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Q What is compostable packaging?
A It is a type of packaging which is pliable and has a shape that can be readily changed. Flexible plastic packaging is one of the fastest growing segments in packaging, and is most commonly made from plastic polymers such as polyethylene and polypropylene.
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Q What are the advantages of flexible packaging?
A Its advantages include its low-volume and lightweight structure, as well as the ability to be made from several layers of material to enhance properties like shelf-life, durability, printability, barrier, sealability, and strength. Its flexibility is a key performance factor for many industries.
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Q What is flexible packaging used for?
A Flexible packaging is regularly used to wrap products during storage, transport, and to protect products, including food items, during shelf-life.
Flexible packaging is regularly used to wrap products during storage, transport, and to protect products, including food items, during shelf-life. -
Q Is conventional flexible plastic packaging recyclable?
A Most waste-treatment centers do not accept flexible plastic packaging for recycling because its material structure is too complex, contaminated by food, and/or lightweight to be successfully recycled. Of the very few types of flexible packaging that are recyclable, very little (about 4%) are actually recycled.
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Q What are the benefits of compostable flexible packaging?
A BiolegeenDG’s compostable flexible packaging has the same properties as conventional plastic flexible packaging, including durability, transparency, sealability, and barrier, but is fully compostable, and biodegrades in compost like organic waste. -
Q How long will it take for compostable flexible packaging to disintegrade in compost?
A BiolegeenDG Compostable films and laminates complies with standards for home and industrial composting, including ASTM D6400 and EN 13432, and TUV OK Compost Home which stipulate that home compostable films disintegrate within 6 months and industrially compostable films disintegrate within 3 months.
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Q What is the difference between 'biodegradable' and 'compostable' packaging?
A The term ‘biodegradable’ represents a process, but not necessarily under what conditions or time frame, also, the rate of decomposition can vary significantly. Technically, all chemical compounds can be biodegradable under the right conditions, and will decompose over a certain period of time, but that time could be hundreds or thousands of years. For example, wood is biodegradable, but wooden structures don’t break down and can stand for generations. Trees are biodegradable, but stand for hundreds of years. If a material is compostable, it means that under composting conditions (heat, humidity, oxygen, & microorganisms) it will break down to CO2, water, and a nutrient-rich compost within a specific time frame.
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Q What conditions trigger the biodegradation process in compost?
A Heat, humidity, oxygen, & microorganisms. Shredding the material into small pieces will help move along the degradation process. We encourage you to look further into this topic if it’s something you want to learn more deeply about. Take a look at this video from TUV Austria. -
Q Can conventional plastic be compostable?
A No
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Q Why dosen't conventional plastic biodegradable?
A Biodegradation is the natural decomposition of organic waste by microorganisms. It is the process in which the molecular structure of a material breaks down through an enzymatic or metabolic process. Conventional plastic does not biodegrade for two reasons: (1) their chemical bonds are too strong and (2) their molecules will not break down by natural processes.
*Biodegradation can take any amount of time to occur. Composting is the natural decomposition of organic waste by microorganisms within a specified time period.
