Cornstarch
Polylactic acid – or PLA – is derived from cornstarch resin and that of other natural starches, which are wholly renewable and therefore a completely sustainable resource for packaging. PLA is light, but durable and is safe and non-toxic.
Cornstarch packaging is 100% compostable and like a vegetable, will reduce down to carbon dioxide and water.
Potato Starch
The potato starch that we use comes from waste potatoes, not a crop grown expressly for their manufacture. The 100% compostable material contains no oil based materials, plastics or harmful toxins, and carries the EN13432 certification.
It’s durable, but will break down in just 12 weeks on a compost heap, making it the ideal material for multi-use retail carrier bags or hygienic domestic disposal bags.
Recycled Post-Consumer Waste
Some of our products contain recycled post-consumer waste, which is both biodegradable and compostable – and highly sustainable as a raw material. We scrupulously verify their suitability for direct contact with foodstuffs including certifications from the FDA and PIRA.
Bulrush
The result of many years research and development, and the quest for a highly sustainable, yet compostable material to revolutionise the catering disposals industry!
The bulrush we use as a raw material grows wild in the low mountain areas and marsh lands of Jiangxi Province in southeastern China, and harvesting takes place annually by local farmers, who would be unable to harvest any other type of crop on this wet land.
Due to the plant’s robust physical characteristics and rapid growth rate, Bulrush is ideal for manufacturing natural, compostable packaging products, and approximately 50 small businesses benefit from being employed in the harvesting process of biopac’s bulrush products.
Palm
Hailing from Northern India and naturally shed, the palm leaf sheaths we use for our products provide valuable employment for small village communities, in their harvesting.
Palm is a versatile and fully biodegradable and compostable material that requires no chemicals, resins or dyes. It’s hygienic, lightweight, strong and water and heat resistant; so it’s suitable for fridge/freezer storage and microwave and oven cooking (up to 220 degrees). If you’re looking for something a bit different to package and present your products – especially food – palm is a perfect choice.
Cane or Bagasse
Sugarcane is a natural by-product of the sugar industry in South East Asia that would conventionally be discarded or burnt, in order to dispose of it. Compliant with EN13432 (the European standard of compostability), our catering disposables made from this material can tolerate the freezer or microwave, and won’t absorb oil or leak.
Wood
It’s one of the oldest raw materials known to man, but to continue to use it on a large scale, we need to source it responsibly and sustainably. Our wood products are made from timber sourced from Forestry Stewardship Council (FSC) certified European timber producers. The FSC employs strict management procedures to ensure the wood is sustainably harvested.
For more information please click here http://compostme.co.uk/
Biodegradable
A biodegradable product is one that's broken down safely and relatively quickly by microbial activity into CO2, Water and Biomass – that's bacteria, moulds and fungi: good stuff!
The length of time it takes for biodegradable products to break down can vary a lot. So claiming a product is biodegradable does not guarantee how quickly it will be reduced to these three constituents.
Compostable
Composting is key! This is a biodegradable material which breaks down under composting conditions within a given time scale. It is almost synonymous with ‘biodegradable’ except it is limited to solid materials and does not apply to liquids.
Sustainable
Sustainable sourcing exists to reduce the long-term impact of catering disposables on the environment. Our sustainable ranges include products made from board which is sourced from managed and regularly re-planted forests. Such control helps to stop the depletion of natural resources and minimise ecological damage. We also use waste streams from sustainable agricultural crops. We try to minimise land displacement where crops are grown for industrial purposes.
Degradable
This term applies to materials that commonly contain additives to allow the plastic (usually Polyethylene) to break down into small fragments. These fragments will still take many years to break down and can easily enter the food chain.
Recyclable
A recyclable product or material is usually separated from the conventional waste and routed to specialist separation units who sort and clean the relevant material. They then send it to commercial companies able to use the material.
Common materials handled in this way are: glass, metal cans, paper and cardboard. Plastics are difficult to recycle because of the many different polymers used to make them; these cannot be mixed in recycling streams.
Useful links:
http://www.wrap.org.uk/index.html Waste & Resources Action Programme
http://www.nnfcc.co.uk/ National Centre for Biorenewable Energy, Fuels and Materials
http://www.pira-international.com/Home.aspx PIRA Printing Industry Research Association.
www.organics-recycling.org.uk Association for Organics Recycling - we dig compost