LESS CO2 EMISSIONS
Biopolymers from renewable resources derive from biomasses. For this reason biopolymers have a much lower environmental footprint than oil-based polymers, thanks to reduced CO2 emissions in their Life Cycle Assessment.
This advantage is achievable also using scraps of food industry or from agriculture. Raw materials from renewable resources can be a sustainable and environmental-friendly solution without affecting human food chain.
DURABLE GOODS
PLANTURA grades for durable goods are polymers derived from renewable resources and with a biomass content >80%. The bio certification is performer following ASTM D 6866 and ISO 16620 standards. The necessity to have performances comparable or superior to oil-based polymers, pushed PLANTURA to develop new materials able to survive the most hard conditions and guarantee them for the whole lifecycle of the final product.
COMPOSTABLE GOODS
Compostability is the capacity of a certain material to became compost. This process uses the biodegradability of organic materials. The resulting compost is what remains after disintegration and aerobic biodegradation (under oxygen presence) of organic material (normally garbage): the final compost looks like a reach ground and is used as fertilizer due to the high organic residuals content.
Composting can be domestic or industrial. The industrial one is the process of domestic organic garbage, food industry scraps and agricultural waste, and is processed under specific big plants with controller conditions (temperature and humidity). The industrial compost is controlled, sanitized and checked as per local law requirement.
PLANTURA compostable grades are produced using all polymers and additives those are tested successfully according with the European norm EN13432 and more specifically:
- Chemical composition: the standard sets limits for volatile matter, heavy metals (Cu, Zn, Ni, Cd, Pb, Hg, Cr, Mo, Se, As) and fluorine.
- Biodegradation: chemical breakdown of materials into CO2, water and minerals. Pursuant to the standard at least 90% of the materials have to be broken down by biological action within 6 months.
- Disintegration: the physical decomposition of a product into tiny pieces. After 12 weeks at least 97% of the product should be able to pass through a 2 x 2 mm mesh.
- Quality of the final compost and ecotoxicity: the quality of the compost should not decline as a result of the added packaging material. The standard specifies checking this via eco-toxicity tests: this involves making an examination to see if the germination and biomass production of plants are not adversely affected by the influence of composted packaging.
