What have you heard of plastic substitutes you’ve never heard of

What have you heard of plastic substitutes you’ve never heard of?

Environmental friendly and natural plastic substitutes such as paper products and bamboo products have attracted people’s attention. So in addition to these, what new natural alternative materials are there?

1) Seaweed: the answer to the plastic crisis?

With the development of bioplastics, seaweed has become one of the best substitutes for traditional plastic packaging.

Since its planting is not based on land-based materials, it will not provide any material for the usual carbon emission disputes. In addition, seaweed does not need to use fertilizer. It helps to restore the health of its direct marine ecosystem. It is not only biodegradable, but also compostable at home, which means that it does not need to be decomposed by chemical reaction in industrial facilities.

Evoware, an Indonesian sustainable packaging start-up, created custom red algae packaging that can last up to two years and can also be eaten. So far, 200 companies in the food, cosmetics and textile industries have been testing the product.

British start-up notpla has also developed a series of seaweed based food and beverage packaging, such as ketchup bags that can reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 68%.

Called oohos, it is used for soft packaging of beverages and sauces, with a capacity ranging from 10 to 100 ml. These packages can also be eaten and disposed of in ordinary household waste and degraded in the natural environment within 6 weeks.

2) Can coconut fiber make flower pots?

Foli8, a British plant electronics retailer, has launched a range of biodegradable flower pots made of pure coconut fiber and natural latex.

This plant-based basin not only helps to minimize the ecological footprint, but also is beneficial from a horticultural point of view. As we all know, coconut shell fiber pots can promote the strong growth of roots. This innovation also avoids the need for re potting, as old potters can easily be inserted into larger ones while reducing the risk of root damage.

Foli8 also provides enterprise planting solutions for famous London landmarks such as the Savoy, as well as some of the UK’s top global workspaces.

3) Popcorn as packaging material

Using popcorn as packaging material sounds like another old joke. However, recently, researchers at the University of Gottingen have developed such a plant-based environmentally friendly material as an environmentally friendly alternative to polystyrene or plastic. The university has signed a license agreement with nordgetreide for the commercial use of processes and products in the packaging industry.

Stefan Schult, managing director of nordgetreide, said that this plant-based packaging is a good sustainable alternative. It is made of inedible by-products produced from cornflakes. After use, it can be composted without any residue.

“This new process is based on technology developed by the plastics industry and can produce a variety of molded parts,” explained professor Alireza kharazipour, head of the research team. “This is particularly important when considering packaging because it ensures the safe transportation of products and minimizes waste. All this is achieved by using a material that can even be biodegradable afterwards.”

4) Starbucks launches “slag pipe”

As the world’s largest chain coffee shop, Starbucks has always been ahead of many catering industries on the road of environmental protection. Disposable tableware made of degradable materials such as PLA and paper can be seen in the store. In April this year, Starbucks officially launched a biodegradable straw made of PLA and coffee grounds. It is said that the biodegradation rate of the straw can reach more than 90% within four months.

Since April 22, more than 850 stores in Shanghai have taken the lead in providing this “slag pipe” and plan to gradually cover stores across the country within the year.

5) Coca Cola integrated paper bottle

This year, Coca Cola also launched a paper bottle packaging. The paper bottle body is made of Nordic wood pulp paper, which is 100% recyclable. There is a protective film of biodegradable biomaterials on the inner wall of the bottle body, and the bottle cap is also made of biodegradable plastic. The bottle body adopts sustainable ink or laser engraving, which once again reduces the amount of materials and is very environmentally friendly.

The integrated design strengthens the strength of the bottle, and the wrinkled texture design is added to the lower half of the bottle for better holding. This beverage will be sold on a pilot basis in the Hungarian market, 250 ml, and the first batch will be limited to 2000 bottles.

Coca Cola has promised to achieve 100% recyclability of packaging by 2025 and plans to establish a system by 2030 to ensure that the packaging of each bottle or can will be recycled.

Although degradable plastics have their own “environmental halo”, they have always been controversial in the industry. Degradable plastics have become a “new favorite” to replace ordinary plastics. However, in order to truly develop degradable plastics for a long time, how to deal with the problem of scientific disposal of waste generated after the large-scale use of degradable plastics will be the key point restricting the healthy and sustainable development of degradable plastics. Therefore, the promotion of degradable plastics has a long way to go.