Biodegradable products

Polybags Ltd. now manufacture and stock a wide range of eco-friendly green packaging and biodegradable products to suit your needs and help towards a better environment (both PolyBio and Biodegradable). These include kitchen waste and refuse bags, bin liners, carrier bags and standard bags developed in Polybags laboratories in conjunction with the Polymer Research Department at the London Metropolitan University.

Common views on bioplastics

Starch bags can make sense when a packer wants a lower-impact option without moving straight into paper that may need more fibre, more weight, or more handling space. The proper question is not the label on the bag nevertheless whether it survives filling, stacking, and delivery without split seams or weak seals. In hot or humid conditions, a few starch-based materials can soften, absorb moisture, or lose shape, which affects pallet stability and store presentation. That means the specification has to match the climate and the route, not only the environmental brief. A bag that sees greener on paper nevertheless fails in transit fast becomes waste.

Global Biodegradable Plastic Packaging Market is Trending in Worldwide with Demand, Supply, Net Profit, Expansion Plans & Business Analysis

Biodegradable plastic packaging still has to be judged by how it behaves on the line, not by the promise on the label. If the material is also soft, also brittle, or only smashs down below conditions that not ever exist in a normal warehouse, it can create sealing faults, punctures, and poor pallet stacking long before any recycling or composting decision is manufactured. The proper gauge, film tension, and board or tray pairing matter only as much as the material grade itself. When the pack travels through dispatch, transport, and storage without splitting or sagging, it does its job properly and avoids costly handling damage.

Global Green Packaging Market 2018 by Manufacturers, Countries, Type and Application, Forecast to 2023

Green packaging in the Asia-Pacific market has grown because buyers are paying more attention to what happens after a pack leaves the shop shelf. That shift is not only about utilising less material; it is also about selecting board grades, films and closures that can still keep safe the product while making recovery easier at the sorting stage. In practice, that means better control of gauge, lighter secondary packing, and clearer decisions on whether a pack can be reused, recycled or composted. When those selections are badly matched, waste rises and handling costs follow. A package that balances protection with stop-of-life treatment earns its place in the line.

Global Biodegradable Packaging Materials Market Insights, Forecast to 2025

Biodegradable packaging can make sense when the product, the shelf life, and the waste route all line up properly. A film or tray that smashs down well on paper may still be poor in a busy packing line if it tears also easily, seals badly, or requirements tighter control of gauge and heat settings than the plant can grasp. That can lead to slower output, more rejects, and additional handling damage before the products even leave the warehouse. The optimal selection relies on whether the material suits the pack format, not only the label on the spec sheet. If the board grade, film tension, and seal quality are gross, the environmental story fast loses value on the shop floor.

Environmental bags now rely on material engineering rather than hopeful green branding, because print quality, seal integrity and handling strength all beginning with the chosen substrate. A polythene suppliers film or paper-based bag only performs well when the gauge is stable, the surface has been treated correctly, and the ink can stick without rubbing off in transit. That matters on the conversion line, where poor melt consistency or weak surface preparation can lead to wandering web, split gussets and waste at beginning-up. A sound specification makes the bag behave properly below load and gives a cleaner stop on press, so the finished pack sees deliberate instead of improvised.

Eco-friendly bags – be ECO!

Eco-friendly bags only earn the name when the material selection matches the job and the proper route through supply, storage and reuse. A woven polypropylene bag can transport heavy loads without adding much tare weight, nevertheless only if the gauge and seam quality are controlled well enough to grasp shape on a pallet and survive rough handling in transit. Cotton behaves differently, offering a softer feel and a useful reuse pattern, yet it takes more space at the select-face and can slow stock rotation when folded packs bulk out the racking. The proper spec retains wasted material down and reduces handling damage, which is better trade than a flattering label.

NNFCC hails stop of Tesco degradable bags

Degradable bags can fail the moment handling acquires rough, and that is why strength matters as much as the promise on the pack. If a bag is also flimsy, shop staff and clients reply by double bagging, which raises material use and still leaves the unique waste problem in position. In warehousing and shopping, a weak bag also means more splits on the select line, more spillages at dispatch, and more complaints at the till. A proper assessment has to see at how the bag behaves below load, not only how it sounds in a brochure. That practical testing normally gives a clearer reply than wishful thinking.

  165 Biodegradable Bags Suppliers & Exporters in UK

Biodegradable bags need careful sourcing because the label alone does not tell the full story. A bag may smash down below the proper conditions, yet still need the proper gauge, seal quality and storage treatment to work properly on a packing line or in a shop stockroom. If the film is also thin, handling damage and split seams soon become a problem; if it is also stiff, delivery staff and depot teams may struggle with speed and pack consistency. Buyers have to match the bag to the product, the load and the disposal route, or the saving turns into wasted stock and complaints.

Bioplastics

Bioplastics can reduce dependence on fossil feedstock, nevertheless they do not automatically solve the disposal problem. Many grades still behave much like normal plastic in the waste stream, so assuming they will simply disappear after use is a mistake. Packaging specifiers need to see beyond the label and check whether a material is in reality compostable, industrially compostable, recyclable, or only bio-based with no proper stop-of-life advantage. That matters on the shop floor as much as in the bin, because the gross assumption can lead to pollution, poor waste segregation, and awkward client complaints. The practical reply is to match the material to the disposal route that exists, not the one that sounds optimal.

100% COMPOSTABLE BAGS

Compostable bags can cut reliance on virgin fossil-based plastic because they are manufactured from biomass feedstocks rather than oil. That changes the risk profile for buyers who want a lower-carbon story without switching to a weak or awkward pack. The material still requirements proper specification, though, because a bag that sounds green nevertheless tears in the filling line or amid hand packing creates more waste than it saves. Gauge, seal quality and storage conditions all matter, particularly if the bags are held in a hot warehouse or moved through busy dispatch areas. A sensible selection balances material origin with proper handling performance.

Why Degradable or Biodegradable bags/film?

Conventional plastics do not break down. Litter and landfill waste take years, even decades, to degrade. Litter is visual pollution, an eyesore that regulations and educational programs have failed to eliminate. In landfills, not only do ordinary plastics degrade very slowly but also anything contained within them may not reach their full degradation potential. This results in a needless waste of valuable landfill space.
Source biodegradable bags at Packagingknowledge.com

What is biodegradable

Biodegradation is the process by which organic substances are broken down by the enzymes produced by living organisms. The term is often used in relation to ecology, waste management and environmental remediation (bioremediation). Organic material can be degraded aerobically, with oxygen, or anaerobically, without oxygen. A term related to biodegradation is biomineralisation, in which organic matter is converted into minerals.

Biodegradable matter is generally organic material such as plant and animal matter and other substances originating from living organisms, or artificial materials that are similar enough to plant and animal matter to be put to use by microorganisms. Some microorganisms have the astonishing, naturally occurring, microbial catabolic diversity to degrade, transform or accumulate a huge range of compounds including hydrocarbons (e.g. oil), polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), polyaromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), pharmaceutical substances, radionuclides and metals. Major methodological breakthroughs in microbial biodegradation have enabled detailed genomic, metagenomic, proteomic, bioinformatic and other high-throughput analyses of environmentally relevant microorganisms providing unprecedented insights into key biodegradative pathways and the ability of microorganisms to adapt to changing environmental conditions.
Source: Wikipedia.

Degradable vs. Biodegradable vs. Compostable

Compostable Plastic is plastic which is:

capable of undergoing biological decomposition in a compost site as part of an available program, such that the plastic is not visually distinguishable and breaks down to carbon dioxide, water, inorganic compounds, and biomass, at a rate consistent with known compostable materials (e.g. cellulose). and leaves no toxic residue.
American Society for Testing & Materials (ASTM).

In order for a plastic to be called compostable, three criteria need to be met:

1. Biodegrade - break down into carbon dioxide, water, biomass at the same rate as cellulose (paper).
2. Disintegrate - the material is indistinguishable in the compost, that it is not visible and needs to be screened out.
3. Eco-toxicity - the biodegradation does not produce any toxic material and the compost can support plant growth.

Biodegradable Plastic

Biodegradable Plastic is plastic which will degrade from the action of naturally occurring microorganism, such as bacteria, fungi etc. over a period of time. Note, that there is no requirement for leaving "no toxic residue", and as well as no requirement for the time it needs to take to biodegrade.

Degradable Plastic

Degradable Plastic is plastic which will undergo a significant change in its chemical structure under specific environmental conditions resulting in a loss of some properties. Please note that there is no requirement that the plastic has to be degrade from the action of "naturally occurring microorganism" or any of the other criteria required for compostable plastics.

Please visit environmentalbags.com to know more about degradation and the types of degradable bags.

A plastic therefore may be degradable but not biodegradable or it may be biodegradable but not compostable (that is, it breaks down too slowly to be called compostable or leaves toxic residue).

Bioplastics

Bioplastics can take different length of times to totally compost, based on the material and are meant to be composted in a commercial composting facility, where higher composting temperatures can be reached and is between 90-180 days. Most existing international standards require biodegradation of 60% within 180 days along with certain other criteria for the resin or product to be called compostable. It is also important to make the distinction between degradable vs. biodegradable vs. compostable as often these terms are used interchangeably.

Biodegradable or Biodegradeable?

It is very common to misspell biodegradable as biodegradeable (please take note yourself as some of our domains are actually misspelt!) and the same happens with degradable as degradeable. In fact when written down the word biodegradable often looks like an incorrect spelling and has been known to be corrected to biodegradeable by some overzealous and missinformed editors. So, now you know if someone tells you otherwise stick out your guns!

Biodegradable courier bags and mailing bags

For an extensive range of mailing bags including more green options for delivering your products by post to your customers please visit www.mailingbags.co.uk.

Green is the new black

The choice of packaging used by e-commerce retailers and how well this demonstrates a consideration for the environment affects the purchasing decisions of consumers, according to a packaging survey.

Research by strategic logistics partner Dotcom Distribution revealed that 60% of consumers think it is either important or very important that a retailer's packaging is sustainable.

Their 2013 e-Commerce Packaging Survey found that retailers who demonstrate sustainability is a priority are perceived as environmentally friendly, whilst customers themselves like to be seen as environmentally-conscious when deciding on where to shop and what to buy.

"It's clear that a retailer's packaging choice can have repercussions", said Maria Haggerty, president of Dotcom Distribution. "The results of this study show that packaging is not to be overlooked or underestimated for its possible impact on a brand."

Source: Dotcom Distribution 2013 eCommerce Packaging Survey - 'Brown Boxes Don't Deliver for Brands'