World major bakery product manufacturers have switched to oxy -biodegradable packaging . Mexico s Bimbo group and South Africa s Tiger brands has already implemented for their products.
In recent judgement by South African Ad monitoring agency have cleared Tiger brand "Albany" bread bags from using bio degradable word with Oxy -Biodegradable plastic packaging .
Plastic s have created environmental issues in the world because of its non biodegradability . Governments have tried to dissuade people for using plastic bags and encouraged them to use alternatives such as paper bags or products packed in Oxy -Bio degradable packaging
Few Facts on Oxy - Bio Degradable Plastic Packaging
Standards available for plastic bio degradation
American Standard ASTM D6954-04
British Standard 8472 for Compostability
European Rule s EN 13432
- Oxy degradation in plastic happens from the time its manufactured . This process is initiated by a pro degradant additive which is added to speed up degradation process when plastic material is exposed to heat , light and stress.It reduces the polymers to level where micro organism like bacteria and fungi act upon it hence its bio degradable . This additive is by product of oil refining .
• They will degrade in any outdoor or indoor environment, even in the absence of water. This is a very important factor in relation to litter, because a large amount of plastic waste cannot be collected. Most of the hydro-biodegradable plastics need to be in a highly microbial environment such as a compost heap before they will degrade.
• Oxo-biodegradable plastic can be programmed at manufacture to degrade within a timescale to suit the user's requirements. The rate of degradation of hydro-biodegradable plastics cannot be controlled.
• Oxo-biodegradable plastics are stronger and more versatile.
• They are much cheaper
• They are thinner, and use less space to store and transport, and less material to produce
• They can be transparent, so that the food or other contents within can be clearly seen.
• They can be recycled and can be made from recyclate. Hydro-biodegradable plastic cannot be made from recyclate, and cannot be recycled unless extracted from the plastic waste stream and treated separately.
• They can both be composted, but because the carbon is released more slowly from oxo-biodegradable plastic, the carbon becomes a food resource for growing plants.
• Bags made from them do not leak
• Less energy is required to produce and transport them.
• No genetically-modified ingredients
• They do not emit methane
• No residual plastic particles
• No organo-chlorine
• Safe for direct food contact
• Ideal for frozen food because they can be kept for long periods in sub-zero temperatures and will not start to degrade rapidly until the frozen food has been used and the wrapper has become waste.
• They can be used in high-speed machinery (such as for bread packaging) but the performance of hydro- biodegradable plastics in these machines is not acceptable.
• They can be incinerated with much higher energy-recovery than hydro-biodegradable plastic
• They can be made with the same workforce and machinery as conventional plastic products, but hydro-biodegradable products are made by a quite different process.
Source: http://www.plastemart.com/
We would like Indian Big 3 ( Britannia , Parle and ITC ) bakery manufacturers to take such intiatives to reduce plastic waste by bakery product packaging
Oxo–biodegradable plastic made mainly from polyolefin polymeric material is now very widely accepted all over the World. It is manufactured by Symphony Polymers of UK.
It is available in India by its agent called Priti Plastics Pvt Ltd., Phone: +91-22-28614929 / 28637432, Email: contact@pritigroup.com
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