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Traditional fossil fuel plastics like polythene can be made degradable by including a special additive in the mix. However when discarded it will still be environmentally damaging, and of course the raw material is unsustainable.
Only the minority of oil-based plastics can be easily recycled, and then only a limited number of times before becoming brittle and unusable.
COB’s biopolymer blends, on the other hand, are derived from corn – a renewable resource that absorbs carbon dioxide as it grows. And, once they’ve reached the end of their useful life, most of our products can simply be composted. Recyling nature’s way!
To be classed as ‘compostable’ a material must meet the stringent EN 13432 standard. The testing process involves mixing the material with organic waste and leaving it for 12 weeks under commercial composting conditions.
After this time the material must show evidence of being biodegraded due to microbial action. This means breaking down into water, carbon dioxide and biomass, rather than just breaking up into pieces, as degradable oil-based plastics do. To meet the standard less than 10% of the remaining fragments are allowed to be larger than two millimetres.
The composted material is then tested for toxicity, to make sure it’s suitable to grow food crops. Finally it’s sown with summer barley to check that it will support plant life.
The biopolymer resins we use to produce our bioplastic products have been subjected to the EN 13432 testing process and passed with flying colours.
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