The Future of Food Packaging

Compostablility of food packaging is important when taking into account the 3.7 billion plastic cups, 365 billion plastic bottles, and 3650 billion plastic bags wasted every year. [1] Note that compostable materials are very close to biodegradable plastic but "greener" because they aid valuable nutrients back in to the soil and have ASTM standards/regulations that have to be met before they can be called compostable.

For a plastic to be considered as compostable, it must be able to break down into carbon dioxide, water and biomass at a rate consistent with other known compostable materials; leaving no visible distinguishable or toxic residue. It also needs to look like compost, produce no toxic material and be able to support plant life. Compostable items are made from plant materials such as corn, potato, cellulose, soy and sugar.

Food companies all across North America are starting to move towards reducing their plastic waste and show an interest in greener, more practical packaging (e.g. Sunchips- 100% compostable package).  Hence, there is a need to develop biodegradable as well as biobased packaging as sustainable and eco-friendly alternatives to replace petroleum based plastics, especially those intended for short term uses, such as dispensable products, with biodegradable plastics. 

PepsiCo is also trying to appeal to environmentally aware consumers by launching a greener plastic water bottle than their existing product. The company's Aquafina Bottled Water in an Eco-Fina Bottle uses 50% less plastic than before and its Frito-Lay unit has a new compostable package for its Sun Chips Multigrain Chips.[1] This package is said to decompose in a matter of weeks in a compost pile. 

For companies to press on with innovative designs such as these even during a recession highlights the importance of environmental concerns.  Displaying an awareness of such issues and showing a commitment to tackling them can reduce costs, increase a product's appeal to consumers and may also be a demonstration of a genuine sense of corporate responsibility. 
Despite the early teething pains and rising raw material costs, the demand for biodegradable plastics in Canada and the U.S. is expected to rise by 15% annually to 720 million pounds by 2012.[2] This market is estimated to be worth 845 million dollars in 2012 and represent less than half of a percentage point of all thermoplastic demand in the U.S. and Canada in 2007.  

In 2008 Datamonitor surveyed consumers from around the world to see how many claim to have changed their buying behavior due to concerns about excessive packaging. Shockingly, 40% of UK respondents agreed that they seek alternative products if they believe their first choice is packaged excessively. Thus further proving, that there is a huge demand for biodegradable plastics and that Canada really needs to focus more research and development to meet the consumer and market demands for this growing sector.

Biodegradable Plastics Market Growth: The Global Market for Biodegradable Plastics Reached 541 million pounds in 2007 and is Expected to Reach 1.2 Billion Pounds by 2012! This Represents a CAGR of 17.3%.

[3] Schlechter, M. (2001) Biodegradable Polymers (PLS025A). Click for Availability. Online: February, 2010.

Bio-based materials can be helpful in catapulting the economy in the next orbit of economic growth. For example, agricultural raw materials like corn and sugarcane, if utilized for the production of the monomers, can provide impetus to the rural economy by generating additional rural employment. In today’s fast-changing global political landscape, bio-based materials are strategically important to reduce the dependency of various nations on petroleum-based resources which are concentrated in certain areas of the world.  

Scientific and industrial communities around the world must continue working in tandem for the development of alternative eco-friendly, biodegradable and sustainable packaging material. [4,5]

Welcome to the era of biomaterials.

References

[1] Datamonitor. (2008) Greener Packaging on Tap for New Consumer Packaged Goods. Click for Availability. Online: February, 2010.

[2] Canadian Packaging Staff. (2008) Rapid Growth In Store For Biodegradable Plastics. Click for Availability Online: December 14^th, 2009

[3] Schlechter, M. (2001)  Biodegradable Polymers (PLS025A). Click for Availability. Online: February, 2010.

[4] Gross, R.A., Kalra, B. (2002) Biodegradable Polymers for the Environment. Science, 297, 803-807.

[5]Auras, R.A., Harte, B., Selke, B. S. (2004)  Effect of Water on The Oxygen Barrier Properties of Polyethylene Terephthalate and Poly(Lactide Films). Journal of Applied Polymer Science, 92, 1790-1803.

© new wave ideas -Sara Bonham

Biodegradable Plastics

Plastics have become an important aspect of almost every part of our lives; from the moment we wake up and brush our teeth with a plastic toothbrush, to the automobiles we drive to work. No material on earth has been so highly valued for its usefulness, yet so maligned, as plastic. Plastics are so clearly useful that it is foolish not to afford them major respect. They are often not only less expensive than alternative materials, but their properties often make them better! 

Market forces such as low cost and convenience have encouraged the use of plastics in the last couple of decades. Most of the commercially available plastics are conventional petroleum-derived plastics such as polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), and polystyrene (PS).  Conventional petroleum-derived plastics have remarkable properties for a vast range of applications, but they post serious environmental challenges because of their persistent nature and problems related to disposability. For example, the incineration of recyclable plastics produces carbon dioxide and other harmful gases such as carbon monoxide and bi-products; all which are harmful to the environment. Limited petroleum resources and rising crude petroleum prices are also affecting the economics of the plastic and packaging industry.

With depleting petroleum based resources, the rising global concern for climate change, and plastic waste escalating to over a 200 million tons in North America, it is without doubt that research is needed for discovering alternative types of materials that are better for the environment.[i] In fact, of the 200 million tons of waste generated, 26 million tons are manufactured in North America. Surprisingly, the United States Environmental Protection Agency reported in 2003 that only 5.8 percent (%) of those 26 million tons of plastic waste were actually being recycled.[ii] Overall, the plastic industry is one of the most successful industries in history, and has grown to $2.5 trillion a year in roughly 50 years[iii], so even a 1% infiltration into this market would mean substantial profit, and more importantly, a reduction in the amount of petroleum derived plastics being produced.

A majority of today’s plastic that is produced is used for packaging. For instance, in the United States, approximately 32 percent of the plastic produced each year (over 20 billion pounds) is devoted specifically to packaging, representing its largest use by far, as evident in Figure 1.[iv] Furthermore, of the 27 billion pounds of polymers processed into flexible packaging in 2004, the United States and Canada had a 24.2% share of that market. A majority of these plastics being petroleum based polymers whose future either resides in landfills or facilities where they are to be incinerated into toxic gas. In fact, last year, of the 28.9 million tons of plastic packaging generated, only 5.7% was recycled or reused in some way, and 94.3% was sent to a landfill and discarded or combusted into the environment.[v]

If food companies and citizens do not take responsibility and an interest in this matter soon, the amount of waste generated is going to reach an incredible high, and result in unforgivable damage to the ecosystem. Datamonitor.com, a world-leading provider of premium global business information, is already predicting market production for containers and packaging to reach to 8.7 million tonnes by the end of 2013, representing a current annual growth rate (CAGR) of 1.6% for the 2008-2013 period.  A majority of this waste will come from plastics, as demonstrated in the Figure 2. This further emphasizes the need for biodegradable polymer materials for packaging food.  

Figure 1: Uses of Plastics Produced in the United States. [vi] 
Redrawn after reference: American Plastic Council. (2008) Percentage Distribution of Thermoplastic Resin Sales and Captive use by Major Market-2008. Available: www.americanplasticscouncil.org. Online: April, 2010.

Figure 2: Containers and Packaging Market Segmentation I: % Share, by Value, 2008.

[vii] Redrawn after reference: Euromonitor International, (July 2009). Food Packaging-Canada. 

References

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[i] Naturalvina (2010) Biocompostable Products Quoting Society of Petroleum Engineers. Our World Our, Environment. Available: http://www.zippaq.com/environment/thinkgreen/index.html. Online: April 24th, 2010.

[ii] Mo, X., Sun, J. (2001) Thermal and Mechanical Properties of Plastics Molded from Urea-Modified Soy Protein Isolates. Journal of the American Oil Chemists’ Society, 78(8), 867-872.

[iii] Finlayson, L. (2010) Cereplast, Inc. Press Release: Cereplast Introduces 11 New Grades of Bioplastic Resins for Wide Range of Plastics Applications. Beckerman Public Relations. Available: http://investor.cereplast.com/releasedetail.cfm?ReleaseID=478316. Online: August 25^th, 2010.

[iv] Stevens, E.S. (2003) Green Plastics: An Introduction to the New Science of Biodegradable Plastics. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data. Princeton University Press United States of America.

[v] Ruixiang, Z., Torley, P., Halley, P. (2008) Emerging biodegradable materials: starch- and protein-based bio-nanocomposites. Journal of Material Science, 43, 3058-3071.

[vi] American Plastic Council. (2004) Percentage Distribution of Resin Sales and Captive use by Major Market-2004. Available: www.americanplasticscouncil.org. Online: April, 2010.

[vii] Euromonitor International, (July 2009). Food Packaging- Canada. Available: www.euromonitorinternational.com. Accessed via: McGill University’s VPN connection, Management Resources.

© new wave ideas -Sara Bonham

Violin Strings From Spider Silk!

The world of innovation continues to amaze me. For years researchers have been using spider silk for various medical, textile, cosmetic and industrial applications. Now, a Japanese researcher, Shigeyoshi Osaki, of Japan's Nara Medical University is using the "dragline silk" from the spider Nephila Maculata to spin a set of violin strings.

Apparently the sound is amazing! In fact, professional violinists are say that the sound is "quite soft and timbre" and that they will be able to create a new music from these unique violin strands. Also note that they are using between 3,000 to 5,000 individual strands of silk per string.

Dr. Osaki attributed the violins unique sound to the structure found in their cross-section, which can be seen using an electron microscope (refer to picture). The strands of silk appear perfectly round from the top, but are actually compressed into a range of different shapes inside that are compressed together. This feature of the strings, is what lends them their strength and unique tone.

Dr. Osaki was keen on measuring the spiders silks tensile strength- a critical factor for violinists who don't want to break their strings in the middle of a concerto. In fact, his research  on allowable mechanical stress applied to a spider's lifeline was published in the 2007 Polymer Journal. Overall, the strings could withstand more more tension than aluminum-coated, nylon-core strings but less tension before breaking than traditional, but rarely used gut string.

Click here to learn more on spider silk violin strings.

 © new wave ideas -Sara Bonham

Robot to Help Elderly

Goldie Nejat and her team at The University of Toronto has recently come out with a robot to assist the elderly in daily activities. Their goal is to get it to assist in living facilities and eventually in people’s own homes. 

This has come at the perfect time as we continue to see the exponential growth of the growing elderly population. An article in the Toronto Star (link at bottom) interviewed the Public Health Agency of Canada who stated that "the proportion of seniors in the population rose from one in 20 in 1921 to one in seven in 2009. By 2041, it’ll be almost one in four." 

“We focused on specific activities the robot can engage a person in, at the same time providing social stimulation. It can play memory games and card games to keep the brain active. It can prompt someone through the steps of brushing their teeth, such as putting the toothpaste on the brush, or of eating a meal, or it can remind them of a doctor’s appointment." -Toronto Star article by Bill Taylor/

 © new wave ideas -Sara Bonham