Eco Friendly Cornstarch Bags

Plastic had been a great invention but its widespread use has been putting our environment at great threat. Plastic bags are non-degradable and pollute the land, water and air while affecting animals and humans directly or indirectly. However, plastics have been cheap, strong and are used for all forms of packaging. Considering the pros and cons, scientist had come up with a better alternative, cornstarch bags. Made form degradable raw materials, corn starch bags provide the same degree of effectiveness as its plastic alternatives and additionally don’t damage the environment in any way.

What is a cornstarch bag?

Cornstarch bags are made from resins drawn from corn starch. The raw material also gives the product a longer shelf life (more than six months) and can be used as long as one plans on. Upon discard, the cornstarch bags get decomposed into smaller particles and are consumed by bacteria. As such, they can be safely dumped into your backyard without risk of adding toxicity to the soil. 75 percent of the composting is completed within a couple of months after dumping the bags. It takes four months for the entire bag to decompose and thus is a huge advantage to packing industries and individual buyers.

Cornstarch bags also seem to be at an advantageous position that other alternatives like paper or cloth bags, which cannot hold wet contents and again add to deforestation. The cornstarch bags resemble the look and texture of plastic bags and are available in three varieties – bigger bin bags, medium sized shopping bags and smaller carry bags. The only thing is that consumers will have to pay a slightly higher price for cornstarch bags than plastic alternatives.

How is it made?

Corn is a versatile crop and provides the sturdy resins for the manufacture of cornstarch bag. The raw material is as resilient as polymer, from which plastics are manufactured. The biodegradable raw material for cornstarch bag is derived by extrusion and use of pressure and steam. The raw materials are thoroughly “cooked” before melting and drying into required form under atmospheric temperatures. The pressure release allows the material to expand and provide the “foam” making it suitable to be molded into bags of a variety of sizes.

Where can it be used?

Cornstarch bags have the capacity to complete replace plastic bags in all forms, they are highly resilient and can be used to carry all kinds of content – wet dry, climate sensitive and even keep the content more hygienic and thus used in the food industry. Cornstarch bags are being widely used in European nations and are being introduced into countries like India, Japan and Australia. While these bags get a bit pricier, it certainly is a great alternative to the harmful and toxic plastic.

How these bags are environment friendly?

The advantage with cornstarch bags is it being highly eco friendly. As long as this bag is in use, it works similar to a plastic bag, being resilient, sturdy and highly supportive. On dumping the bag, it can be affected by environment elements and decomposing bacteria and subsequently get mixed with the soil to become an equal part of it. Cornstarch bags can be disposed off without risk of polluting the environment and ruining the water level, as has been the case with plastic alternative.