Thermoplastic is the material we use to make our furniture and floors. This means, a plastic that we can melt, and mould to our liking, by applying heat to it. Upon cooling, it will harden to its initial properties. This way, we can extend the long life of this material, recycling it to shape new items.

The range of thermoplastics is very wide. At Decoplastic we bet mainly on the use of:

• Polyvinyl chloride (PVC)
  PVC is a well-known and widespread material. It has a great resistance to wear, withstanding temperatures between -40ºC and + 80ºC. One of its main advantages is its fire resistance, being PVC self-extinguishing, which means, when we remove the flame, fire extinguish.
  
  At Decoplastic we use PVC to manufacture multiple furniture and storage solutions, such as shelves, benches, coat racks, trolleys and lockers. Thanks to its versatility, smooth surface and resistance to acid, most chemicals, oil and humidity, is the proper material for this purpose. Its properties allow quick cleaning and decontamination.

• Linear Low Density Polyethylene (LLDPE)
  It is very flexible and shows great resistance to impacts since it has a great cushioning capacity. In addition, it offers good chemical resistance.
  
  For this reason, at Decoplastic we use this material to manufacture our decking tiles. Being able to reach temperatures between -60ºC and + 70ºC and offering resistance to acid, most chemicals, oil and humidity.

Like any other material, both PVC and the rest of the plastics that we use at Decoplastic need adequate maintenance so that their useful life is as long as possible. Fortunately, the routine that we must follow so that our shelves, lockers, benches, etc. keep perfect is very simple and easy to apply.

Before seeing in detail how we should clean these surfaces, we must think that this material does not have an infinite duration. It can have a durability of 25 years in perfect condition if we make a proper use and respect the functionality for which each product was designed. After this time, if we observe that it loses consistency in its structure, we can recycle this material to give a new useful life. Melting it and mixing it with a variable percentage of virgin material depending on its hardening to make new pieces.

It is advisable to use water, neutral soap or, if there are oil stains, we can use a grease remover detergent. We can also apply disinfectant products that we use regularly to keep our facilities clean and free of bacteria, or those products that we apply against COVID-19.

We will apply these cleaning products with soft cloths. PVC is very easy to clean and does not require great efforts for proper maintenance.

Although it has a good resistance, we always recommend that, before applying a product that generates any doubt, testing it in a small place to see the reaction it may cause on our PVC surface.

At Decoplastic we try to minimize the use of PVC environmental impact. That is the reason why we recycle 100% of the excess material in our production process.

The system we use for recycling is mechanical. All the PVC we recycle comes from our manufacturing process. It comes from material not used like surplus, remnants or factory defects. During this process, the waste is carefully selected and classified. After, it goes to a mill that reduces the material to chips. After this process, we melt the material again to mould new pieces.

The advantage is that we can repeat this process several times, by adding a variable percentage of virgin material, without the PVC losing its essential properties. Therefore, we extend the useful long life of the material.