There is no doubt that plastic is one of the environment’s greatest enemies. It does not degrade quickly or easily, and often creates high levels of greenhouse-gas emissions during production. In the face of this concern and the huge demand for plastic packaging from consumers, more sustainable materials have been sought.
Biodegradable makes for a better planet
Polylactic acid (PLA) is a material generated from plants. The ideal plants for use in producing PLA have high levels of starch, such as corn, potatoes or wheat. The start is a natural polymer which can be directly processed into a water-soluble bioplastic. This has limited uses, however, unless the starch is modified into a lactic acid by microorganism to from long chains of polymers which bond together. This material forms the strong plastic known as PLA.
Since PLA is made from a plant base, it is biodegradable – a huge bonus for the environment. In order to maximise this property, however, PLA plastics need to be kept out of landfill, since any organic matter reduced to landfill cannot biodegrade. The plastic must be treated like composts and allowed to degrade over time.
PLA has been available in the market for a number of years, however, the widespread application of the technology has not been embraced due to the cost. Yet, as the world becomes increasingly concerned with the state of the environment and with the state of the environment and human impact, people are actively choosing to switch to environmentally friendly packaging options.
Biodegradable products are in demand by South African Businesses
EcoPack is a company that provides environmentally friendly packaging solutions to South African businesses. The benefits of switch to biodegradable packaging are numerous. The planet has finite resource, and if we are to sustain a ever-increasing population, we need to move towards a cradle-to-cradle ideology of manufacturing. The basic principle is that no waste should go to landfill; every product we produce should be able to be infinitely recycled, and the lifecycle from beginning to end should have no adverse effect on the natural environment.
To learn more about our products, take a look at our products page.
