Made from environmentally friendly plastic. Plastic pollution of the planet
Biodegradable polymer flexible packaging is a rather specific market segment that, alas, is still relatively far from Russian realities. Today we either come across samples of biodegradable bags that are offered in supermarkets, or, sometimes without even knowing it, we buy biodegradable packaging from such food industry giants as Tetra Pak, Danone or PepsiCo.
The situation in the European and global markets is better; analysts there are even making optimistic forecasts for the future, predicting that flexible packaging manufacturers will soon switch almost entirely to biomaterials. However, there are still not very many practically interesting examples of the implementation of biotechnologies there.
Packaging from industrial waste
As you know, the most common raw material for the manufacture of biodegradable polymer packaging is polylactic acid (PLA), which is extracted from either starch-containing (for example, wheat) or glucose-containing (today, this is usually corn or sugar cane) plants. However, these same components can also be found in industrial waste from food production, which makes the process of producing such polymers much more efficient from an economic point of view.
In mid-April this year, a technology development center for the food industry based in Spain AINIA, together with the European Association of Fruit Juice Suppliers AIJN , officially presented the results of his work within the project PHBOTTLE.
The result of four years of work by the researchers was a prototype of eco-friendly juice packaging made from biodegradable PHB (polyhydroxybutyrate) plastic, obtained from organic residues extracted from wastewater from manufacturing plants. A unique development is an integral part of the group's pioneering creative concept PHBOTTLE, working under the self-explanatory motto “economy through circulation”.
Packaging prototype PHBOTTLE was obtained by transforming organic residues present in wastewater (mainly sugar) into a biopolymer material. Such an outstanding result was achieved thanks to the latest advances in biotechnology and new microencapsulation capabilities. He clearly demonstrated the importance of organic waste from the juice industry in terms of its use as raw material for the production of packaging for its products.
Similar work has recently been carried out to create biodegradable packaging from industrial waste from the baking industry. The research was carried out in the interests of two Spanish producers of regular and sweet flour products - companies Panrico And Grupo Siro . The research group included representatives Spanish agricultural technology center CETECE (Cereals Technology Center), German Institute of Agricultural Engineering (ATB), Center for the Development of Biocomposites at Bangor University in English Wales and Spanish technology center AIMPLAS .
The first result of their activity was the production of polylactic acid (PLA) from production waste from both companies: stale or stale bread, leftover sweet dough. The project ended with the introduction to the market of biodegradable PLA bags with good oxygen and moisture barrier properties, which are so necessary when packaging pastes and cakes, allowing their shelf life on store shelves to be increased to 12 months.
Technology center based in Valencia, Spain AIMPLAS, which specializes in the development and research of new types of polymers, is currently working with a plastic packaging manufacturer, the company BANDESUR , is working on another special project sponsored by the National Research Program Retos-Colaboración 2015.
Its main task is to develop innovative polymer trays for food products that are resistant to high-temperature processing in microwave ovens. It is planned to launch two varieties of them on the market: trays made of polypropylene foam and fully biodegradable compostable trays made of foamed PLA biopolymer.
Management BANDESUR has high hopes for the project, which has been going on for two years, because it should provide the company with significant competitive advantages. The development of a new generation of food trays will allow it to enter new geographic markets. Trays made of foam material are much lighter than cast ones, which significantly reduces transportation costs and makes them more convenient to use. And, of course, the environmental benefits of food trays made from biopolymers do not require additional comment.
Eco-friendly packaging for environmentally friendly products
One of the strongest marketing ploys of modern "natural" food suppliers is to claim that their products come in equally safe, 100% recyclable packaging made from 100% renewable, natural ingredients.
Thus, the European division of consumer products of the company Sonoco together with a French manufacturer of biodegradable plastics Vegemat - by the company Vegerplast - launched Vegetop tube cardboard containers for bulk products on the market, the main feature of which is fully biodegradable plastic dispenser lids (shakers).
The result of the joint work was environmentally friendly biodegradable containers that comply with the European environmental safety standard EN 13432. The essence of the standard requirements is that the material must be 100% mineralized (composted) within six months as a result of the standard procedure for industrial disposal (composting). An important condition is that the resulting compostable mass must be suitable for use as a fertilizer for crops of any type.
It is up to specialists to maintain such standards for their material. Vegerplast It succeeds due to the fact that the raw materials for its production are natural, renewable products - plants or cereals.
“In the end,” say representatives Sonoco“Our environmentally friendly containers can be absolutely safely used for storing dietary supplements, as well as cereals, flour, sugar, spices, dried fruits and other products that are used in doses during the cooking process.”
Company division Dow Chemica l, responsible for the development of packaging polymer materials (Packaging and Specialty Plastics Business), the North American association of environmentally friendly packaging manufacturers SPC (Sustainable Packaging Coalition), as well as the company Accredo Packaging announced the completion of joint development of environmentally friendly polymer packaging.
This is a stable polymer bag with a wide bottom designed for storing the company’s detergents. Seventh Generation, specializing in the production of home care products, made, according to the supplier, exclusively from natural and environmentally friendly safe raw materials.
Released to the market by specialists Accredo Packaging the new packaging is made from developed Dow Chemica l special recyclable polyethylene, which simultaneously guarantees the bags the required characteristics of rigidity and strength, as well as good weldability of seams.
Packages are supplied to the market under the program SPC for the recycling of raw materials called How2Recycle: Each of them carries a “Store Drop-Off” label, which means that the consumer, having purchased a plastic bag of product, can then return it to the store for subsequent disposal. There are now more than 18,000 such stores in North America.
South African company KiddieKix , which produces natural food products for children, used the company's NatureFlex biodegradable packaging film Innovia Films for packaging cereals and dried fruits. As the owner of the company says Alison McDowell , “Our task is to take care of the health of children, to ensure that they consume only environmentally friendly products. We tested many compostable materials for this purpose, but NatureFlex film came out on top across a range of parameters.”
“First of all,” she continues, “the film meets all known standards - the American ASTM D6400 and the European EN13432, which define the requirements for biodegradable packaging. In addition, NatureFlex has excellent barrier properties against oils, fats, aggressive chemical compounds, and is characterized by high aroma and gas impermeability. High-quality printing can also be applied to packaging made from this film.”
Another example of the use of NatureFlex film is the packaging of natural seaweed chips Halo Seaweed, manufactured by the company Ocean's Halo . As the founder of the company noted Robert Mock , “we offer customers a natural product, the packaging of which should not only be reliable and convenient, but also environmentally friendly.”
“All these requirements,” noted Mok,- NatureFlex film satisfies, providing high oxygen barrier properties, which can significantly increase the shelf life of the product on the store shelf. Equally important is its excellent resistance to moisture, so our chips will never lose their crunchiness.”
More than a year ago Tetra Pak introduced the world's first Tetra Rex Bio packaging made entirely from renewable materials, and the company Valio started using this packaging for lactose-free semi-skimmed milk Eila. The protective layers and neck of the new packaging use biodegradable low-density polyethylene made from sugar cane, supplied by a Brazilian chemical company. Braskem.
Regarding what is used in packaging Tetra Pak cardboard, then, as the manufacturer reports, it comes only from controlled and easily traceable sources certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) - this logo is well known to every buyer of dairy products who has at least once carefully studied the information printed on the packages Tetra Pak.
The next step in the development of the market for environmentally friendly bags for Tetra Pak was a joint development of company specialists Bio-on and scientists from the Finnish University of Technology from Tampere, one of the world's largest research centers in the field of creating new types of paper and plastic for food packaging. The result of the project, which started in 2015, was the creation of the world's first containers Tetra Pak, made from a combination of cardboard and an extrusion-applied biopolymer, Minery PHA, developed in Bio-on.
In the course of research work, scientists from two laboratories replaced polyethylene, previously used in packaging to ensure its tightness, with bioplastic, which is moltenly applied to cardboard, completely preserving both the functionality of the packaging and the aesthetics of its perception. As the developers emphasize, the environmentally friendly material is entirely made from renewable plant resources and is 100% biodegradable.
What is in Russia?
It cannot be said that the topic of biodegradable packaging is completely excluded from the portfolio of Russian production. A number of them have successfully launched the production of bags made from biodegradable films. Sometimes information is received about our own scientific developments.
One practical example is the company "Tiko-Plastic" from Nizhny Novgorod, producing polyethylene bags with a special additive responsible for the biological decomposition of the polymer under the influence of sunlight. The disintegration of such a package under natural conditions occurs within one to three years. A more radical option is to use a polymer made from natural biodegradable raw materials, the decomposition period of which into carbon dioxide, water and biomass is much shorter.
As for scientific developments, last year, for example, scientists Tomsk Polytechnic University reported the creation of their own biopolymer from polylactic acid (PLA), which can be used in the manufacture of flexible packaging. The main source of polymer production is starch- and glucose-containing plants.
What are the prospects?
According to analysts, by 2018, global production of bioplastics should increase from 1.7 million tons in 2014 to 7.8 million tons. The growth rate is predicted to be amazing. They are stimulated, in addition to the environmental friendliness of the products produced, including packaging, by the possibility of saving energy in the production of biopolymers and reducing carbon dioxide emissions into the atmosphere during their disposal.
When these advantages can be realized on the Russian food packaging market is a rhetorical question. The very presence in our country of huge processing capacities, so often criticized by environmentalists, of non-renewable natural resources for quite a long time will be a serious obstacle to attracting investments in costly, although economically promising, projects, both for the production of our own biopolymers and for production from them packaging on a wide industrial scale.
Other publications in special projects:
PVC (polyvinyl chloride material or just vinyl) is today the cheapest, and therefore the most common, type of plastic. PVC is mainly used in construction areas (building cladding, plastic windows, wall panels, pipes, etc.) and less than 20% of products made from this type of plastic are used in household and other areas of life. Moreover, in Russia this figure is almost 50%, while in Europe they are trying to avoid this type of plastic as much as possible. Why is this happening? After all, the advantages of PVC are obvious: low cost, practicality, strength...
In Europe, the name for PVC has long been assigned "poison plastic" The harm of polyvinyl chloride to the environment and human health is enormous: it not only contains many dangerous components, but also emits poisonous gas when heated or burned.
Unfortunately, the material polyvinyl chloride – a very common type of plastic. It can be found everywhere. This includes linoleum in the apartment, plastic windows, suspended ceilings, vinyl wallpaper, and plastic toys (from teething rings that babies put in their mouths to dolls), and different types of packaging (bags, bottles, food containers).
When buying PVC products, you should remember:
To make polyvinyl chloride elastic, plasticizers are added to it, which, when entering the body, reduce its immune properties and can also cause damage to the kidneys and liver, cause infertility and cancer. This is the main harm of PVC. In addition, polyvinyl chloride may contain other dangerous elements: chromium, cadmium, lead, etc.
The advantages of PVC are absolutely incomparable with the danger posed by the burning material polyvinyl chloride. During the combustion process, up to 50 mg of harmful dioxins are formed from 1 kg of polyvinyl chloride. This amount is capable of causing cancer in approximately 50,000 small laboratory animals.
There is no safe technology for processing PVC, as well as for producing PVC products. The material polyvinyl chloride cannot be recycled, and highly toxic dioxins released during the disposal of products made from this plastic spread over thousands of kilometers.
The production of PVC products poses no less danger to the environment. The harm of plastic windows, for example, is that the production of one window produces 20 g of toxic waste. A complete renovation of an apartment using polyvinyl chloride generates about 1 kg of toxic waste.
How to identify PVC products?
In countries that monitor the environmental situation and give preference to safe materials, it is customary to mark types of plastic by placing an icon with a number surrounded by arrows. In Russia, labeling of plastic products is not yet mandatory, which means that all plastic products have such a label, however, it is useful for us to know what this or that sign means.
1. PETE or PET (polyethylene terephthalate) – a type of plastic used in the manufacture of bottles, boxes, cans and other packaging for bottling water, juices and soft drinks. This material is also used in packaging for powders and bulk food products. Polyethylene terephthalate is one of the most common and safe types of plastic. In addition, it is highly recyclable.
2. HDPE or LDPE (high-density polyethylene). This type of plastic is used in the manufacture of bags and mugs for water or milk, bottles for shampoos, bleaches, cleaning and detergents, and cans for machine oils. It is considered a safe type of plastic, easy to reuse and recycle.
3.PVC or PVC (polyvinyl chloride) is one of the most dangerous types of plastic. This is what we are talking about today. It is used for packaging washing liquids, production of windows, pipes, wall and floor coverings, garden furniture, films for suspended ceilings, oilcloths, blinds, bathroom curtains, etc. Food containers and children's toys can also be made from it. However, the harm from PVC is quite great, because it contains heavy metals and plasticizers, which can cause kidney and liver damage, infertility, and cancer. At the same time, it is difficult to recycle, and when burned, it releases dangerous poisons into the air - carcinogenic dioxides. If possible, it is better to abandon this type of plastic or reduce its use to a minimum.
4. LDPE or HDPE (low-density polyethylene) – a type of plastic used to make plastic bottles and other flexible plastic packaging. Thanks to this material we have plastic bags. This type of polyethylene is also a safe plastic.
5. PP or PP (polypropylene) It is far from the most durable type of plastic, but it is absolutely harmless to the environment and human health. Polypropylene is mainly used to produce lids, discs, yogurt cups, syrup and ketchup bottles. This plastic is also used for the manufacture of children's products: toys, feeding bottles, etc.
6. PS or PS (polystyrene) – a type of plastic made by polymerizing carcinogenic styrene. Hence its harmful effect. And although polystyrene is often used to make dishes, cutlery, egg containers or meat trays, it is better to avoid such products.
7. OTHER or OTHER. This category includes polymers that are a mixture of various plastics not listed above. For example, polycarbonate is a dangerous type of plastic that, when heated or washed frequently, releases a substance that causes hormonal imbalances in the human body. But harmless, environmentally friendly plastics can also be marked with this number.
Seaweed will apparently become a common material for the manufacture of various packaging in the near future. This spring, a new material, “agar plastic,” developed by the Japanese company AMAM, won the annual Lexus Design Award 2016 competition held in Milan. It is designed from environmentally friendly plastic made from seaweed. Experiments have shown that “agar plastic” can be both soft and hard. Thanks to these features, the new material can replace both foam and bubble film. The packaging decomposes naturally, simultaneously acting as a fertilizer for the soil.
By the way, in Iceland there has already been an attempt to develop self-degrading algae bottles, the material for which was red algae. As long as there is liquid in such a bottle, it retains its shape. Left without water, the bottle dries out, becomes deformed and decomposes without environmental damage. True, at the Icelandic design festival DesignMarch, where the new product was presented, its author admitted that the water in such a bottle still has some aftertaste.
Along with environmentally friendly packaging, humanity is trying to invent more and more technologically advanced packaging. The American startup Kuvée has developed an electronic bottle for wine, which allows you to protect an alcoholic drink from the harmful effects of oxygen and sunlight, preserving the properties of the wine for a month after opening. The “smart” bottle is equipped with a touch screen and a Wi-Fi module, and the wine is stored in a sealed aluminum container with a volume of 0.75 liters. The display shows the remaining wine in a disposable container, the brand of the drink, the grape varieties from which it is made, and even recommendations for snacks. Thanks to wireless communication, you can replenish your wine stocks directly from the screen on the bottle by placing an order for delivery of a new batch.
As part of Milan Design Week, PepsiCo designed the interactive space “Mix It Up” and also presented a series of aluminum bottles called “The Prestige Bottles”. Pepsi Max, Pepsi and Pepsi Diet drinks received their own individual color and abstract pattern. The minimalist design, created by Karim Rashid, was presented on a futuristic catwalk. And recently the company introduced new packaging for Pepsi Light in the form of a dumbbell. A package of several of these bottles makes a dumbbell rack.
Unlike smart packaging, interactivity has already become a powerful competitive advantage. An agency from Yerevan has developed simple but dynamic juice cups that make the fruit on the label look like it's being drunk. The same technology is used on regular mugs. For example, the temperature of a drink can be understood through the northern lights.
British design studio P4CK has developed a cup holder. A holder for four glasses is made from one piece of cardboard without using glue. By dividing the workpiece in half, you can get two holders of two glasses each.
Turkish students presented an unusual solution for egg packaging: a triangular tube with a retractable system, which adds aesthetics to the packaging and ensures reliable storage and convenient retrieval.
But compact packaging has been developed for fertilizers from Croatia. Firstly, the manufacturer has reduced the weight of fertilizer packaging to 4 kg, focusing on urban gardeners. And so that the boxes in which the bags of fertilizer are placed take up less retail space, a special system was developed so that the boxes could be stacked on top of each other.
Packaging for bicycles does not often please with design solutions. But for each model of Shulz folding bicycles, a branded cardboard packaging with individual design was developed. The design of each box was created based on drawings made by the famous St. Petersburg artist Alisa Yufa for a series of postcards, and was timed to coincide with the Russian brand’s entry into the European market.
The pizzeria chain Domino's Pizza has radically changed the design of its pizza packaging. The traditional box has been replaced with red and blue packaging, which together make up the brand logo. The new design was developed by the JKR agency, which, in a study, found that consumers most often order special offers, that is, “two pizzas for the price of one.” As a result, it was decided to transform the brand logo into the packaging itself, from which all unnecessary information was also removed.
But in Moscow, Domino's Pizza presented pizza packaging as part of the Poultry Project, which easily turns into a bird feeder.
A new trend in modern entrepreneurship today has become social and environmental activities, in which business solves important issues regarding the improvement and development of cities, the search for alternative solutions in the field of energy and resource use. Here are some interesting foreign and domestic projects that help us look at business from a completely different angle.
Micromidas - degradable environmental plastic
Currently, only about 10% of plastic is recycled in the world. The most conscious ones try to sort and, if possible, use plastic products as little as possible. Savvy entrepreneurs are finding more innovative solutions.Micromidas is a Californian company that has invented an alternative to conventional plastic - their plastic is made from inexpensive and recyclable materials (used paper, agricultural residues and wood), and therefore decomposes much faster than usual. John Bissell, co-founder of Micromidas, was named to Forbes' 30 Under 30 list last year as the world's brightest entrepreneurial talent.
In addition, Micromidas have invented a formula for using bacteria to turn sewage waste into full-fledged plastic, which completely decomposes throughout the year. Thus, Micromidas immediately solves 2 problems:
1. Prevent planetary pollution
2. Helps clean sewer water by converting human waste and turning it into useful material for humanity.
In addition, the technology they use is much cheaper: the oil from which ordinary plastic is made needs to be pumped, and this is a rather expensive process in financial and resource terms. At the same time, wastewater waste is a more accessible material.