wanting to buy a poly tank but would like to know if it can be recycled when it eventually is broken down by sunlight. I would like to think I was doing the right thing by the environment in buying a tank which can be recycled at the end of its life.

Thanks for your help
Don Matthews

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from All Poly Products
to Don Matthews
Sep 25, 2008 4:15 PM
RE: Recycling spent poly tank

Afternoon Don,

Our quality tanks are made from UV stabilised virgin linear low density polyethylene which is 100% recyclable. Your All Poly Tank will not break down by sunlight or need recycling in your lifetime as it is one of the best quality tanks on the market.
We actually use large amounts of this recycled material to make products other than tanks where strength and appearance is not as critical.

Thank you for your interest in our quality products. Please feel free to contact us by email or phone for your nearest All Poly tank distributor.

Kind regards

Roxi Stone
sales

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from Don Matthews
to All Poly Products
cc ldonlan@rotationalmoulding.com
Oct 2, 2008
Re: Recycling spent poly tank
mailed-by gmail.com

Dear Roxi,

Thankyou for your reply but with respect I suspect you are just giving me 'sales talk' and not the true story.

It is an accepted fact that all plastic eventually breaks down in sunlight regardless of how much UV stabilizer is added and that the expected life of a poly tank is in the region of 20-30 years. Your statement "your Allpoly tank will not break down in sunlight or need recycling in your lifetime" ( 70 years?) is completely untrue. It is of concern that you are giving a member of the public incorrect information in order to sell your tanks and make them feel environmentally comfortable .

Would I be correct in saying the plastic you refer to in your statement "we actually large amounts of this recycled material to make products" refers only to clean plastic such as factory offcuts, seconds etc and not fully UV degraded spent plastic? (QUESTION 1).

Sunlight eventually breaks down plastic making it brittle and lose all its strength. The long-chain polymer molecules which allow plastic to be moulded and give it its strength and rigidity are ruptured by UV light. No amount of added UV stabilizers will prevent the chemical degradation process from occurring. Essentially the plastic disintegrates and loses all its properties. As a result I do not see how it is then possible to remould it into other products. Is the correct? (QUESTION 2)

If I am not correct (and I am more than happy to be put right) and fully UV degraded plastic is actually being remoulded as you claim what evidence can you provide to support this? What process is being used and what products is the spent plastic being turned into? (QUESTION 3)

I am concerned that in the not-too-distant future millions of spent tanks will be lying around waiting to be disposed of. If the problem of their recycling is not resolved we are likely to have a major environmental pollution problem on our hands.

Could you please give me the name and email address of the General Manager of Allpoly as I would like to take matter up further (QUESTION 4)


Please respond to my questions or pass this email on to someone in your organisation who can.

Thankyou,
Don Matthews

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