Ecoflex® Compostable Plastic Packaging Materials By BASF
by John Laumer, Philadelphia on 11.13.07
Many people assume that it is the nature of all petrochemical based polymers to be not biodegradable simply because they are made from petroleum. This is not true. It is the manner in which the organic molecules are linked and the secondary properties of traditional 'plastic additives' which make petro-plastics slow to degrade. BASF Corp has designed and is commercially selling a petroleum based polymer that is readily biodegradable in compost heaps, whether used on its own (as pictured) or as a coating for a natural material like a paper crate or starch based container. Breakdown is apparently so complete the company describes it as a "fertilizer."
Researchers at BASF have developed the world's first food wrap that even acts as a fertilizer. It is made of the fully biodegradable plastic material Ecoflex®. Films and wrappings made of Ecoflex rot along with the organic waste. In the composting system, microorganisms decompose the plastic refuse and leave only natural residues like water, carbon dioxide and biomass behind.
Properties like resistance to water and grease make it feasible to use pure Ecoflex for trash bags, grocery bags and airtight films. The most common use, however, is to coat rigid fiber or paper packaging materials to prevent moisture or grease absorbtion.The fact that the constituents are derived from petrochemicals has no effect on the biodegradability.
In principle, the arrangement of the components in Ecoflex corresponds precisely to that of chemical compounds that occur in nature. For that reason, a multitude of common microorganisms in soil and compost can break down the plastic. They decompose the Ecoflex structure into its original constituents and use them in the creation of natural metabolic products. As a result, after only three months in the composting system, water, carbon dioxide and biomass are all that is left of the synthetic material.
See Ecoflex product literature here.
Via::BASF Image credits::BASF product applications literature.
Why make it from oil if you can make it from corn?
If there is anything that petroleum SHOULD be used for, it is highly durable plastics. The problem is people using highly durable plastics in applications where high durabiltity is not needed and in trendy items that are disposed of well before the performance characteristics of the plastic are compromised. Products with plastic are usually also not designed to be recycled easily.
Using a highly valuable nonrenewable resource to make something that rots is just as idiotic as using it to propel a Hummer.
i think this has more to do with planned obsolescence on the part of BASF and less to do with environmental commitment.
What's wrong with plastic bags and the monsters they create when they accumulate?? Bag Monsters aren't so bad, you know... I'm a family monster with millions of little Bag Monster spawn to worry about. Some of them live under kitchen sinks, but most of them live in the bay and ocean. Search for my Bag Monster blog to learn more about how we're being oppressed world wide. All these bag bans are supposedly because we make an expensive mess, cause "environmental damage," and because a few of us were eaten by marine animals... Don't they know better than to eat Bag Monsters?
I think this is a great idea. It not only keeps the environment clean but the world!
This is great but what are the ecological costs of producing it? Don't get me wrong, I love the fact that there are now compostable bags, but before we jump for joy we should know how labor intensive it is, if it takes more oil to produce this bag than standard plastic bags, where are they produced, who produces them, do raw materials have to be shipped half way around the world so that they can be produced and sold (like the Prius)?
Is there a third party who does this kind of evaluation?