Northern Powerhouse of manufacturing What More UK submitted one of its Wham Upcycled range for load testing and the results show just how tough these boxes are.
Made from 95% recycled single-use plastics, the Wham Upcycled products begin life as polypropylene bottles and packaging. What More UK developed a way of upcycling this material into something long-lasting and useful, preventing it from going into landfill, or worse, the ocean.
“We knew we were onto something interesting when orders started coming in, but we soon realised that many people think that recycled plastics are not as strong or as durable as their virgin plastic counterparts” says Tony Grimshaw OBE, director of What More UK.
In response to those queries, What More submitted one of the range for load testing by an independent inspection and verification company.
Supported by the handle grips at either end, the box was gradually loaded with more and more weight. Box and lid were both tested separately, and both managed to withstand the maximum load of 380kg without any visible signs of damage at all. To put that into perspective, that’s about the weight of a small horse or a baby elephant! If you put four together, they can withstand the weight of a family car!
Plastics are a complex family of materials, which have come to be much maligned. But it’s not the material itself that is at fault, it’s our relationship with it that causes the problem.
Polypropylene, the material that is used to create the Upcycled range, is extremely durable. It has a lifetime of 100s of years, so if you use it in a product that only has a useful life of say 1 or 2 years the problem is clear.
The Upcycled range has been developed to address this issue. These boxes are versatile and long-lasting, so they maximise the positive characteristics of the raw material and being both recycled and recyclable they are truly environmentally friendly.
About What More UK
Launched in 1999 in the North West of England, What More UK is one of the UK’s leading suppliers of housewares, bakeware, cookware, and plasticware. The company has won numerous accolades including the Queen’s Award for Enterprise and the 2019 and 2020 Innovation Housewares Awards. What More UK is a proud member of Made in Britain, which supports and promotes British manufacturing, enabling buyers and consumers at home and abroad to identify British-made products.
For more information about What More UK and the Wham Upcycled range visit www.whatmoreuk.com