Can compostable & biodegradable lunch sheets replace non-degradable ones ?

4 January 2016 06:55 am Views - 5862

All over the world people produce waste organic , plastic , and other types of waste .  Pollution and waste management are  worldwide issue because of single use plastic bags as far as plastic bags are considered .     The world consume more than 500 billion plastic bags every year. The majority of plastic bags are HDPE  High Density Polythene Bags with handles known as single use plastic bags given  at supermarkets all over the world . These bags  finally end up in landfills polluting the environment . What is worse is traditional plastics will not break down  in more than 500 years .  More than 30% of waste sent to landfills is organic waste that can be composted and turned into nutrient rich soil. This is a solution for organic waste management and this should start from  homes .Compostable bags and sacks help combat the problem of sending organics to landfills.  

 

"This is an Environmentally friendly solution and these sheets are manufactured  in order to break down in less than 180 days"

In Sri Lanka  food wrapping  sheets are being used in  millions every day and  is there a solution for these sheets  as this has become a major problem in Sri Lanka  as they  cannot be collected and recycled as expected. 

Plastic Pakaging Pte Ltd Chairman Mervyn Dias who specialises in thin bags and are exporting their products to the UK market for the last 28 years,  also carry out research into making bags biodegradable and now make traditional sheets  that are 100% compostable and biodegradable, expressed his views about the present crisis. 

“Lunch sheets can be collected and recycled, but before recycling  the sheets have to be washed properly and should be cleaned. This takes a long time and therefore becomes an impossible task.  Lunch sheets were manufactured earlier before the 20 micron rule came into effect  as very thin sheets .  The film was so thin and because of this  recycled material or any other  material was not possible to use in the manufacture . The present sheets are of 20 microns minimum and sometimes  recycled  material or any other material can  be used . Recycled material cannot be used in lunch sheets and it is not safe to come in direct contact with food . Recycled material is banned in using in any product that comes in contact with food .

 

Q Is an increase in thickness of lunch sheets a solution ?

-The present thickness of lunch sheets and other products is 20 micron minimum , but the collection of lunch sheets is the biggest issue. The hotels and others will just throw these without collecting and disposing them properly and  finally they would  be disposed to the land filling  or end up polluting the environment . The worst thing is that these sheets will take hundreds of years to degrade .  These sheets cannot be used twice and if the thickness is increased  some may use it twice , but this may not be a solution  and might not reduce the usage of sheets .

There is no alternative for  lunch sheets. Banana leaf may be a solution but can anyone supply 1.5  to 2 million a day ? 100% compostable and biodegradable lunch sheets is the only alternative. These special  sheets do not have any polythene at all. 

This is an environmentally friendly solution and these sheets are manufactured  in order to break down in less than 180 days in an compostable environment . These will not  leave any harmful  residues in the process .  In a home compost bin this process would take up to 12 months.  It is safe  to come in direct contact with food. Safe for food wrapping .

The public should be educated  and encouraged to start composting. We do manufacture and  export these from 2008 . Naturplus is our brand name for Compostable bags and can manufacture compostable lunch sheets .

Mr Mervyn Dias can be contacted on  ppp@eureka.lk or 0777 396679