Technical information and product details:
Biodegradable:
The term biodegradable
means that the material will degrade, or break down, when in contact
with naturally occurring microorganisms. A biodegradable material does not
necessarily completely break down in a composting situation in any
specified time.
Compostable:
A compostable plastic 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." This
definition is from ASTM, and
illustrates how a material labeled compostable,
by ASTM standards,
must biodegrade in a certain
period of time. Additionally, in
order to be labeled compostable, a
bioplastic must:
1. Biodegrade - break down into carbon dioxide, water, biomass at the
same rate as cellulose (paper).
2. Disintegrate - the material must be indistinguishable in the
compost, not visible, and not needed to be screened out.
3. Eco-toxicity - the biodegradation does not produce any toxic
material and the compost can support plant growth.
Plantware Biodegradables Cutlery:
The cutlery is manufactured for Loopy Lupine in Guangzhou,
China.
Loopy did a site inspection of the factory in January, 2007. The
factory is clean, modern, and safe. The workers are treated
fairly, have health care, and there is no child labor. The
material used for the cutlery is called PSM, which stands for
Plastarch Material. The material is manufactured in China by
Huayan Environmental Material Co., Ltd. PSM is mostly made from
corn starch. More info about the material is available at the PSM website. The
cutlery is biodegradable, but does not currently meet ASTM standards
for
the label "compostable." What this means is that although the
Plantware cutlery will compost, it does not compost at a rate fast
enough to be labeled compostable.
Plantware Biodegradables Tableware:
The Plantware tableware and takeout containers are
manufactured for Loopy Lupine in Nanning, China. The Guangxi
Province of China, where Nanning is located, is the largest sugar cane
producing region in China. Loopy did a site inspection of the
factory in February, 2007. The factory is clean and safe, there
are no children working there, and the working conditions are
satisfactory. Many of the workers live on site in dormitory
housing. The housing is not fancy, but is clean and
functional. The workers have health care. The factory is
currently expanding to add another production line due to the positive
response from these products.
The material, bagasse, is a byproduct of sugar refining. The
bagasse is taken to a pulp mill in Nanning where it is cleaned and
processed into usable pulp for making products like Plantware.
The pulp factory recovers waste heat in the form of steam to generate
electricity for the plant. The waste water is treated at a modern
treatment facility, and tested before being discharged off-site.
Some water is treated on-site, and recycled within the plant. Two
types of pulp are produced at the pulp plant, chlorine bleached and
unbleached.
The bagasse pulp is then trucked to the tableware factory, where it is
pressed in molds into various styles of plates, bowls, and
containers. The pulped products are then trimmed, dried, UV
sterilized, and packaged. The products are produced according to
FDA standards for food service use in the US.
PLA Products:
PLA stands for Poly Lactic Acid and is a plastic made from
corn. The material, called NatureWorks was developed by
Cargill Dow, and is available for use as a petroleum plastic substitute
for many products. PLA is temperature sensitive, and is only
useful for cold or luke-warm foods. Things like salads, cold
drinks, and cold sandwiches are ideal for PLA containers. PLA
containers are certified compostable by BPI.
This page is being updated, please check back soon for more info.
If you have a technical question not answered here, please
e-mail loopy@loopylupine.com