A biodegradable plastic that literally dissolves on contact with water saves enough energy to power Canberra and enough carbon dioxide to take 140,000 compact cars off the road during the Easter period.
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A recent environmental study carried out by Melbourne’s RMIT University found that a biodegradable plastic, developed by an Australian company based in Melbourne, Plantic
Technologies Limited, saves up to 2.5 tonnes of carbon dioxide compared
with conventional plastics. This is equivalent to the average annual emissions
of a compact car and the amount of energy to annually power 2.5 average Australian
homes.
With Easter fast approaching, it is estimated that Easter eggs generate about
3000 tonnes of
waste each year. If all of these eggs were packaged in Plantic material, enough
energy would
be saved to power 350,000 homes for the Easter period, which is effectively
all of the houses in
Canberra. It would also save enough carbon to take 140,000 cars off the road
in that period.
Considered an advance in plastic manufacturing, Plantic’s® biodegradable
plastic is made from
corn starch allowing it to rapidly dissolve in water. The biodegradable plastic
can be used as
everyday backyard compost, reducing the impact that plastic has on landfill
and global warming.
Mr. Brendan Morris, chief executive officer of Plantic Technologies Limited,
points out,
“Plastic is made from petrochemical feed stocks. For this reason, we need
to continue to invest
in new ways of producing plastic that is both biodegradable and does not draw
from our limited
natural resources. We simply can not keep adding to the problem of global warming.”
“Australia produces more than 1.3 million tonnes of plastic every year,
that’s more than 71kg for
every person. By replacing the traditional way of manufacturing plastic with
Plantic’s technique
of producing biodegradable plastic, we could drastically reduce pollution and
at the same time
save enough energy to power 17 million homes.”
According to the RMIT environmental study Plantic® materials are estimated
to have
approximately 40-70%2 less impact on global warming than traditional plastic
material.
Plantic’s® biodegradable plastic is commonly used to produce three-dimensional
trays, such as
those for biscuits and chocolate. Companies using Plantic’s® biodegradable
trays include
Cadbury Milk Tray chocolates, Haigh’s chocolates, Lindt & Sprungli
and Byron Bay Cookie
Company.
Posted March 2nd, 2009
