Wood-based film flow-wraps eco-friendly cutlery
Eco-friendly food packaging and catering disposables manufacturer Vegware has chosen Innovia Films' biodegradable and compostable material, NatureFlex NE30, to flow-wrap the company’s natural starch cutlery sets.
NatureFlex film begins life as a natural product—wood—and breaks down at the end of its life cycle in a home compost bin or industrial compost environment within a matter of weeks. According to Innovia, it also offers advantages for packing, such as inherent dead fold and anti-static properties, high gloss and transparency, resistance to grease and oil, good barrier to gases and aromas, and a wide heat-seal range.
Vegware was founded in Edinburgh by Joe Frankel in 2006 and currently serves the U.K., Irish, and North American markets. The company provides a full range of biodegradable cutlery and tableware, offering the foodservice industry a practical and economic alternative to plastic disposables.
Vegware's 100% biodegradable cutlery is molded from corn and potato starch. It is robust, GM-free and heat-resistant up to 105°C, the company says. The Vegware philosophy is simple: All Vegware products are fully biodegradable and can be composted together with food waste, thus reducing the burden on landfill.
Outlining why Vegware selected NatureFlex, Mr Frankel says, "I like the fact that NatureFlex is genuinely home-compostable, unlike some other bioplastic films that are more suited to commercial composting, which requires higher temperatures. It looks great and can be used in flow-wrap machines. It's also from a fully sustainable source of wood. We are the only packaging company in the U.K. not to use any oil-based plastics at all. So using NatureFlex to wrap our cutlery packs was the obvious choice, and it means that the entire package is biodegradable."
NatureFlex films are certified to meet both the European EN13432 and American ASTM D6400 standards for compostable packaging. The wood pulp is sourced from managed plantations from referenced suppliers operating good forestry principals (FSC or equivalent). NatureFlex films typically have a renewable bio-based content of some 95% by weight of material, Innovia claims.
Says Clare McKeown, Innovia Films' market manager, " We are pleased to have assisted Vegware in gaining a competitive advantage by aligning their packaging message with the ethos of their product marketing and providing caring consumers with a biodegradable, naturally based sustainable packaging material."
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Would someone please explain how the use of harsh chemicals (sodium hydroxide and sulfuric acid) and strong organic solvents (hydrogen sulfide) and 1 million gallons of water a day used to make cellophane (aka NatureFlex) make this product sustainable? Just because it is certified biodegradable the process to get to cellophane is severe and heavily chemical. This is not sustainable to me.
Innovia Films manufactures both conventional plastic films and biodegradable/renewable cellulose films, so we are well-placed to have a balanced view on sustainability within a packaging context. "Cradle to gate" all packaging materials, regardless of origin and type have a manufacturing impact, but also have a fundamental role in reducing waste through protecting the product inside the pack.
'Anonymous' would appear to have a degree of historical knowledge of the Cellophane process, but not of the dramatic process improvements that have been put into place over recent years, and particularly with the advent of NatureFlex films. Rest assured that all the sustainability claims we make over our NatureFlex products are fully and independently substantiated and certified. If they would like to contact me directly we can discuss these improvements in person.
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