Q&A of #Webinar | Packaging Innovation in the Food & Nutrition Sector: Good for Profit and the Planet
Food and Nutrition
4 min readThese are the Questions & Answers from the webinar. The webinar is available on-demand here.
Q. Is PHA a renewable source? Or how is it obtained? According to the chart you shared it has low capacity.
A. Polyhdroxyalkanoates (PHAs) are stored as bacterial reserve materials for carbon and energy. They are biodegradable and renewable raw materials. All of them are completely degradable to carbon dioxide and water through natural microbiological mineralization. PHA is obtained via fermentation and recovery of PHA from micro-organisms.
Q. You mention OceanBound plastic was taken from the ocean. I don’t believe that is the case … rather gathered inland (3o miles from any waterway). Isn’t labeling it “Ocean Plastic” misleading?
A. The term Ocean-Bound-Plastic refers to plastic waste that is at risk of ending up in the oceans. This means plastic near waterways that may find its way through e.g. rivers and lakes into the oceans. Risk areas are worldwide defined as 200 km from the coastline.
Windex has changed its labeling from 100% Ocean plastic to 100% Ocean Bound plastic, possibly due to the misleading nature of the claim.
Q. Is PHA accepted as an alternative material by EU commission?
A. Currently, no EU-wide legislative framework is available for PHA. But the European Union has acknowledged the importance of bioplastics and various strategies and policy initiatives are currently underway.
These include:
- Europe 2020 / Innovation Union
- Lead Markets Initiative for Bio-based Products
- Resource Efficiency Strategy
- Key Enabling Technologies
- Horizon 2020
- Bioeconomy Strategy
- Circular Economy Package
Q. In line with the ‘recycling’ topic, how significant is the role of the Barrier-coating?
A. The coated-paper packaging material industry expected to reach 3.2 million tonnes of production in 2020. Sustainable options with recyclability or biodegradation property are finding increasing use in the packaging industry. Recyclable barrier coating allows for a more complete sustainable packaging solution.
Q. Is it possible to share the list of companies (mentioned in the webinar) and contact details?
A. The companies linked with their contact pages are as follows:
Danimer Scientific; Columbia Packaging group; Pepsico, Fazer; Sulapac, Storaenso, UPM, NotPla, Citeo, Total, Recycling Technologies, Ioniqa, BioCellection, PureCycle Technologies, Newtecpoly, Envision Plastics, Amcor, paper water bottle, mimica, Insignia Technologies, Apeel Sciences, Startchy, Stix Fresh, Cuan Tec, GLOPACK
Q. What does PHA, PBS, and PBAT stand for?
A. They are
- PHA – Polyhydroxyalkanoates
- PHB – Polyhydroxybutyrate
- PBAT – Polybutylene adipate terephthalate
Q. Is OceanBound plastic considered food safe?
A. Envision Plastics, which produces ocean-bound plastic resins has received a no-objection certificate by the FDA. The no-objection certificate allows the use of 100% ocean-bound plastic to create recycled High-Density Polyethylene (HDPE) packaging for food products. Thus, the plastic can be considered safe for use in food product packaging.
Q. What is your take on the lack of a proper recycling stream for biodegradable packaging and consumers misunderstanding on what to do with it? Also, the impact on additives on the soil is not fully evaluated. Would you recommend the use of these plastics currently or within the next 5 years?
A. Consumer misunderstanding will be one of the major roadblocks in biodegradable packagings success. While many innovative solutions are coming into the market, all of this will be dependant on where it is disposed of by the end-consumer. I do believe biodegradable packaging is a few years away from being a dependant alternative to plastic packaging.
The rate of biodegradation of biodegradable and composting plastics is dependent on the disposal environment and its conditions.
The major disposal environments for biodegradable and composting plastics are:
- composting facilities or soil burial;
- anaerobic digestion;
- wastewater treatment facilities;
- plastics reprocessing facilities;
- landfill;
- marine and freshwater environments
- general open environment as litter.
Therefore, consumer education on the disposal of biodegradable packaging will help in increasing its effectiveness.
Packaging producer Tipa’s products, compounds, and films comply with EU 13432 and ASTM D6400 standards and are certified for both home and industrial composting through the OK Compost mark by the TUV institute. TIPA’s materials also meet food contact regulation requirements in Europe and the US. Therefore, biodegradable and compostable plastics are in demand and we anticipate increasing interest by consumers in the segment.
