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By Laura Isensee, Reuters, Nov. 24, 2009
LOS ANGELES (Reuters Life!) - Environmentalists and green businesses are targeting foam food trays used to sell vegetables, fruits and meat in grocery stores.
The ubiquitous trays, which are made from polystyrene, have a long shelf life in landfills, much like plastic bags which the green brigade also took aim at in recent years.
"The developers of expanded polystyrene made the perfect material. They brought the costs down. Functionally it works great. There are no complaints ... But it never goes away," said Richard Feldman, chief executive of G4 Packaging.
The Los Angeles-based company makes trays primarily from sugar cane pulp that can be composted in 90 days or recycled.
Some U.S. cities have started to limit the use of foam trays. Portland, Oregon passed a ban in 1989 and last year Seattle, Washington voted to ban foam containers from all businesses serving food.
Seattle will ratchet up its measure next year. Beginning in July grocery stores will have to stop using foam trays for meat packaged on site and all businesses must use food containers that are compostable, as well as recyclable.
"Most plastics have pretty significant environmental impacts and we didn't want them sent to the landfill," said Dick Lilly, the business area manager for waste prevention at Seattle Public Utilities.
Smaller cities in Washington followed Seattle's lead while the Costa Mesa, California-based nonprofit Earth Resource Foundation is pushing for statewide ban in California.
"This plastic problem is as big as global climate change ... It hurts your health, the economy and the environment," the group's executive director Stephanie Barger said.
Feldman believes legislative pressure could help to propel eco-friendly trays into a $100 million market.
His two-year-old company has more than $300,000 in monthly sales. Its deals include supplying trays for zucchini and peppers sold at upscale grocer Trader Joe's. A veteran of the food packaging industry, Feldman has previously worked with fast-food giant McDonald's Corp.
But going green in groceries will cost money -- a major hurdle even when the economy is on an upswing. Trays made from natural materials like sugar cane pulp or bamboo weigh more and cost more than traditional foam trays.
Trays made by G4 Packaging can cost 8 cents each, about double the cost of a traditional container, Feldman said.
"At some point more and more people will say I as a consumer am willing to pay three or four cents more in order to go ahead and see this change," Feldman said.
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Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Environmentalists target foam food trays
World's first bio-sourced degradable smart cards
plastemart.com, Nov. 24, 2009
The world's first bio-sourced degradable smart cards has been introduced by Gemalto. The card body is made from renewable material, is easily recyclable and compostable, and can be incinerated without emissions of toxic fumes. Also, the company offers packaging made from recycled paper and vegetable inks that significantly reduce the product's environmental impact. These bio-sourced smart cards will be ready for mass production in Q1-2010.
This innovation meets the global demand from banks and operators - a bio-sourced smart banking card and a bio-sourced SIM card, each compliant to the industry standards in their respective sector. The bio-sourced smart cards complement Gemalto's portfolio of eco-friendly cards, made from paper-based materials for short-term use (e.g. scratch cards), as well as ABS and PETG based products, a chlorine-free alternative to PVC cards. The company opted for non-chlorine polymers in the late 1990's and today, adopting material stemming from agro-products is a major step forward in promoting sustainable solutions for card vendors and end users alike.
European Bioplastics Conference breaks visitor record
Packaging, Nov. 24, 2009
The fourth bioplastics industry conference held recently in Berlin set a new visitor record despite the difficult financial situation.
Three hundred and eighty visitors and 27 exhibitors attended the conference hosted by the European Bioplastics Association.
Experts still expect continued growth in the field of compostable and biobased materials.
"Where will the industry be in five years' time?", "What are the trends?", "Which materials will dominate the market?", "How can we communicate the advantages for the environment? and what are the optimum utilisation fields for bioplastics?"
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Biogas made available to UK homes
Envirotech Online, Nov. 23, 2009
A sustainable energy firm in the UK is set to offer biogas as an alternative fuel to British households.
Power company Ecotricity has announced that it can now supply biogas using a combination of green and brown sources, with the intention of increasing the percentage generated from green fuel as its customer base grows.
The organisation will take compostable waste that would usually go straight to landfill and use it to produce biogas.
According to Ecotricity, approximately 18 million tonnes of food is wasted by British households annually, which could be used to produce enough biogas to supply more than 700,000 homes.
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Mixed Waste Composting Review
Twelve facilities composting mixed municipal solid waste in the U.S. continue to fill a niche, turning difficult waste streams into useful product.
By Rhodes Yepsen, BioCycle November 2009, Vol. 50, No. 11, p. 23
COMPOSTING mixed municipal solid waste (MSW) is an attractive solution for many communities that want to divert organics from landfills, but don’t have the population density to support a source separated organics (SSO) scheme. These facilities are capital intensive and not always successful, however. About half of the facilities constructed in the U.S. in the last 25 years have closed, with only 12 remaining. Most recently, the plant in Cobb County, Georgia, built to process 200 tons/day of mixed waste, was converted into a materials recycling facility (MRF).
“In the European Union we’re seeing a push for biomechanical waste processing, but that’s in response to mandatory landfill diversion goals,” says Robert Spencer, an environmental planner who helped start up a few MSW composting facilities, including Cobb County. “Without a mandate, economics rule, and right now there aren’t many places in the U.S. with the right conditions.”
Ultimately, the success of MSW composting facilities comes down to site-specific circumstances, such as area landfill fees, local government commitment and possible markets for MSW compost. “There are several variables that can be controlled, such as installing sophisticated screening technology,” says Spencer. “Also, the most successful plants in the U.S. are co-sited with a landfill, which allows for internalized residuals disposal cost and a destination for possible off-spec compost as cover material.”
The MSW composting facility in Delaware County, New York is colocated with a landfill, and Susan McIntyre agrees that this is significant. “Quite a few municipalities tour our MSW composting facility and are interested, but it’s difficult to determine how viable it would be for them,” says McIntyre, Solid Waste Director of the Delaware County, Department of Public Works. “We are uniquely advantaged — isolated, high organics waste stream content, and we can control the waste because we own-operate the adjacent landfill, meaning we aren’t dependent on tip fees to make revenue or meet payroll.”
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There's only one winner in green diapers
By Ryan Roff, Tainted Green, Nov. 19, 2009
In the past, a green diaper was a cloth diaper. If a family wanted to be eco-friendly and avoid the harsh realities of a diaper sitting in a landfill for half a millennium, they would have to devote a lifetime (or at least it feels like a lifetime) to redundant cleaning and washing. Now, however, hybrid diapers offer the eco-friendly benefits of a cloth diaper with the convenience of a disposable diaper.
Green diapers have become a hot topic because of the distressing statistics surrounding the disposable diaper industry. According to the Real Diaper Association, 27.4 billion disposable diapers end up in landfills. The EPA estimates that is more than 3.4 million tons of waste.
The $5.7 billion disposable diaper industry continues to grow and with its growth, the amount of carbon emitting waste also continues to grow, but a new segment of the market, green diapers, may actually have an environmentally friendly impact.
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A Surge of Student Involvement
Those involved with the Associated Students of the University of Arizona have initiated a composting program, and are involved in a range of other efforts on campus to promote sustinability efforts.
By Lew Serviss, UANews.org, Nov. 23, 2009
On Veterans Day, when classes were adjourned and many buildings were dark, three environmentally conscious students gathered shortly after 2 p.m. in an aromatic corner of the Student Union Memorial Center basement to weigh kitchen garbage.
Lesley Ash, sustainability director for the Associated Students of the University of Arizona, found their quarry: a garbage can whose lid bore the warning: ASUA Compost, Do Not Touch. Inside were assorted kitchen scraps with a dusting of coffee grounds.
Alex Harris, a sophomore chemical engineering student, hoisted the can onto a scale and Jennifer Tobin, a senior chemical engineering student, read it off: 109 pounds.
The exercise, "a waste audit," was repeated at 9 p.m. After about three weeks of weighing the offerings, the students will have an idea of the amount of compost volume and the capacity of the composter they'll need to buy to begin a student-run composting program. Ash said the projection was that the various Student Union kitchens would produce two tons of compostable food waste a day. This day was especially light because of the holiday.
"We would divert several hundred tons of waste annually," said Ash, a veterinary science senior. She said estimates were that the program could save the University almost $80,000 a year in tipping fees. A small percentage of the compost will be used on campus and the rest will be sold in bulk for bioremediation purposes at the mines or to consumers, she said.
The composting program is just one of eight groups working under the banner of sustainability for the ASUA. Participation has soared from a year ago, Ash said. Her composting group has grown to eight students, each working fours hours a week, from largely just herself a year ago.
This year, more than 50 students have joined the sustainability program as interns – receiving some sort of academic credit – compared to 15 active volunteers a year ago, she said. In fact, there's a waiting list.
The response has been gratifying. "Part of it is to make a measurable difference on campus," Ash said, "but what really drives me is to see students who didn't know about environmental sustainability at the end of the day say, ‘Oh my gosh, I really can make a difference.' It's really cool to see that switch in a student."
In addition to the composting project, the ASUA sustainability program has seven other teams: General Sustainability, Sage Fund, Education/Outreach, Athletics, Garden in the Desert, Solar Dorm Initiative and Earth Day.
The Solar Dorm group is working to install a cogeneration, solar and hot water system on the roof of Posada San Pedro. "We hope to set up live energy monitoring so it would be a good comparative study," Ash said. "From a practical standpoint, we're hoping to save students money" in lower dorm costs.
The Garden in the Desert group was expected to break ground in November for a demonstration and productive garden of native plants at Udall Plaza, Ash said. "The idea is to expand to a larger productive garden where the produce grown would be sold to the Student Union, which would in turn generate compost in a closed-loop cycle," she said.
The General Sustainability group has taken "this really interesting direction," she said. One of their projects is to develop a multilayer interactive map of sustainability elements on campus. "We could give input to campus planners." Students tracked bicycle thefts, mapped high-theft areas and recommended changes to combat theft. "People will ride bikes, hopefully, if there's less of a probability that they will be stolen," Ash said.
The General Sustainability group will also map water flow from campus roofs to identify sites for water harvesting.
The Sage Fund is staffed by interns, Ash explained, but provides seed money to campus sustainability programs independent of the ASUA. The fund was set up that way so that it would not be impeded by a less sustainability-minded ASUA administration, she said.
"Ideally the purpose is the grant cycle, where not just students but faculty can apply for a grant or loan that involved sustainability." The money comes from fundraising, teamed up with the alumni foundation and UA Cares. They're seeking other partnerships as well. "We're seeing where this leads."
The Athletics team has taken on the challenge of trying to establish the carbon footprint of the athletics program.
Education/Outreach is working with elementary and junior high schools near the campus to develop a sustainability curriculum. The group has produced sustainable fashion shows called "Project Greenway," which feature recycled and used clothing to demonstrate "you can be sustainable and be fashionable at the same time," Ash said. "Actually, some of the recycled clothing looked pretty cool."
Ash said she hopes the increasing student involvement signals a change in culture. "It's bringing to a peak in recognition that this is important," she said, "and that ideally it won't regress but it will become second nature." She said a significant number of freshmen have become involved. "They have very original ideas."
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Students participate in composting programs
BY MARCY MIRANDA, coloradoan.com, Nov. 16, 2009
Students at Lesher IB World Middle School are learning a lesson in waste and recycling: If it was ever alive, it's compostable.
Lesher is one of two Poudre School District schools participating in composting pilot programs, said John Holcombe, the district's environmental and safety coordinator.
Kinard Core Knowledge Middle School has also been trying to reduce its impact on landfills by sorting its waste into compostable material.
"Composting is more sustainable," Holcombe said.
Lesher began its program in September and Kinard in October. Both average between 60 and 90 pounds of compost per day, Holcombe said.
Many everyday items that are not recyclable are compostable, said Annie Carey, marketing director for Clean Air Compost, which is working with Lesher.
Students have been learning items such as egg shells, vegetable peelings, paper towels and coffee grinds can be broken down instead of dumped in a landfill, she said.
Larger composting facilities that use heat to break down materials are also able to break down items not typically recommended for home composting, such as toilet paper rolls, corn-based containers, cups, disposable silverware and meat bones, Carey said.
Her company is also working with several restaurants in town, collecting their compost in an attempt to reduce waste.
"If you think of the volume of food waste, leftovers, cardboard boxes, they can significantly reduce their trash volumes and reduce their trash bill, their cost of compost," she said.
Holcombe was approached by Clean Air Compost, which asked about the possibility of setting up a composting program with the school district. Before taking it districtwide, Holcombe randomly chose Lesher as a pilot site. After getting approval from the principal, the cafeteria added a third waste bin to collect compost.
Students separate their lunch waste into recycling, composting and trash. The compost bin is equipped with a rack and a vent to separate and air out the water from the material, Carey said.
Each day, a different student serves as compost monitor, said Wiley Cate, a counselor at Lesher. Monitors help keep trash, recyclable and compostable material separate and educate their fellow classmates about composting.
"We've been having kids learn about composting and how it really lessens the amount of trash we put into the dump," Cate said. "I know our custodian said it's been cut significantly."
Carey said 18,000 pounds of compost have been picked up from Lesher since September.
At Kinard, the school's environmental group has a worm compost to help reduce the amount of garbage they created, Holcombe said. The success of the worm composting program was so great, the group realized it had more compost than it could feed the worms.
The school approached Holcombe to see if they could also participate in a composting program.
"We are trying all kinds of different things to try and divert the food from landfills," he said.
Holcombe hopes to add a third school to the composting program in January.
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Biopack Announces Initial Sales of New Water Resistant Trays
Filing Services Canada, Nov. 23, 2009
Hong Kong - Biopack Environmental Solutions Inc. a leading designer, manufacturer, and supplier of 100% biodegradable packaging products, is pleased to provide the following update to its press release dated October 22, 2009 and announce initial sales of a water resistant or "coated" fish tray to one of the largest international food conglomerates in the world. Biopack has designed, tested, manufactured and shipped this new coated fish tray that was custom made upon request to meet packaging needs of the food conglomerate, which operates nearly 3,000 retail stores in the United States and Europe under 11 different brand names generating approximately $40 billion in annual revenue.
Biopack's eco-friendly, 100% biodegradable and compostable coated fish tray was specifically made to complement an existing product within this retailers Sustainable Seafood Program, a 10-point policy which dictates how seafood is purchased and sold, based on social, ecological and economic considerations. The goals of this retail giant for delivering sustainable seafood into its stores are to:
* Promote the sale of seafood that is harvested in a sustainable way;
* Avoid the sale of species that have been over-fished or are in jeopardy;
* Actively work with the industry, NGOs, and governments to monitor and improve long-term viability of fish stocks.
Many global corporations are placing more emphasis on going green and sustainability. For example Walmart's Sustainability Index, announced earlier this year, is part of a major attempt by the retail giant to develop a more transparent supply chain. The index will show what is in each product and how the product is made - from raw materials to disposal. Eco-friendly sourcing of product and eco-friendly packaging are becoming more visible in many companies' business initiatives.
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Monday, November 23, 2009
Freedonia Focus on World Bioplastics
MarketResearch.com, Nov. 30, 2009 report date
This report discusses world bioplastics demand for the years 2003 and 2008, with forecasts for 2013. Topics covered include demand by product and market; production trends; regional demand overview; demand in North America, Western Europe, Asia/Pacific, and aggregate other regions; industry composition and leading participants. Product segments include biodegradable (starch-based and other) and non-biodegradable bioplastics. Market segments cover nopackaging and packaging. This 28 page report also includes a highlights summary and a resources section.
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KAIST/LG Chem Improve Bio-Plastics Process
New process cuts cost and complexity for biodegradable plastics.
By Levi Beckerson, DailyTech, Nov. 23, 2009
Polylactic Acid doesn’t sound like a friendly neighborhood chap, but it is in fact a common plastic. Not only is it biodegradable, it can be made from renewable resources like sugarcane and corn starch. The current common technique for producing PLA is both expensive and complex, involving bacterial fermentation and then chemical polymerization.
A collaboration between KAIST University (Korea) and LG Chem, led by professor Sang Yup Lee, has developed a new process which produces PLA using the same resources. The process is a one-step direct fermentation, but it utilizes a slightly unsavory, though common bacterial component: E. coli.
“By developing a strategy which combines metabolic engineering and enzyme engineering, we've developed an efficient bio-based one-step production process for PLA and its copolymers. This means that a developed E. coli strain is now capable of efficiently producing unnatural polymers, through a one-step fermentation process,” explains Lee.
“The polyesters and other polymers we use everyday are mostly derived from fossil oils made through the refinery or chemical process. The idea of producing polymers from renewable biomass has attracted much attention due to the increasing concerns of environmental problems and the limited nature of fossil resources. PLA is considered a good alternative to petroleum based plastics as it is both biodegradable and has a low toxicity to humans.”
Though the use of E. coli in the process seems at first unsettling, the benefits of such a process are readily apparent. Reduced production cost would allow for greater use of PLA in plastic products, possible reducing or even replacing the need for many of the non-biodegradable, petroleum-based products presently in use. Though it may indeed be a small step, Lee’s team’s research adds another bio-friendly product to a stack of growing “greener” products and resources.
The research work is published in the 50th anniversary of the journal Biotechnology and Bioengineering.
Globe Guard Introduces Eco Friendly Bubble Wrap, Breakthrough in Biodegradable Packaging
PRWEB, Nov. 10, 2009
Plainfield, IL - Another gap in sustainable packaging has been filled by the Globe Guard Products division of Salazar Packaging, Inc. with the introduction of Eco Friendly Bubble Wrap.
The new material, a general purpose void fill, cushioning, and surface protection packaging product, is now in stock and available for immediate shipment throughout the U.S. market.
Eco Friendly Bubble Wrap is 100% recyclable, 100% degradable, and 100% biodegradable. In addition, it is CFC free / non toxic and does not deplete the ozone layer.
Beyond its impressive sustainable and biodegradable packaging characteristics, the material has excellent stretch to wrap securely around sharp corners and edges, superior strength to maintain protection in harsh shipping conditions, and high air retention to provide long lasting cushioning.
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