Biodegradable and Recyclable Packaging Materials for a Greener Future

Our future may look mighty green with environmental concerns going mainstream. A growing demographic of consumers are on a lookout for environmentally friendly alternatives to traditional products. Today’s consumers want companies to add sustainable and renewable elements to their business models, which will be eventually reflected in their products. This is the evolution of the Green Revolution, which has also impacted the packaging industry. The revolution has increased the scrutiny of the effects of traditional packaging materials on the environment. The packaging industry is now waking up to the ecological needs and a new generation of biodegradable packaging materials like the corrugated boxes, corn starch, etc, have started to emerge in the market with a promise to bring balance to the environment. Although these initiatives are beneficial to the environment, they also help companies to build better relations with pro-environment customers.

Smart biodegradable and recyclable technologies have erupted with the intention of cleaning up the world’s carbon footprint. These biodegradable packaging materials have the same function as the traditional packaging materials, but they are green products that simply decompose or can be recycled. Let’s take a quick at some of the biodegradable packaging materials that are already having a positive effect on the environment.

The green packaging materials are biodegradable and recyclable in nature. They are as follows:

1. Corn Starch

Packaging materials made from corn starch are extensively used for packing limited use products like takeaway food. Cornstarch is highly biodegradable and provide good green options for all types of food packaging and can provide excellent packaging “peanuts” to protect and support the product sent through post or courier. The biodegradable property of cornstarch has little or no negative impact on the environment.

2. Bubble Wrap

Bubble wrap is a popular packaging material. Bubble wrap made from recycled polythene is completely degradable and is a good environmentally friendly option for cushion packaging. The green bubble film decomposes within 12-24 month in landfill leaving a harmless residue that gets absorbed into the ground easily. The bubble wrap film retains air, thus providing cushion protection against shock and vibration for a long time.

3.Paper and Cardboard

The benefits of corrugated packaging in the point paper and cardboard lie in the fact that they are reusable, recyclable and biodegradable, and these properties have been exploited by many packaging manufacturing companies to create eco-friendly packaging options.

4. Biodegradable Plastic

Biodegradable plastic is the largest segment in packaging with a market share of more than 60.3%. Biodegradable plastic is commonly used in plastic bags, shopping bags, disposable cutlery, envelopes, etc. The best part of the biodegradable plastic is that it starts decomposing as soon as it is exposed to sunlight. That makes this green plastic an excellent alternative to traditional plastic.

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