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.
