As promised follows is a summary from the article 'Disappearing Act' from March / April Edition of ‘Brand - the Journal of Brand Technology'.
- In the UK 30 million tonnes of waste is produced annually, 40% of which is household waste that ends up in landfill.
- The pressure is on from Government and Consumers for Brand owners to curb the level of waste produced.
- The majority of renewable biodegradable packaging is starched based and derived from crops such as corn, potato or wheat. Current biodegradable plastics materials research work is focussed on orange peel, milk proteins and wood fibres.
- Biodegradable packaging essentially remains a form of recycling targeted at single use cups. Biodegradable packaging is set to replace conventional plastic serviceware for outdoor events. Could be used for food packaging take-outs; the use of compostable bags, trays and packaging means the pack could be disposed of with the food scraps.
- Biodegradable packaging may not be the solution for countries where recycling is successful e.g. Belgium, France, Italy, Spain. More suited to countries where the only solution is landfill.
- Biggest inhibitor is the much higher cost than traditional packaging materials and/or with reduced performance characteristics.
Biodegradable packaging will probably remain niche (e.g. speciality / organic products) until the materials can be developed cost effectively, environmentally, they are fully compostable (degrade in natural environment) and they work as well as traditional materials in converter equipment and processes.
Regards,
Simon
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