According to an article on Discovery Channel’s online news site, a recent study has concluded that the manufacture of biodegradable alternatives to plastic such as those made from sugar-cane and corn, generate lower greenhouse gas emissions than petroleum-based plastics. Jian Yu and Lilian Chen of the University of Hawaii, Honolulu have published their finding in…
According to the Bangkok Post, the Thai government is determined to turn the region into a major producer of biodegradable alternatives to plastic. To meet this goal, the government has approved a 1.8-billion-baht, five-year action plan. It has also vowed to increase it’s cassava (tapoica) yield to meet the demand for human consumption and for…
The director of Sirane, one of the U.K.’s leading packaging producers, attended the bipolastics conference held in Prague and delivered a paper predicting a bright future for biodegradable packaging. Simon Balderson told delegates at the Prague conference, held in June, that ‘lighter biodegradable packaging is our most popular request from customers – and the drivers…
A packaging company in Malaysia has begun producing biodegradable packaging made from the fiber of the African Palm. Apparently, packaging made out of palm fibre takes about 90 days to biodegrade. Read more here…
According to Bizcommunity, Africa’s leading marketing and advertising news website, packaging has become an essential aspect of branding and consumer trends have shown that biodegradable packaging, in particular, has become one of the most effective marketing strategies. In this article, Desiree Gullan, creative director of Guerrilla Marketing says: “Without sounding like too much of a…
This article in Business Week focuses on biodegradable plastics. It includes a video interview with bioengineer, Oliver P. Peoples about the bioplastic industry and his company Metabolix.
According to this industry website, over 500 bioplastics manufacturers companies already exist, and are expected to increase ten fold by 2020 to over 5000. The bioplastic industry, which is estimated to be growing at about 10% pa is set to increase to 25-30% by 2020.
It would seem that we are not the only ones concerned about the introduction of degradable plastics in South Africa. As a new article reports, the Plastics Federation of South Africa (PFSA) has expressed concern over the fact that Albany Bakeries, as well as other retailers, are making use of plastic packaging which contains additives…
Plastic is durable and long-lasting, qualities which made it seem like the perfect substance for a diversity of uses. But these factors, combined with others that are increasingly being researched, turn out to be some of the major problems of plastic. Sustainability has become a key phrase in recent environmental discussions. Sustainable resources are ones…
