Biodegradable bags

Biopackaging – the choice of the Ukrainian manufacturer

       The Ukrainian soft packaging market is growing rapidly. Comfortable biodegradable packages are in great demand among consumers and manufacturers. People love to buy goods in environmentally friendly plastic wrap. After all, biopackaging perfectly meet all the requirements: such packaging is light, strong, quickly opens and closes, provides the convenience of selecting the required amount of goods, does not harm the environment.

       Therefore, whenever there is ordinary and ecopackaging next to each other in the shop window, then more than 60% of buyers prefer to buy ecopackaging – people make their choice in favor of technologies that preserve nature. Biodegradable packages make the consumer to feel a sense of environmental protection and show civil responsibility.

       Biodegradable packages are made from special polymers and, if microorganisms and special conditions are available, decompose to water and carbon dioxide. Raw materials for such biopackaging are polyethylene granules with catalytic additives, mixtures of starch and polyester or polylactide.

T-shirt bags with logo

Die cut handle packages

Loop handle packages

Production of transparent bio-packages T-shirt and other types

Why biopackaging is successfully replacing conventional polyethylene products  

The idea of biopackaging, which performs its function and then evaporates in the air, appeared a long time ago. Eco-friendly biodegradable packages just brought it to life. Truth be told, biopackaging does not disappear immediately, but after 3 years it turns into water, humus and carbon dioxide – substances that plants and microorganisms successfully cope with.

The process occurs in two stages:

1) Oxo-degradation – oxidation under the influence of natural environmental factors.

2) Biodegradation – absorption and processing of residues by fungi and microorganisms.

Presently ecopackages are manufactured:

       1. Packages from oxo-biodegradable polymers – biodegradable synthetic materials, to which catalytic additives such as D2W and analogs are added in the amount of 1-3%. Such a modified polymer contains a functional group that promotes oxidation, hydro- and photodegradation in natural conditions. Due to structural fragment of the organic molecule, polyethylene becomes unstable, swells and quickly biodegrades. On average, such plastic completely decomposes in nature after 2-3 years, turning into humus, water and carbon dioxide.

Benefits:

• low cost;
• sustainable high consumer properties;
• natural decomposition of polymer in the natural environment when exposed to light, moisture, temperature, mechanical stress and microorganisms.

According to the document TR 15351 of the European Committee for Standardization (CEN), the oxo-biodegradation process is about the process of decomposition as a result of simultaneous or sequential oxidation and cellular degradation. 

The mechanism of oxo-additive action on the example of D2W:

       2. Packages from synthetic polymers with plant additives – compostable, based on corn or potato starch, tapioca, cellulose or sugar cane. These packages from starch are completely biodegradable due to absorption by microorganisms. Not suitable for packing and storing wet products, as they are hydrodegradable. They cannot compete with oxo-biodegradable film in terms of strength, since they cannot carry a large weight (often their carrying capacity does not exceed a kilogram).

European mark "Suitable for composting"

       3. Packages from polylactides (lactic acid polyesters). They are quickly biodegradable, have good characteristics. However, due to high cost of the equipment, the production turns out to be insufficiently profitable (such plastic is 10 times more expensive than oxo-biodegradable plastic). The second significant disadvantage of any natural raw materials is the need to grow and spend food for the production of packages, as well as a large amount of production waste after fermentation and other processes of the production cycle.

       4. Edible casein (milk protein) film. It is not versatile as it is applied directly to the food product. Still under development, not widely used.

       5. Edible starch packaging film. It is not waterproof, so it was suggested to use it mainly for bread. Also sprayed on the very product. Disadvantages of “corn packaging”: high price, the need to grow special varieties of corn.

       Development of new types of biodegradable polymers is ongoing. However, currently, the most efficient and cost-effective technology is oxo-biodegradable polymers. Therefore, we base our production of ecopackages exactly on it.

Production of biodegradable packages: the technology from A to Z

       The production technology of oxo-biodegradable packages almost does not differ from the production of ordinary cellophane bags. To make biodegradable packages, HDPE, LDPE, МDPE polyethylene is used, the granules of which are fed into the extruder using a screw, where they are melted at temperatures up to 240 degrees. The only difference is the additional stage, during which a catalytic additive in the amount of 1-3% of the D2W type with salts of transition metals (iron, cobalt, nickel) is introduced into the extruder. Therefore, in terms of physical and mechanical properties (strength, hygroscopicity, health safety, etc.), biodegradable films do not differ from ordinary ones. The polyethylene melt at the exit from the extruder is blown into a sleeve, which is rolled, cooled.

Biodegradable film exstruder

       Then this sleeve is sent to the flexoprinting shop, where it is corona-discharged so that the paint firmly “sticks” into the film, does not rub off and does not stick to hands. And then a full-color drawing, company branding, the supermarket's own logo, and text information is applied to the sleeve using flexographic machines. Preparation of activated products for silk-screen printing is available to order.

       After that, the “semi-finished product” is sent to the package making shop, where handles of a given shape are cut out from the sleeve. The edges of the workpiece are soldered at a high temperature, the products are quality checked, packed.

What biodegradable packages are special for:

• Natural decomposition of the material, the ability to control decomposition time.
• Good loading capacity with low film thickness.
• Elasticity.
• Safety – ecopackages are also suitable for products.
• Barrier properties.
• Can be transparent, colored, white.
• Possibility of branding with full-color printing, apply photo printing.
• Low price for any type of ecopackages.
• Variety of models, small and large sizes.

An example of bio-plastic degradation in the middle stage:

Currently, the most commonly used additives are from the following manufacturers:

• Symphony Еnvironmental (UK) – D2W additive modifies the film and reduces its molecular weight, makes the material unstable and rapidly degrades in natural conditions.

• Willow Ridge Plastics Inc (USA) – manufactures additives BDA, PDQ-H, PDQ-M, etc. These are non-toxic, harmless to plants and animals. Introduction of only 1-3% of the catalyst into the mass makes it possible to make even multilayer plastic biodegradable.
• Wells Plastics Ltd (England) – a catalytic additive PDQ-H, which accelerates oxidation and biodegradation of the polymer by reducing its molecular weight.
• Add-X Biotech (Sweden) – additive Addiflex®. Significantly accelerates the process of film decomposition when exposed to sunlight, heat and mechanical action of wind. It is known that under normal conditions in a landfill a bag will decompose up to 3 years. And if it gets tangled in the branches of a tree and the wind flutters it, then the decomposition rate will increase tenfold, that is, the degradation process will take about 2 months.

Standard sizes, cm.

Biopackaging versus paper: an unbiased overview in numbers and facts

       “Green” environmentalists periodically scare humanity with an impending waste collapse and agitate to switch to paper packaging. However, if we discard populism and look at the facts, it becomes clear that biopackaging does not destroy, but saves nature.

Why is making paper bags more harmful to the environment than making plastic ones:

1. 2-4 times more electricity is consumed.
2. 80% more greenhouse gases are emitted into the atmosphere. 
3. The air is polluted 70% more, as sulfur and carbon dioxide are emitted, the environment becomes acidic.
4. Pure water is consumed 3 times more, and pollution of water natural resources increases 50 times. At the same time, the oxygen level in waters decreases and fish dies.
5. Production of paper from wood destroys the “green lungs of the planet”, that is, forests, and increases carbon dioxide emissions caused by the transport of wood.
6. Production of 1 ton of paper from waste paper consumes 15 tons of water, large emissions of harmful substances into the atmosphere occur.

Moreover, paper packaging is much more expensive, so buyers are very reluctant to pay for it.

MPAK is a Ukrainian manufacturer and a reliable partner doing business with whom is always a good deal

1. Our factory produces biopackaging such as T-shirt, D cut bags, loop, garbage bags, packaging containers.
2. We guarantee the best quality of our products.
3. You can buy HDPE, LDPE, PSD ecopackages with the logo of a company or organization, branded bags for supermarkets or stores with non-food products, biopackaging for silk-screen printing of small and large sizes, packaging with advertising.
4. We use only high-quality raw materials and safe additives from the best manufacturers, with whom we constantly cooperate.
5. We have free product delivery throughout Ukraine: to Kyiv, Dnipro, Lviv, Kharkiv, Odesa and other cities.
6. We develop a customized layout for each client, select composition of raw materials and create bio-packaging for successful business.

We are always happy to start cooperation!