FAQ - frequently asked questions

Do your products contain bisphenol-A?
 

To know whether a product is bisphenol-free or not, you can look at the underside of the product. Many of our products are marked with a material clock that shows the material the product is made of.

On our website you can also download product data sheets where it is clearly stated whether the product is BPA-free using the BPA-free symbol.

Are your products recyclable?

Whether a product can be recycled largely depends on the material it is made of.
We manufacture and supply products in four different materials;

- Thermoplastics
- Thermosetting plastic
- Laminate
- Porcelain

Thermoplastics
Thermoplastics have very good recycling properties and the thermoplastics we use can be 100% recycled. Thermoplastics are therefore well suited for circulation in closed systems. Examples of thermoplastics are Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET), Polypropylene (PP) and Polyethylene (PE). We manufacture, among other things, plastic glasses, plates and juice containers from thermoplastics.

Thermosetting plastic
Thermoplastics are very durable plastics that cannot be reshaped after they have been manufactured. This category includes products such as S-Plank. Thermoplastics are not recyclable, something that is largely compensated for by the almost lifelong durability.

Laminate
Laminate trays can be fully or partially recycled. Our range includes trays made of bio-laminate where a biodegradable binder is used in production.

Porcelain
Our range also includes high-quality porcelain. Porcelain cannot be recycled into new porcelain, but spent material can be reused in the construction industry.

Where are your products manufactured?

All products included in our product catalog are manufactured primarily in Sweden, and secondarily in Europe.

Our own brand MALKO is produced locally in Eskilstuna by our sister company Mälarplast. Mälarplast has many years of experience with materials intended for contact with food and they ensure that our products are of the highest quality.

In addition to our own brand, we work with a few selected suppliers from the organization EPIQ which is an association of European producers of quality catering products.

Are your products food approved?

At Roltex, we only work with materials and products that are food approved. Most of our products are marked with the glass and fork symbol. If there is no marking, we can send a certificate that confirms the material the product is made of and that the product is food approved.

That the glass and fork symbol is missing may be due to space reasons, or that the tool for the product has not been updated with the symbol. In these cases, we can certify that the material is food approved through our REACH statement or DoC.

We want to customize a product, is that possible?

We are happy to help develop products according to our customers' specific needs. It could, for example, be about a material change to achieve a certain characteristic, or color matching so that the product fits into a company's profile. We also offer printing, engraving and embossing of our products, which is a simple and cost-effective way to reach out with a message.

Our sister company Mälarplast, which produces the majority of our products, can also assist with larger product development projects, from tool making to prototypes and prepackaged products.

Are your products dishwasher safe?

All products in our range can be washed in the dishwasher and industrial dishwasher, unless otherwise stated. Plastic products are suitable for operating temperatures between -20°C to +85°C. Maximum temperature for washing programs should be 60-65°C and 70-85°C for drying programs. Higher temperatures can damage the material.

Plastic products
Some strong basic washing-up, rinsing and drying agents can cause micro-cracks in the material, which leads to a shortened lifespan of the product. We recommend a PH value below 10, 7-8 is ideal.

Polycarbonate (PC) products are sensitive to certain chemicals. It is important to check that detergents and drying agents are recommended for use with PC products.

Contact your detergent supplier for advice on detergents for plastic products.

Trays
For hygienic reasons and as a safety measure, you should always wash your tray before use. Our trays are dishwasher safe. Never allow dishwasher detergent to dry on the product as it can leave a coating that can be difficult to remove.

Trays made of laminate or bio-laminate must be stacked dry to prevent moisture from penetrating the tray and causing deformation.

Are your products microwave safe?

Our products can be used for heating food in the microwave, but we advise against cooking. This is because each microwave oven has a different maximum power, which means that we cannot guarantee that the product cannot be damaged at temperatures that exceed our recommendations.

We have plates that have become discolored, what is the cause?

Certain foods such as ketchup and curry tend to leave stains on plastic products if the food is left standing for a long time. In some cases, heat has also been shown to be a contributing factor to discolorations being etched into plastic materials. Therefore, make sure to rinse off the product immediately after use. Rinsing off products with mild soapy water also prevents possible build-up of discoloration and deposits.

If a product has become discolored, this can be remedied with simple housewives' tricks - a splash of vinegar left on for a few minutes can remove discoloration. Bicarbonate mixed with a little water and rubbed over the discoloration can also have an effect.

Are your products environmentally friendly?

Plastic is in many ways one of the most environmentally friendly materials you can choose. The low weight of the plastic reduces carbon dioxide emissions during transport, and the energy consumption in the entire production process is lower than for many alternative materials. But the biggest advantage of plastic is that thermoplastics, from which we produce all plastic crockery and equipment, can be recycled and turned into new plastic products. This also applies to bio-based plastics, which most of our products are today made from (see "What is a bioplastic" for more information on bioplastics).

Roltex and our sister company Mälarplast are both environmentally certified according to ISO 14001:2015. Our production facility is equipped with solar cells that generate approx. 130 MWh per year, which corresponds to the annual consumption of electricity for the production of Roltex' products, or approx. 10% of the production's total electricity consumption.

We also recycle all waste and scrap from our own production. The waste is sorted, ground down and can then be used for new plastic products. By handing in used plastic products to an environmental station, you as users of our products are also doing an environmental deed.

To make it easier for our customers to make environmentally friendly choices, we have also introduced the Green Loop System, a model where our products are reused in the business instead of being bought in, used and thrown away. Through product recycling, the lifespan is extended by over 30 years, but in practice there is no upper limit to how long the material can be circulated as it is continuously mixed up with newer material from the closed system. A plate made of recycled PET-G has a climate footprint that is 86% lower than a plate made of opal glass.

At Roltex, we continuously work with environmental improvement measures to reduce our own and our customers' climate impact.

What is a bioplastic?

Bioplastics are a family of materials with different properties and areas of use. A material is defined as a bioplastic if it is either bio-based, biodegradable or both.

Bio-based materials are made from organic (carbon-based) materials that completely or partially replace petroleum and fossil substances.

Biodegradable is the ability of a material to undergo biodegradation, a chemical process in which microorganisms available in the environment convert materials into natural substances such as water, carbon dioxide and compost. The biodegradation process depends on surrounding environmental conditions.

Biocomposite materials combine biomaterials such as wood, starch, flax, jute and hemp, (to name a few materials) with traditional plastics. These materials are used to improve physical properties while reducing the amount of non-renewable petroleum-based plastics.

The change from petroleum-based plastics to renewable, regenerated or compostable materials can be the easiest way to ease a product's environmental impact by reducing the amount of non-renewable raw material, while at the same time improving the physical and aesthetic properties of a product.

What is BPA?

Bisphenol A, or BPA as it is often abbreviated, is an endocrine-disrupting substance that has been proven by animal experiments to have an effect on behavior, the immune system and reproductive organs, among other things.

What effects Bisphenol A has on humans is debated, as well as at what exposure levels harmful effects occur. However, studies have shown a connection between exposure to Bisephenol A and a number of different diseases such as cardiovascular diseases and diabetes. Several large studies are currently underway with the aim of mapping the impact Bisphenol A has on humans.

To reduce the exposure of BPA to babies, the substance has been banned in baby bottles since 2011 throughout the EU. The Swedish government decided in 2012 to ban Bisphenol A also in food packaging intended for children up to three years of age.

Bisphenol A is used in the production of polycarbonate plastic and expoxy is mainly found in plastic products such as CDs and DVDs, camera shells, epoxy paints, epoxy glue, printing inks and copy paper. It is also commonly used in building materials, electronics and as a surface treatment on the inside of food packaging. Low levels of Bisphenol A can migrate and thus end up in the food in eaters.

The risk with Bisphenol A is not the substance itself but how much you are exposed to it. The limit value for how much Bisphenol A is allowed to migrate from plastic is 50 micrograms per kilogram of food. The migration levels for the polycarbonate plastic that Roltex uses have very low migration levels, about 0.002 micrograms per kilogram have been measured to migrate from a glass of polycarbonate to the liquid when it has been heated in a microwave, for example.

The amount of bisphenol A we ingest is not considered harmful to health, including infants and children. It is estimated that people who are most exposed to Bisphenol A ingest 1.5 micrograms per kilogram of body weight per day. The tolerable value for Bisphenol A is 4 micrograms per kilogram of body weight per day.

Source: Swedish Food Agency https://www.livsmedelsverket.se/livsmedel-och-innehall/oonskade-amnen/bisfenol-a
Karolinska Institutet, Institute for Environmental Medicine http://ki.se/imm/bisfenol-a-bpa

What is the difference between PET and PET-G?

PET is a family of plastics that consists of several variants such as PET, PETG (PET-G), OPET, EPET and PCTG. PET can also be referred to as RPET where "R" refers to the material being regenerated, i.e. recycled.

PET, or polyethylene terephthalate, is one of the most common plastics that is commonly found in bottles, food packaging and textiles, among other things.

PET-G is a refined variant of PET with the addition of glycol (hence the suffix G). The glycol makes the material more temperature resistant and durable.

What is Tritan?

Tritan is a type of PET-G produced by the material manufacturer Eastman Chemicals Company.

What is Copolyester?

Copolyester is a collective name for modified PET, such as PET-G or APET.

Missing symbols - how do we know the product is safe?

Most of our products are marked with the glass and fork symbol, date clock and material clock. Our goal is that all products in our assortment should be marked with the above-mentioned symbols, and work is underway to update and add symbols for the products that currently lack the symbols.

If a symbol is missing, it can be due to several reasons. Space reasons are the most common reason why a product lacks symbols. It may also be because the product's tools have not yet been provided with bells and symbols. The products whose tools have not been updated have therefore been provided with a dishwasher safe label showing the symbols.

If you want to know more about the symbols or read and download material data sheets, you can download them on our website. You can also contact us and we will help you get access to the right documentation.

What is the difference between single-use plastic and reusable plastic?

Single-use plastics are, as the name suggests, plastic products that are intended to be used once before being discarded. Single-use plastic places a great burden on our environment as single-use plastic causes large amounts of waste that too often end up in our oceans and environment instead of at the recycling center where the plastic does the most good.

Reusable plastic is a term for plastics that can be used again and again, similar to porcelain and glass. Unlike disposable plastics, this type of plastic product has extremely good durability and can be used for many years without breaking even if dropped on the floor.

What is plastic?

Plastic is a collective name for many different materials. Although plastic is a synthetically produced material, the framework of all plastic is carbon atoms. Therefore, you can produce plastic from materials such as crude oil and coal, but also from minerals and plants. Depending on how the plastic is then processed, the material can have a wide variety of properties, from thin plastic bags to heavy industrial components.

The manufacturing process
Plastic manufacturing takes place in three stages:
- Raw materials are extracted
- The material is refined
- Polymerization

To manufacture plastic, the raw material must first be extracted into smaller components. In the refining process, the raw material is then transformed into substances that can form monomers. Polymerization is the process by which monomers are put together to form polymers. The plastic gets different properties depending on which monomens you start from.

Plastics are divided into two main groups, thermoplastics and thermosetting plastics.

Thermoplastic is the most common type of plastic and is easy and environmentally friendly to injection mold. Thermoplastics can be reshaped and become soft and melt when heated.

Thermosets are built up of long chains with crosslinks that are not affected by heating. Thermoplastics are formed during production and therefore cannot be melted down or reshaped.

Do your products contain harmful substances?

In our production, we only use materials that are intended to come into contact with food and are food approved. We follow requirements and guidelines from the Swedish Food Agency, EFSA (European Food Safety Authority) and FDA (the US Food and Drug Administration). All products are approved according to the EU chemical legislation REACH. We are also updated on the REACH candidate list, where all substances waiting to be investigated are listed.

Some products in our product catalog are made from the material polycarbonate, which is a plastic that contains bisphenol-A (BPA). The limit value for how much BPA is allowed to migrate from plastic is 50 micrograms per kilogram of food. The polycarbonate plastic we make our products from has migration levels well below the limit value, approx. 0.002 micrograms per kilogram.

What do the symbols mean?

Our plastic products are marked with several symbols that ensure traceability and quality of each product.
The glass and fork symbol is a guarantee that the product is safe to use for contact with food according to EU standards.

The recycling triangle indicates that the product is recyclable. Sometimes the recycling triangle is marked with a number indicating the type of plastic the product is made of.

Many of our products are manufactured in bisphenol-free PET plastics, for example Tritan®, ECOZEN® and polyamides (PA). These plastics are part of 07, which is a collective group for miscellaneous plastics. 07 therefore includes many different plastics, including the plastic Polycarbonate which contains Bisphenol A.

* Other plastics, for example PET, Melamine and Polycarbonate

In some cases, we manufacture the same product in different materials, or the number may be missing from the recycling symbol. Then we use a material clock that shows which material the product is made of. The material clock is usually placed on the underside of our products.

I can't find an answer to my question

If you do not find an answer to your question, you are most welcome to contact us.