AsianScientist (Feb. 9, 2023) – From smartphone circumstances to wrapping paper and face masks, plastics have turn out to be an inseparable and integral a part of our each day lives. Nevertheless, the very characteristic that makes plastics so enticing additionally causes difficulties with regards to disposal and recycling: their sturdiness.
The uncooked figures are alarming. World plastic waste technology greater than doubled from 2000 to 2019 to 353 million tons, with solely a mere 9 % of it recycled. Of that mountain of waste, round 40 % got here from packaging supplies like plastic movies or containers—used as soon as after which discarded.
All over the world, corporations on the forefront of innovation are redesigning merchandise for enhanced sustainability and remodeling their enterprise fashions to maneuver from single-use plastics to reusable plastic merchandise. On this characteristic, we spotlight three Singaporean corporations which are main the way in which to unravel the plastic waste problem with revolutionary, eco-friendly packaging alternate options.
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When much less is extra
A considerable proportion of single-use plastic packaging is troublesome and expensive to recycle. Typical packaging is usually manufactured from skinny layers of various supplies to guard the content material it holds, which complicates the recycling course of. On prime of that, most don’t do an excellent job at holding meals recent.
Killing two birds with one stone, Aegis Packaging has collaborated with a number of stakeholders to deal with these challenges. The corporate has developed a novel coating that may successfully stop oxygen and moisture from seeping into the packaging, holding meals recent for an extended interval. Due to this, just one kind of plastic is required to make the packaging, which eases its recyclability.
“Innovation is at all times on the coronary heart of what we do at Aegis Packaging. Our in-house R&D staff continually churns out new packaging merchandise for the fast-moving shopper items business,” mentioned Ong Kai Liang, Enterprise Developer of Aegis Packaging. “We additionally collaborate with native analysis establishments to strengthen our technological know-how.”
With its two-pronged method geared toward lowering waste, Aegis Packaging is already making use of its innovation within the dry meals business and goals to increase the advantages of its coating to medical and private care merchandise and past.
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Upcycling waste into merchandise
Other than bettering the recyclability of plastics, one other resolution is to make use of fewer plastics within the first occasion. Nevertheless, trying to find a alternative that matches the properties of plastics is troublesome.
Not one to stroll away from a problem, Alterpacks has efficiently remodeled meals waste that will in any other case have ended up in landfills into usable merchandise that would substitute single-use plastics. By changing brewers’ spent grains—a waste by-product of the beer-brewing business—into reusable and biodegradable meals containers, Alterpacks addresses each the rising problems with meals waste and plastic air pollution.
“For the reason that starting, we now have adopted round design ideas corresponding to reuse and recycle in our method to the challenges we face,” defined Karen Cheah, Founder and Chief Government Officer of Alterpacks. “Our expertise has the potential to upcycle low worth brewers’ spent grains to satisfy one-third of packaging wants.”
When prompted to elaborate on future innovation plans, Alterpacks shared that it will likely be investigating different types of agricultural waste to increase its uncooked materials base, making manner for a greater diversity of packaging merchandise.
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Plant-based packaging
Hundreds of thousands of tons of plastic find yourself within the ocean annually, tainting pristine seas and threatening aquatic life. Distraught by this sight, avid scuba diver Prakruti Kodali co-founded pFIBRE with Dinaz Zenobia Tamboli to develop 100% marine-biodegradable packaging movies made out of plant-based substances.
From figuring out uncooked supplies with the specified properties and shelf life to making sure the environmental security of the biodegradable packaging movie, pFIBRE needed to overcome many hurdles throughout its innovation course of. After a lot trial and error, pFIBRE lastly cracked the code and designed packaging movies that may fully disintegrate in pure situations with out releasing substances dangerous to marine life.
“Our packaging movies are the one merchandise out there right this moment with a carbon footprint of virtually zero and at a fraction of the associated fee in comparison with different alternate options with comparable properties,” shared Kodali. “We’re striving to turn out to be carbon unfavorable within the subsequent few months, the place we take away extra carbon from the ambiance than we emit.”
With a spread of packaging movies right this moment, pFIBRE continues to innovate to extend the shelf lifetime of its movies with coatings that enhance barrier properties. Edible packaging movies are additionally on the corporate’s radar, which might vastly cut back plastic packaging in frequent meals gadgets corresponding to on the spot noodles.
Working along with customers, analysis our bodies and business, revolutionary corporations within the packaging sector corresponding to Aegis Packaging, Alterpacks and pFIBRE play an important function in lowering our reliance on plastics for a extra sustainable future.
Asian Scientist Journal is a content material associate of IPI.
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