bioplastics MAGAZINE Issue January/February 01/2008

Whilst the first examples of biodegradable and compostable packaging started to appear on UK supermarket shelves as far back as 2001, there has been a very marked increase over the past two years, with most of the UK’s major retailers introducing certified compostable packaging, generally starting with either Organic Fresh Produce app-lications or other short shelf-life products such as the classic British triangle-shaped sandwich!.

In recent years there has been a steadily increasing market demand for biopolymers as alternative packaging materials.

Dear readers,

Are you sitting down? Chances are – whether you’re parked on an office chair, a sofa or your bed – you’re resting on a piece of polyurethane foam.

Mater-Bi foams have been used for many years in a number of different applications, such as for fillers, sheets and blocks, for protective industrial packaging and for thermoformed trays for consumer food packaging.

The Dow Chemical Company, Midland, Michigan, USA recently introduced RENUVA™ Renewable Resource Technology, a proprietary process that helps polyurethane manufacturers make products that are performance-based and reduce the impact on the environment.

Foams are very common material structures. Wood has a foam structure, bones are also foams, bread is a foam, and many other natural materials are foams.

Polyethylene is a plastic material that has been known for more than 100 years.

When talking about end-of-life options for bioplastics, composting is very often the first solution to be mentioned.