The styrofoam-like packaging material is primarily made of fungus roots and residues from farming. The manufacturing process begins by mixing mycelia, or fungus sprouts, with seedlings or other residues from agriculture. Mycelia acts as a natural adhesive by the virtue of a network of wire-like cells. Without the need for either light, water or any chemical additives, the mycelium grows by and around the residues.

The residues are arranged in such a manner that they create the desired packaging design upon the growth of the mycelia. Mushroom Packaging is also easy to mould post-creation. After about one week, growth is stopped by a drying and heat treatment process. The result is a fully natural composite material that has similar material properties like synthetic foam plastics such as styrofoam.

Unlike styrofoam, Mushroom Packaging consists of 100 percent biodegradable and renewable material that can be broken down in the compost at home after use. Mushroom Packaging, therefore, contributes to “up-cycling” as it provides new value to agricultural waste that otherwise has few other uses and low economic value. Additionally, using the inherent growth power of mushrooms, packaging can be manufactured with minimal energy use.

Compared with polystyrene foam or polyurethane products, mycelium is stronger. It is hydrophobic and flame resistant, which are beneficial properties for applications  in industries such as packaging and clothing. Mycelium foam is also resilient, insulating, and breathable.

There are many other applications for mycelium-based products other than foams and plastics. Footwear, leather alternatives, and lampshades can all be made from the same procedure that yields mycelium foam. The foam can be used like a leather substitute, moulded to create textiles, clothing, and shoes.

Source

Packaging Damages does not mean that your product got damages. Its directly related to material used and real distribution environment. Sometimes  you can face issue if your display box gets damaged due to poor quality material as display box considered as a part of product. So what can you do in that case? Below are some tips:

1. Define Your Shipping Unit

2. Define What You Consider Acceptable Damage

3. Define Your Distribution Environments

4. Determine Your Unique Assurance Level

5. Set Up Your Testing Procedures

PackagingConnections' team of design experts can help you ton reduce/eliminate your packaging damages, please visit Packaging Design Solutions- PacakgingConnections.com (packagingconnections.com) forr more details

Marine macroalgae, commonly known as seaweed, are an important group of biopolymers that have been studied regarding their film-forming properties to produce edible films intended as food packaging and active ingredient carriers. It has also received much interest and attention in applications related to energy, tissue engineering, and biosensors, as well as drug delivery applications.

An edible film is categorized as a thin layer of encasing material which is an integral part of food and can be eaten together with it. They have been used to avoid food quality deterioration due to physio-chemical changes, texture changes, or chemical reactions and also food packaging waste.

Polysaccharide is promising edible polymer as, it is cheap, readily available, biocompatible and environmentally friendly. Cellulose, starch and chitosan are natural renewable sources of polysaccharide, which has been commonly applied as edible films for the purpose of prolonging the shelf life of fresh fruits and vegetables, reducing the oil/fat absorption in fried food and hindering the loss of food flavour.

Similar to other polysaccharide materials, seaweed is also a green, abundantly available and inexpensive source of polysaccharide.

Seaweed-based biopolymers such as alginates, agar and carrageenans have been used in recent years due to their good barrier properties to oxygen, carbon dioxide, and lipids. However, seaweed films exhibit relatively low water vapour barrier properties and mechanical strength compared to conventional non-renewable polymers. Therefore, seaweed is usually mixed with other components to improve the properties of seaweed films.

Seaweed nanocomposite films have been previously developed with brown seaweeds crude extracts; kombu (Laminaria japonica) and sargassum (Sargassum natans). Some films are reinforced with cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) from seaweed biomass.

Among the seaweed derivatives, alginate is the most investigated film-making material. Although alginate films are strong, they exhibit poor water resistance because of their hydrophilic nature. The ability of alginate to make strong and insoluble gels improves with the addition of calcium. However, gel formation of alginate with calcium ions is so instantaneous that it hinders film casting in some cases.

Apple puree and essential oil and sago starch and lemongrass oil/glycerol and montmorillonite (MMT) are also added to alignate to improve properties.

Edible films and coatings are promising systems to be used as active ingredient carries, since such films can be carrier of antioxidants, antimicrobials, nutraceuticals, and flavoring agents or other additives to improve the mechanical integrity, handling, and quality of food products.

Learn More:

https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1757-899X/193/1/012003/pdf

http://www.ifrj.upm.edu.my/22%20(06)%202015/(8).pdf

https://tigerprints.clemson.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3668&context=all_dissertations

http://www.expresspolymlett.com/letolt.php?file=EPL-0007678&mi=cc

Oil spills and industrial discharge into water bodies are common phenomena. Even though water and oil are immiscible, separating the two components to restore the purity of water bodies can be challenging.

To tackle this long sustained issue, researchers have developed sponges made out of wood that selectively absorb oil. These sponges are reusable.

With a spring-like lamellar structure, these sponges can be repeatedly squeezed without structural failure.

Xiaoqing Wang led the team at the Chinese Academy of Forestry to remove hemicellulose and lignin from the cell walls of balsa wood using certain chemicals. This led to the creation of a cellulose skeleton, a highly porous structure which was then freeze dried. Once freeze dried, the team grew a water-repelling polymer within the pores via a silylation process.

The material is able to absorb oil up to the equivalent of 41 times its own weight. This figure varies based on the type of oil it is being used against. Based on rigorous testing and multiple trials, the sponge is always able to absorb at least 16 times its weight. In addition, the sponge could endure at least 10 cycles of absorption and squeezing. After 10 uses, the sponge would still produce results but with lesser efficiency.

Once the sponge is no longer usable, it is safely biodegradable, without leaving behind any harmful components.

The results of this research have been reported in ACS Nano.

With each passing year, social media platforms become an increasingly popular choice for promoting businesses, establishing brands and marketing products. Along with advancements in design capabilities, in terms of both performance and visual appeal, the easy and almost free access to reach over millions of users (and customers) across multiple apps makes for a competitive market.

However, if tread on strategically, this route leads to endless opportunities. Following are a few popular social media trends to consider for your company or brand in 2020:

LESS IS MORE

The idea is to make a long lasting impact in a matter of seconds. You want your product, or the depiction of your product, to be eye-catchy. An informative yet simple approach that can be remembered moments after scrolling past a weekly post on an 8-inch screen is the ultimate goal.

DIGITAL APPEAL

The old practices of testing product packaging from a retail shelf have now transformed. Now, instead of focusing on how the light plays on a color in a grocery store, the aim is to create an attractive image on digital screens that leads customers to stores to specifically buy that product. Or even better, order them online!

INFLUENCERS

With every opinion being voiced on social media, whether it be political or simply a product review, consumers are now marketers. Today, making your customers a part of your movement is the easiest way to increase traction.

An example of a company that has successfully incorporated many latest yet ever-changing trends in its brand image is IMPACT SNACKS.

With a social cause, catchy slogan, clean packaging and effective use of social media, they have committed their consumers to their movement.

https://www.impactsnacks.co/

"Great Packaging Design Begins With Right Structural Design"

We at PackagingConnections are just trying to do just that and happy to announce our Packaging Design Services for paper board & corrugated board related designs. Please see video for some more information at https://youtu.be/bJgGnNTfXbw 

For further details, please email to design@packagingconnections.com and then we can discuss further. 

We will be offering the following services:

1. Packaging Design and development for innovative, protective and sustainable packaging
2. Cost savings audit/ideas
3. Damage reduction
4. Packaging compliance
5. P ackaging material testing
    

More details at https://www.packagingconnections.com/design/

With joy to you all,

Sandeep Kumar Goyal
Founder & CEO https://www.linkedin.com/in/packaging/

A Life Cycle Assessment, commonly known as an LCA, is defined as the systematic analysis of the environmental impact of products during their entire life cycle.

During an LCA, environmental impacts are evaluated through production, use and disposal phases. This includes all the upstream and downstream processes associated with production (e.g. production of raw, auxiliary and operating materials) and with disposal (e.g. waste treatment).

Today, there are maybe online and offline pre-programmed softwares available to make the Life Cycle assessment of a product easy. 

The GaBi Packaging Calculator by Sphera is an LCA calculator specially designed for packaging. The web-based configuration tool allows you to create life cycle assessments and to simulate alternative packaging designs. At the heart of the tool is a fully parameterized LCA model that traces the entire packaging product lifecycle. It contains dozens of GaBi datasets on materials and manufacturing processes that play a role in the production of packaging.

http://www.gabi-software.com/international/software/gabi-envision/gabi-packaging-calculator/

Ecodex is another Life Cycle calculator by Selerant which caters to industries not limited to packaging. Ecodex allows product developers to easily make a sustainability assessment of a product, based on the evaluation of carbon footprint, water use, energy use, land use and other criteria. It allows one to make early decisions and to compare alternate ingredients, packaging, manufacturing and sourcing scenarios.The user can select the materials, manufacturing processes and transport routes that correspond to the current processes in the production of the packaging, enter values in the fields provided for each parameter.

https://www.selerant.com/eco-design/lca-analysis/

There are just two examples of the many resources in the market now to aid better decision making in the long run. 
An LCA during the design process can significantly impact our understanding of environmental bearing of any product and should be considered a must on every level and scale of economy.

A product or service’s carbon footprint is an important consideration in calculating its overall environmental impact. It takes into account any environmental trade-offs that may be involved in the process of provision. Ultimately, an entity’s carbon footprint is explained based on the net change of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere due to its production and use.

These terms, however, can be very confusing, for both consumers and industry professionals, as they are not as self-explanatory as they appear to be. Following is a list of all possible terms and definitions related to carbon footprint for clarity:

CARBON FOOTPRINT: The amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions associated with all the activities of a person or other entity (e.g., building, corporation, country, etc.). It includes direct emissions, such as those that result from fossil-fuel combustion in manufacturing, heating, and transportation, as well as emissions required to produce the electricity associated with goods and services consumed. In addition, the carbon footprint concept also often includes the emissions of other greenhouse gases, such as methane, nitrous oxide, or chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs).

CARBON NEUTRAL: An activity that releases net zero carbon emissions into the atmosphere.

CARBON ZERO: The same as CARBON NEUTRAL.

CLIMATE POSITIVE: An activity that goes beyond achieving net zero carbon emissions and creates an environmental benefit by removing additional carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

CARBON NEGATIVE: The same as CLIMATE POSITIVE. The confusion is usually caused as a good action in defined by the term negative.

CARBON POSITIVE: Contrary to popular instinct, CARBON POSITIVE means the same as CARBON NEGATIVE and CLIMATE POSITIVE. It is often confused to be the opposite of CARBON NEGATIVE and can be understood as positive emissions, which is not true. CARBON POSITIVE is less commonly used as compared to CLIMATE POSITIVE AND CARBON NEGATIVE. The term CARBON POSITIVE is most aptly used to define a process that produces more energy than it needs and feeds that energy back into the grid.

Watch out for our next blog on Life Cycle Analysis to learn more about the different measures used to determine the environmental impact of products.

https://www.britannica.com/science/carbon-footprint

What is 3D Printing?

Also known as additive manufacturing, 3D printing take a digital file as input to produce solid, three dimensional objects by ejecting molten plastic (or bioplastic) on to a base and gradually building up the design by layers. Each layer can be seen as a thinly sliced horizontal cross-section of the eventual object.

Benefits of 3D Printing

1. The super-speed to prototype: 3D printing technology is exponentially faster than most other manufacturing methods and is the best way to test products before initiating full blown production.
2. High levels customization and creative design: Computer-Aided Design (CAD) modelling and simulation prior to making any investments in raw material or production machinery  enhances the overall design process and final product quality. Visualization capabilities of design ideas have grown immensely since the introduction of 3D printing. 
3. Versatile Application: 3D printing can be used to manufacture both the product and the machinery required to manufacture the product.

3D Printing in Use

SMART CUPS

Smart Cups is a California-based start-up that ships empty biodegradable plastic cups with polycapsule flavours created with additive manufacturing. When water is added to these cups, it turns into flavourful energy drinks. This happens because of the 3D printed capsules embedded in the cup, which react with the water to produce the drink.

The product is not only one-of-its-kind in its category but also leads to a sharp reduction in storage and transportation requirements. The manufacturing process is also completely waterless.

Currently, the primary factor holding 3D printing back from going mainstream in packaging remains the higher costs in scaling up production using 3D printers compared with more standard formats.

2020 is all about self-care, personal growth and self-reflection. An important subject to ponder over during this introspection is the ginormous amount of single-use packaging that accompanies beauty and personal care products. 

Shampoos, body washes, makeup, perfumes, all usually housed in single-use plastic or glass containers, continue to add to the huge pile of waste with the growth of the beauty industry.

Many brands have started making efforts to make their products more sustainable and eco-friendly which has led to many innovative packaging designs, materials and technologies.

Following are a few zero-waste products which can revolutionize the personal care industry: 

SOAPBOTTLE.

SOAPBOTTLE is a packaging for soap, made from soap. As the content within will be used, the soap packaging will gradually dissolve too. When the contents have been used, the remnants of the packaging can be used again, as hand soap or processed into detergents. Waste is completely avoided by not using a plastic, metal or glass container to encase the soap.

SOAPBOTTLE video from SOAPBOTTLE on Vimeo

http://jonnabreitenhuber.de/soapbottle.html

PATCH

PATCH is a 100% compostable and vegan alternative to traditional band-aids. It is crafted with natural bamboo fibre with the added activated charcoal, aloe vera and coconut oil. Only natural, organic, biodegradable and sustainable resources are used in the production of this product, including the packaging.

https://us.patchstrips.com/
 

LAST OBJECT

Last Object’s products LastSwab, LastTissue and LastRound are designed to last. They aim to replace everyday, travel-size products that can be used on-the-go and are single-use for convenience with long lasting, reusable and sustainable alternatives. Their products are reusable, easy-to-clean and extremely mindful of the environment.

LastSwab, one of their products, is the world’s first reusable cotton swab. Made from TPE, PP, and stored in an bio-based carrying case, one LastSwab is meant to replace 1000 single-use cotton swabs.

https://lastobject.com/

The medical devices industtry is full of Acronyps/Abbreviations and many a times we struggle to find which one is which, so following is the list of some of them that you may like to refer:

DDP                     Distinct Dose Pen 

DHF                     Design History File per FDA Regulation 21 CFR 820

DHR                     Device History Record

DMR                    Device Master Record 

DSA                     Development and Service Agreement

QTA                    Quality and Technical Agreement

MSA                    Manufacturing and Supply Agreement

EEC                      European Economic Community

DV                       Design Verification/ Design Validation

FAT                      Factory Acceptance Test

FDP                      Fixed Dose Pen

GMP                    Good Manufacturing Practice                  

HFF                      Human Factor Formative Studies

HFS                      Human Factor Summative Study

SAT                      Site Acceptance Test

V&V                     Verification and Validation

FDA                     Food and Drug Administration

EMA                    European Medicines Agency

RLD                      Reference Listed Drug

Amid the social distancing and lock down protocols instated due to the spread of covid-19, a surge in the use of plastic, especially single-use plastic, has been observed worldwide. While most countries have also observed an improvement in air and water qualities, there has been a significant increase in improperly discarded plastic coming from the medical and packaging industry.

Based on research, the virus can live on plastic surfaces for 2-3 days, which is a lot longer than carboard (1 day), which has been widely accepted as a replacement for many packaging instances in recent times. Then why the sudden return to old habits?

• The single-use nature of plastic is being observed as a boon in these times, when sanitation is prime concern.
• Many regions have banned the use of reusable bags and have revoked and/or delayed their respective plastic bag bans.
• Common misconceptions regarding reused and recycled products being unsanitary or not as sanitary as single-use plastic has affected the mass’ behaviour.

It is also predicted that such habits, developed under fear and stress, will remain for a long time after the stressor has been removed.

The previously taken measures to reduce the amount of packaging used has also been sidelined in the wake of widespread fatalities due to coronavirus. Stakeholder interest lies completely in multiple safety barriers.

Another factor contributing to the sudden increase in plastic packaging and associated packaging waste is the fact that online shopping itself has peaked due to the public’s fear to leave the house. Since more packages means more packaging, we can only expect to see a growth in this year’s plastic production and disposal.

What might have been previously stated as a blessing for the environment, could rather be detrimental in the long run. In such a situation, it is imperative that technologies that can tackle the influx of plastic waste are developed and policies to better sort, collect and dispose packaging waste are upheld.

 https://edition.cnn.com/2020/05/04/world/coronavirus-plastic-waste-pollution-intl/index.html

Hello Friends

PackagingConnections is overjoyed to announce the Premium Webinar services for anybody who would be interested to share packaging information with the huge packaging community of PackagingConnections. As you know we have more than 100K members at www.PackagingConnections.com receiving our weekly newsletter with useful packaging information since 2005. So far we had been successfully sending the weekly newsletter every week non-stop since 2005. Afterall PackagingConnections is Your Destination for Anything in Packaging!

Now due to the Corona pandemic, the much awaited vale of webinars has been highly recognised and appreciated. Its. also important from the webinar organizer’s point of view that quality content is offered in a short time and clearly. So after the big success of Introduction to Packaging Connections and then Sustainability in Packaging, we had many requests to offer our webinar platform to others. Finally we have decided to do so at a fee which we can discuss. It will be a paid service and will cover the following:

1. Introduction of webinar topic to our global audiences
2. Managing registrations
3. Following up to join
4. Moderating the webinar
5. Post webinar follow up
6. Sharing the data of registrant to organizer
7. Hosting of content on our channels if required

This service can be used for the announcement of any new event, customer meets, introduction of new products, sharing educational packaging information, sharing innovations, introducing new companies etc, choice is yours but everything and anything around packaging.

This is general approach and we can discuss this in detail how to go forward. So if you are interested  then please contact us at info@packagingconnections.com or visit our services page at https://www.packagingconnections.com/webinar/services/

Joyfully yours

Sandeep Kumar Goyal
Founder & CEO https://www.linkedin.com/in/packaging/

During this Corona crisis, there had been number of webinars and that too free. Initially I was tempted and then I realised that most of them have been sucking my energy with no real take away. Later I invested into some paid webinars and then realised the marked difference. I analysed the reasons behind and some of the top 5 reasons that I could think are:

A Paid Webinar:

1. 1. Is likely  not to be sponsored by a third party so no direct push sales
2. 2. Is not aiming to sell a product/service or act as advertisement
3. 3. Can be held accountable for the information it provides
4. 4. Is more likely to provide a holistic overview of subject at hand
5. 5. Organizers value your time and are accountable for the content

And there are many more reasons, so we have to be careful who is offering the webinar and what could be the motive behind? Every free webinar is not bad but we have to be careful as saying goes, there is no free lunch,

Have a great day,

As members of the packaging industry, the largest contributor of both plastic generation and plastic waste globally, we must constantly engage ourselves to find alternatives to this very gradual yet potent destruction of the environment.

Packaging connections recently conducted a survey asking members of the industry about various technologies and plausible alternatives and how they believe they could make a change. We also asked them about the extent of implementation on a personal level.  The results were rather intriguing and pushed us to dig deeper.

As a generalization, it would be correct to claim the following:

• Education on eco-friendly substitutes is rather inadequate and even if there is awareness, it is not beyond surface level.
• Industry members are unaware of the pros and cons of newer technology. This is primarily because clear longer term impacts of these alternatives, such as bioplastics, have yet not been established.
• There is still more awareness than implementation of sustainable measures.

After carefully reading through all responses and then researching further, we decided to host a webinar to elucidate some grey areas regarding sustainability in packaging. From unclear terms to the market’s effort to change the norms, we will try and ponder over all the aspects of sustainability that require immediate attention. The webinar is on 5th August 2020. The link is https://www.packagingconnections.com/webinar/sustainability/ Its a premium webinar and so its a paid one. You will get lots of information to take home in 1 hour.

Packaging Connections believes that to see the change, we must be the change and this is just our first step in the right direction. Constant conversation and genuine efforts are our only hope to turn over a new leaf. We attempt to spark some ideas and further strengthen a collective determination to be more sustainable through the means of an informative session.

The details to sign up are https://www.packagingconnections.com/webinar/sustainability/  and we really hope for you to join!  

With the growing demand for more sustainable and eco-friendly alternatives to plastic in the packaging industry, many developments have been made in the field of bio-based materials in the recent past.

Following are a few innovations that demonstrate potential.

1. 1. https://www.novamont.com/eng/mater-bi
    MATER-BI: Developed by Novamont, Mater-Bi is a biodegradable and compostable bioplastic made from starches, cellulose, vegetable oil. Packaging of this material can be collected as organic waste and can be industrially composted according to the European standard UNI EN 13432.  It can be made into films, rigid and semi-rigid containers and woven nets. Pens, cutlery and foamed fillers can also be made for mater-bi.
   
   
   
    

2. 2. YXY TECHNOLOGY: Avantium’s Polyethylene furanoate (PEF) is a bioplastic made from fructose. PEF is 100% recyclable with an improved barrier against oxygen and carbon-dioxide and displays higher mechanical strength. These characteristics lead to a longer shelf life for packaged products and make PEF packaging more resource efficient. PEF degrades much faster than PET under industrial composting conditions (250-400 days with air/oxygen @ 58°C in soil) as shown by the first results of tests by Organic Waste Systems (OWS) (Gent, Belgium). The biodegradability of PEF under ambient conditions is under investigation (10-year field trial). These properties make it a suitable material for packaging in the food industry.

As compared to PET:

• PEF’s oxygen barrier is 10 times better
• PEF’s carbon dioxide barrier is 6 to 10 times better
• PEF’s water barrier is twice as good

The Tg of PEF is 86°C compared to 74°C of PET and the Tm of PEF is 235°C compared to 265°C of PET.

Tg – glass transition temperature           Tm – melting point

https://www.avantium.com/technologies/yxy/

3. 3. LIMEX: Developed by Japanese start-up TB-M, LIMEX is a material made from limestone (and polyolefin resin used as a binder) that can replace paper and plastic in packaging.

• Virtually Inexhaustible
• High efficiency recyclability
• Flexible Moulding

LIMEX is available both in the form of sheets and pellets and is suitable for diverse moulding methods including injection moulding, extrusion moulding, vacuum moulding, and blow moulding. Even though LIMEX is a composite material, it does not require custom equipment and can be processed using traditional methods and machinery.

TB-M is currently working on biodegradable LIMEX that replaces polyolefin resin with biomass-based and biodegradable raw material.

https://tb-m.com/en/limex/about/

1. 1. DUOPACK - is an innovative double flexible packaging patented in many countries of the world. This package is based on widely distributed flexible stand-up pouch with one feature - in the middle there is a partition that divides the inside products into two isolated parts. In this way, the consumer can use this package to extract alternately or jointly-internally the foods according to his taste and discretion.
2. 2. DUOPACK - is the continuation of the duality trend of packaging and the next step in the development  of flexible packaging doy-pack pouch.
3. 3. DUOPACK - in contrast to the plastic and glass packaging, has additional advantages for both the manufacturer and the consumer.

Benefits of DUOPACK

1. 1.The unusual and creative form of Duopack instantly allows you to stand out among competitors on supermarket shelves in standard doypack, as well as other types of packaging!
2. 2. The ability to combine in one package Duopack not only two different products with the same volume of 50/50, but also with different volumes: 30/70; 40/60, as well as different consistency!
3. 3. The latest developments in the field of biodegradable films allow the creation of environmentally friendly double packaging!
4. 4. The packaging is indestructible, it is very light, completely covered with a multi-color image, and also takes shape when filling!

Oberschleissheim, June 8, 2020 – Patients suffering from life-threatening allergies always carry a life-saving companion with them: an adrenaline autoinjector in order to immediately inject themselves in the event of an anaphylactic shock and to thus counter an allergic reaction. For the emergency drug epinephrine from TEVA, Schreiner MediPharm developed an Autoinjector-Label with special protection against abrasion. Thus, the vital user and product information remains perfectly legible over an extended period of time. The label won an award in the 2019 TLMI Competition.

Key features:

1. For emergency drug in an adrenaline autoinjector
2. Special protection ahgainst abraison
3. Vital information perfectly legible over an extended period of time

With a growing need to develop sustainable alternatives to plastic, especially in the packaging industry, many novel technologies have surfaced. Bioplastics is one such category of substitutes for the highly versatile and highly polluting plastic.

Bioplastics are considered to be a lot more eco-friendly than ordinary plastics and are quickly replacing them in many industries. However, there are many misconception in the consumer community regarding the production and disposal of the same.

Through this blog, questions such as, “What are bioplastics made of?” and “Can I compost bioplastics myself?” will be answered.

To begin with, what really are bioplastics?

Bioplastics can be confused for both biodegradable plastics and bio-based plastics.

Bio-based plastics are made from plant material instead of oil and that is essentially all it means. A bio-based plastic is not necessarily biodegradable, compostable or even recyclable. Biodegradable plastics can be either plant-based or petroleum-based or both and decay naturally without producing any toxins.

A compostable plastic is defined by the standards association ASTM International (ASTM) as “a plastic that undergoes degradation by biological processes during composting to yield carbon dioxide (CO2), water, inorganic compounds, and biomass at a rate consistent with other known compostable materials and that leaves no visible, distinguishable, or toxic residue.”[1]

ALL COMPOSTABLE MATERIAL IS BIODEGRADABLE, BUT NOT ALL BIODEGRADABLE MATERIAL IS COMPOSTABLE.

In this blog, bioplastics are going to refer to bio-based plastics.

While a lot of bioplastics are compostable, they can only be composted in controlled environments with microorganisms at certain, usually higher, temperatures. This means they are industrially compostable and not home compostable.

So which bin do you throw a bioplastic “compostable” cup in?

If thrown in the recycling, compostable bioplastics act as a contaminant for other plastics that are meant to be recyclable. They also cannot be thrown in the compost because that is meant for home composting. It is not paper waste either.  Which leaves us with only one option: THE TRASH.

Currently, there is a lack of composting grounds to implement widespread production and use of compostable bioplastics. Even when compostable bioplastic products, such as compostable cups, reach the appropriate recycling facility with the required infrastructure to process bioplastics, there just is not enough of it to be useful. As of today, most bioplastics still end up in landfills.

The only essential benefit of bio-based plastics is the alternative renewable source of production which lacks the repercussions of petrochemical processing. Using a plant source avoids greenhouse gas emissions as opposed to using fossil-fuel feedstock.  However, use of crops has its own consequences. High-level inputs of water, pesticides and fertilizers to grow the plant source can be questioned to be environmentally detrimental.

There are multiple trade-offs that need to be considered in the production and use of said alternatives like bioplastics. Improper or incomplete implementation of processing methods can be equally damaging as continuing the production and use of plastic.

Thus, the need of the hour is not only better technologies, but also equally advanced execution.

ASTM International - Standards Worldwide.  Available at: <https://www.astm.org/>&nbsp;

https://www.thejournal.ie/readme/coffee-compostable-cups-landfill-41603…

https://sustainablepackaging.org/bioplastics-in-packaging/