Eco-friendly Packaging
Plastic packaging and coatings are often singled out as among the chief contributors to the current environmental crisis. Technology currently exists to make packaging that is eco-friendly. It is only being used on a small scale, as yet. Eco-friendly packaging ranges from bioplastic containers, stretch wrap, and filling, to natural cellulose foam. Many packaging manufacturers are working on innovative ways to reduce the environmental impact of packaging, including making packaging biodegradable. Biodegradability refers to the ability of a product to be broken down into simpler forms by living organisms, thus reducing its persistence in the environment in its original form. Petrochemical plastics are persistent in the environment.
Many biodegradable plastics are made from plant sources, particularly corn, wheat and potatoes. The starch is extracted from the plant material, subjected to micro-organisms that cause lactic acid to form long-chain polymers and results in poly lactyl acid or PLA. Not only are plant plastics – bioplastics – biodegradable, they are also made from renewable resources thus reducing pressure on finite petrochemical supplies.
Some existing packaging options can be made biodegradable. EPI Environmental Plastics Inc. in Canada have developed TDPA (Totally Degradable Plastic Additive), which when added to the packaging allows it to retain its physical characteristics until it is in the right environment to degrade – oxygen, moisture, naturally occurring organisms, plus, sunlight, heat or mechanical stress. In this environment it then breaks down leaving only carbon dioxide, water and a small amount of original material. This presents a cheaper option than bioplastics, but although it has FDA approval, its’ long-term safety has not been tested.
Recycling packaging reduces the environmental impacts marginally. The real solution is in changing what we eat and how we get what we eat. If we ate mostly fresh fruit, vegetables and grains that we either grew ourselves or purchased from local growers, packaging would change enormously. Our health would improve and we would find a greater connection to our community and bioregion.