What are Biodegradable and Recyclable Packaging Material?

With increasing awareness about the environment, more and more people are now switching to eco-friendly packaging materials. Consumers expect the brands to focus on biodegradable packaging materials so that they can also contribute towards a green environment. This is the reason why the packaging industry is now waking up to the needs of the customers and delving into eco-friendly packaging.

Packaging touches almost every part of our daily lives. From food to other daily-life items, the list of our packaging materials is an extensive one. Things like corrugated boxes, bubble wrap roll, etc. have started to emerge to meet our packaging needs, especially when we are moving out and using removal boxes. 

There are a plethora of biodegradable packaging materials available in the market. Here is a list of some of them.

Paper and Cardboard

Paper and cardboard are the most easily available packaging materials in the market. They are also biodegradable and can be reused and recycled. Several companies offer packaging using recycled paper. This shows that paper that is once recycled can be used again for packaging.

Corn Starch

Corn starch is generally used for packaging food items. This is because packaging made from corn starch is easily biodegradable. Corn starch packaging causes little or no harm to the environment and thus is suitable to pack item meant for takeaway. A packaging material made from starch plastic is one of the best biodegradable packaging materials.

Bubble Wrap

Bubble wrap roll is one such thing that is widely used for packaging. Companies are finding new ways to make this packaging material eco-friendly. Use of biodegradable plastic for the manufacture of bubble wraps is changing the way we see traditional packaging. The advantages of using green bubble wraps is that they decompose within 12-24 months in a landfill and also provide a cushion to the items being packed.

Biodegradable Plastic

Biodegradable plastic forms a major part of the packaging industry. Their share in the packaging market is more than 60% as they are used in making plastic shopping bags, envelopes, disposable cutlery, etc. Biodegradable plastic is the best alternative to traditional plastics as they start decomposing once exposed to daylight. 

With these packaging materials in the market, a new kind of packaging revolution has begun to take place. You should look for the following things when deciding which biodegradable packaging material to be used. The pollutants released in the manufacturing of a certain material cannot be chosen as it releases toxins into the environment and is not responsible towards the environment. 

When you buy or use any recyclable packaging material, you need to be sure enough that you would be recycling that packaging material. If you know that you won’t be using that packaging material in future again, then you are contributing immense waste material to the environment.

Biodegradable packaging materials can be easily disposed of without any worries of increasing the amount of waste on earth. Once disposed, they decompose easily under normal environmental conditions.

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.