What does biodegradable mean for today’s manufacturers? Let’s start by defining biodegradable.

According to the Cambridge English dictionary, biodegradable materials are ‘able to decay naturally and in a way that is not harmful.’ This is usually with the help of micro-organisms such as bacteria or fungi which will feed on the material and break it down harmlessly.

To be clear,  in a regulatory sense, biodegradable and compostable are seen as being equivalent.

There are 2 areas to consider whether using these less harmful materials would be possible for your business:

 

Packaging

The ability to decay naturally makes biodegradable materials attractive for product packaging in particular. The environmental effects of product packaging make grim reading. For instance, by 2025, there will be 1 tonne of plastic for every 3 tonnes of fish in the ocean.

Cardboard is the best-known biodegradable packaging material as it is plant-based and will degrade naturally if not combined with plastics or certain additives.

However, certain bioplastics are biodegradable or compostable, too, such as plant starch-based PLA which is often used in packaging, shopping bags, and other single-use applications.

Products

Bioplastics aren’t known for toughness and so usually aren’t used to make products that have a long life expectancy, like consumer electronics for example. This is changing, though, as electrical giant Electrolux showed by building a refrigerator where 80% of the visible plastics were bioplastics. Until the supply and cost improves, however, manufacturers will be better served by exploring bioplastics as a source of packaging.

One area where biodegradable production materials are used to make full products is in single-use foodware such as cups, cutlery, plates, and cartons. These may be made from a bioplastic, bamboo fiber blend, or cardboard.

 

Is there a standard for biodegradability when using plastics?

Yes, in regard to bioplastics the standards ISO 17088:2012 Specifications for compostable plastics or BS EN 13432 are used to:

Identify correctly plastics, and products made from plastics, which will disintegrate and biodegrade satisfactorily under composting conditions and will not leave any persistent or toxic residues.

The four following aspects are addressed:

  1. biodegradation;
  2. disintegration during composting;
  3. negative effects on the composting process and facility;
  4. negative effects on the quality of the resulting compost, including the presence of high levels of regulated metals and other harmful components.

Read our free whitepaper on bioplastics as alternatives to harmful oil-based plastics

Bioplastics have a really important role to play if we are to avoid that sobering statistic about ocean plastic becoming reality.

This whitepaper explores the rising interest in bioplastics and their common types and applications, sepcifically for manufacturers who are interested in becoming more eco friendly.

About Adrian Leighton

Adrian is the Sofeast group's experienced marketer and has worked in manufacturing for around a decade. He has a particular interest in new product development and sharing important manufacturing news from China.If you've read, watched, or listened to some Sofeast content, Adrian has probably had a hand in it!
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