Why Cleanrooms are Essential in Plastic Manufacturing

When it comes to plastic products used for food, beverage, and medicine, quality is critical. This is why leading PET preform manufacturers like Chemco rely heavily on cleanroom facilities, specifically the Class 10,000 standard.

If you need PET preforms for your products and if you want safe and efficient production of high-quality packaging, nothing short of a Class 10,000 cleanroom will do your project justice.

To be precise, cleanrooms regulate contamination based on the number of particles per cubic meter at a specified size. Why is this important? Because the typical ambient air in a non-clean room has about 35 million particles per cubic meter, that are 0.25 microns or larger in radius. This is enough to completely jeopardize health and food standards used in the industry.

Cleanrooms are especially useful in applications where small contaminants could adversely affect the product’s performance, guaranteeing safety and hygiene. They vary in complexity and are used for applications ranging from automotive and aerospace to food and packaging.

Cleanrooms often maintain particulate-free air through the use of HEPA or ULPA filters that employ turbulent or laminar airflow principles. These airflow systems direct filtered air in a constant stream to flush contaminants out of the environment.

Proper cleanroom design has to include the entire air distribution system, including provisions for downstream air returns.

Note: The type of cleanroom technology used depends strictly on your industry and application. There is no such thing as a one-size-fits-all rule.

Typical PET preform facilities can be a source of contaminants, especially if they are not properly maintained. A Class 10,000 clean can take care of contamination sources including dust, micro-organisms, dirt, inadequate quality controls, and human error.

Cleanrooms Should Not Disrupt the Manufacturing Process

While plastic industry cleanrooms don’t eliminate the need for proper sterilization of plastic products, they can implement quality control checks during the manufacturing process, which is essential for products that have sensitive uses and can’t withstand sterilization procedures.

Plastic industry cleanrooms may be required to maintain a sterilized environment while facilitating standard operating procedures to take place with maximum efficiency. They must provide room for staff to move, as well as carts, cranes, and other transportation equipment.

At Chemco, we can scale up PET preform production to fit your exact needs without compromising safety and hygiene. Production rates are never compromised, and we guarantee a constant supply of food-grade PET preforms for your products.

Why Cleanrooms are Important for PET Preforms

The Class 10,000 cleanroom standard ensures a steady supply of high-performance PET preform packages that meet quality and durability requirements for food and beverage companies. In a typical cleanroom system, the Class 10,000 cleanroom maintains air cleanliness levels to a maximum of 10,000 particles (per cubic foot). It also provides filter coverage of about 25% and a minimum of 60 air changes per hour.

This makes them ideal for applications in food-grade packaging. To support these applications, at Chemco we rely on materials like polycarbonate, aluminum, or stainless steel.

Technicians are required to wear protective gear such as safety glasses, shoe covers, hair necks, gloves, and lab coats. This prevents particles on their bodies from contaminating anything.

If done right, cleanrooms can give the following benefits to businesses:

• Reliability
• Cleanroom environments minimize everyday contaminants and dust particles so as not to affect product quality and reliability. This is important for businesses that strive to instil trust in their product to ensure their standards comply with every health and safety requirement necessary.
• Compliance with Government Regulations
• Governments and regulatory bodies are cracking down on businesses that don’t follow health, hygiene, and environmental standards. The fault often lies with the injection moulding partner of the business. This is why Chemco uses cleanroom standards to ensure our products are safe and comply with regulations set out by the government. With Chemco as your manufacturing partner, you can rest assured that your products will comply with regulations set out by the authority.
• Superior Product Portfolio
• By using products made under a controlled, highly regulated environment, a business ensures that it not only meets the industry’s manufacturing standards but also exceed them. This, in turn, boosts their product portfolio, and ultimately elevates their position in the global market. By working with a manufacturer like Chemco, you make your food packaging products technically superior and gain a competitive edge.

Food Packaging Hygiene

Cleanrooms and their controlled environments play a pivotal role in food and beverage packaging by ensuring all PET preforms are designed to precision specifications and in accordance with strict industry practices. As much as the applications vary, so too do the requirements, however, they all operate in a sensitive environment.

PET preforms for food and beverage products need to be safe from aerosol particles, bacteria, chemical vapors, fibrous materials, and pathogens.

At Chemco, we leverage our experience that has spanned several years to produce durable, reliable, and high-quality packaging. Our preforms are ideal for blowing and filling plants and packaging machinery for various industries including but not limited to water, carbonated soft drinks, dairy/ milk, alcohol, home care, personal care etc.

Evaluate PET Preform Partners on These Two Criteria

1. Can they mould, assemble, and package PET preform in a cleanroom environment?
2. Look for a partner that can mould, assemble, and package your product in a cleanroom environment. This ensures that your packaging stays clean and also allows you to focus on other areas such as marketing and distribution.
3. Do They Keep Tight Part Tolerances While Doing Cleanroom Molding?
4. Just because a PET preform manufacturer has cleanroom capabilities doesn’t mean they’ll mould difficult part tolerances. At Chemco, we have perfected the ability to build tools using systems with very tight tolerances. This expertise goes a long way in ensuring that every preform manufactured is both high-quality and safe.

Chemco stays ahead of food and beverage packaging regulators and help you rise to deliver unparalleled customer experience expectations. We introduce state-of-the-art PET preform technology with optimized cleanroom systems that ensure you meet the most stringent standards in your industry.

To discover more about Chemco’s product offerings, as well as the cleanroom technology we use, get in touch with our engineers to discuss your needs.