FAQs - Material Related
MATERIAL FAQ
Q: Is imSTONE products recyclable and degradable?
A:
The short answer is Yes, but under certain conditions. Our imSTONE products are recyclable, meaning the same product can be made from its own waste to produce renewable mineral based material.
Our imSTONE products are also photo-degradable. Which means it degrades according to the intensity of natural UV light it is exposed to in the natural environment in different regions of the world. For instance, in very simple terms if our paper is used in California, US, it might take about a year and half to degrade. If in Saudi Arabia, it might take about 6 months. But that’s direct natural UV exposure without any barrier. That is not the case for printed materials exposed to sun by an office window.
The photo-degradability for recycling purposes is only in the natural environment where there is direct UV exposure and interaction with other natural substances which play a degrading factor. When the non-toxic resin degrades, the molecules of the resin break down which gives it the effect of a very thin layer of brittle material such as dried paint or very fragile / brittle eggshell effect. Essentially when the resin’s molecule is broken down, the chemical properties of the matter changes and the rest of the materials are the same rich minerals which are abundant elements in nature. When imSTONE is kept indoor, it will not degrade.
Just need to touch a bit more with respect to recycling factors. Even though a recycling identification (no.2) has been assigned to this product, since the global volume of our imSTONE products are very low compared to the pulp paper, at its current low volume, imSTONE products can actually be put in any recycling stream such as paper, plastic, glass, etc.. without negatively having an adverse effect or damaging the existing recycling streams. Reason being is because some degree of mineral is used essentially in most products as a natural element. With the increase in volume of imSTONE products, the product will eventually find its own stream side by side with other recycling items.
The same applies with Plastic recycling stream.
There are a lot of greenwashing about our mineral based materials and its recycling aspects in the market. Below is a summary in a nutshell.
- At present low volume imSTONE products are not recyclable in traditional recycling facilities. The reason is due to its low polymer and high calcium carbonate content, the recycling companies can’t justify the economics.
- At present low volume imSTONE products can be discarded in virtually any waste stream.
- At larger volumes imSTONE products have the capability to be recycled from its own waste to produce other renewable mineral based material with a 93% recycling results.
Q: Can imSTONE products get recycled with paper? Can it be recycled with Plastic? Would the resin content contaminate any of the streams?
A: Thank you for the question.
At the current low market volume for imSTONE products, compared to more than 400 million metric ton of traditional pulp paper in the recycling stream, we believe that our imSTONE products can be put into any recycling bin without having a negative adverse effect on the recycling stream.
Eventhough our product will not be recycled with paper itself, this will eventually change when our volume reaches a level where a dedicated stream is created. Relatively speaking our imSTONE products volume are currently not even 1/10 of one percent of the global paper market.
We’re currently introducing an innovative collection and repurposing program to our industrial clients as part of our waste management strategy. Please note this repurposing program is still at an experimental and development phase.
At higher volumes, meaning when our mineral based material gains momentum and captures larger market share, it is recommended to dispose our mineral based material in dedicated recycling bins as dedicated waste management companies will collect them for repurposing projects.
We believe at the current low volume, when our imSTONE material is disposed of with regular paper, the non-toxic resin portion will not have a negative adverse effect on the stream due to the extreme low percentage of non-toxic resin characteristic relative to the whole paper in recycling stream.
In the current paper recycling bins there are lots of plastic films on top of most prints (magazine covers, catalogues, brochures, business cards, boxes, packaging, store bags, etc…). Those plastic films made with polypropylene or even LDPE are normally applied as protective layer on top of most printed items to protect and lock / settle the ink. Those protective plastic films are more toxic than the low level non-toxic resin content in our imSTONE products.
The same applies with Plastic recycling stream.
There are a lot of greenwashing about our mineral based materials and its recycling aspects in the market. Below is a summary in a nutshell.
- At present low volume imSTONE products are not recyclable in traditional recycling facilities. The reason is due to its low polymer and high calcium carbonate content, the recycling companies can’t justify the economics.
- At present low volume imSTONE products can be discarded in virtually any waste stream.
- At larger volumes imSTONE products have the capability to be recycled from its own waste to produce other renewable mineral based material with a 93% recycling results.