Innovative packaging advances improve product protection and facilitate each manufacturer’s shipping, warehousing, and merchandising requirements. In addition to developing efficient, effective, packaging and logistics solutions, modern turnkey packaging companies also invest in biodegradable packaging materials and forward looking, environmentally responsible package designs.
Biodegradable packaging and other green initiatives align with a growing, collective, consciousness uniting contract packagers, manufacturers, and an ever-expanding consumer base — all seeking better environmental outcomes.
As an increasing number of food and non-food items call for eco-friendly packing alternatives, supply chain stakeholders are embracing the widespread benefits (and limitations) of biodegradable packaging.
Biodegradable Plastic Addresses Environmental Concerns
Once heralded for its durability, plastic’s primary advantage ultimately became its most impactful downside. Traditional plastics require hundreds, even thousands, of years to break down in the environment.
Recycling and reusing are effective strategies devised to reduce plastics headed for landfills, but consumer consciousness isn’t the only shift yielding environmental benefits. Technological advances, including bioplastics and biodegradable packaging materials, also contribute to greener outcomes. Unlike traditional plastic, the most effective biodegradable plastics used in mainstream packaging can break down in as few as three to six months.
Biodegradable plastics include formulations derived from plant starches, such as corn starch, as well as cellulose based versions. Using renewable resources rather than non-renewable petroleum products to produce plastic leads to substantial long-term environmental benefits. Polylactic biodegradable plastic (PLAs), polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs), and Recycled Polyethylene Terephthalate (RPET) represent additional biodegradable plastic alternatives used in consumer packaging.
While reducing packaging waste destined for incinerators and landfills is a primary benefit of biodegradable packaging, the strategy yields additional gains, when compared to traditional polymers.
- More energy-efficient to produce – Manufacturing biodegradable packaging materials can often be accomplished with less energy than that required to produce traditional plastics.
- Fewer emissions during manufacturing – Reducing the amount of energy and fossil fuels required to produce plastic results in lower greenhouse gas emissions.
- Flexible applications – Turnkey packaging companies utilize biodegradable packing materials in a number of ways. The substances can be extruded, injection molded, and foamed, often using modified conventional machinery. Biodegradable material can be colored and its texture can be modified for aesthetic purposes. Some biodegradable packaging material is fortified with additives that increase durability and stability.
- Greater sustainability – Biopolymers and other packaging materials produced from renewable resources contribute to greater overall sustainability. The movement toward eco-friendly packaging aligns with consumer calls for responsible, sustainable, production and packaging.
- Soil enrichment – Under the right conditions, well-executed environmental packaging breaks down into nutrient rich soil, contributing to healthy conditions for growing plants.
Does Biodegradable Packaging Have Limitations?
Although they are conceived and produced expressly to reduce environmental impacts, biodegradable packaging materials have limitations. Cost, durability, and failure to produce desired sustainability benefits are among the chief concerns holding back some biodegradable packaging solutions.
Consumers seeking green packaging alternatives are met with a sometimes confusing landscape, comprised of multiple environmentally conscious packaging designs. Adding to the uncertainty, technical jargon and extraneous marketing claims make it difficult for consumers to distinguish between various packing methods and accurately assess the environmental impacts of each package type.
Although various green packaging materials are commonly lumped into a single catch-all classification, biodegradable plastics typically fall into two distinct categories — each with unique environmental impacts. In order to leverage the best possible environmental outcomes, consumers must recognize the limitations of biodegradable plastics and other types of packaging marketed as biodegradable. To alleviate confusion over various packaging alternatives, Europe has imposed universal standards for biodegradable plastics and introduced a logo to be placed on compostable items.
The term, bioplastics, refers to plastic packaging material derived from renewable resources. But bioplastics are not exactly the same as biodegradable plastic. The latter is actually produced using petroleum based materials, which have been fortified with additives known to help degrade the plastic under specific conditions. Also known as oxo-degradable plastic, a pro-oxidant additive helps the material biodegrade over time. Unfortunately, there is no independent, verifiable and conclusive guarantee the plastic material will fully break down.
In addition to concerns about biodegradable packaging’s ability to break down with microorganisms, biodegradation technology presents perceived limitations such as:
- Single-use applications – After decades of promoting recycling for the good of the planet, producers are now asking consumers to embrace single-use biodegradable packaging solutions. The change of direction is seen by some as a confusing conflict, as consumer understanding catches up with advances in plastics technology.
- Cost – Manufacturing biodegradable plastic relies on natural raw materials, driving up the cost of producing green packaging alternatives. The production process itself also adds expense, compared to the cost of making traditional plastic. As a result, the cost of creating biodegradable plastics runs roughly 20-30% higher than spending required to manufacture traditional petroleum based packaging plastics. Although higher costs prevail in today’s manufacturing environment, it is thought industry advances will ultimately bring down the price of biodegradable plastic production, on par with traditional plastics.
- Durability – Detractors worry biodegradable plastics won’t fully break-down over time, but some stakeholders share contrary concerns, believing biodegradable packaging lacks the protective lifespan offered by traditional packing materials.
- Limited environmental gains – Unlike true bioplastics, which derive from natural ingredients that break-down on their own, biodegradable plastics are petroleum-based, relying on special additives to promote biodegradation under specific conditions. Though biodegradable plastics are already viewed as a preferred environmental alternative, there is room for continued improvement, as plastics technology advances.
Biodegradable materials serve widespread applications within the contract packaging industry. From food packaging of containers and bags to coffee cups and packaging peanuts, biodegradable solutions provide environmentally sound alternatives for commonly used packaging materials. Whether packing medical devices or consumer packaged goods, experienced packaging contractors are prepared with beneficial biodegradable solutions.
