Plantic

Plantic Technology

FAQs

FAQs

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Plantic Multilayer Films

High barrier materials, in a packaging context are materials which provide a barrier for gases such as oxygen and carbon dioxide. High barrier materials have low transmission rates for these gases either due to physical or chemical molecular nature of the products.

No. Plantic core layer is extruded in a conventional Plastic extrusion extruder. This energy demand of this process is similar to other conventional Plastics. The raw material extraction for Plantic sheet being primarily corn harvesting and starch extraction is less energy consuming that that of crude oil extraction from the oil rigs and shore. Thus the cumulative energy demand for Plantic extruded sheet manufacturing is up to 50% less than that of conventional polymers.

YES. Plantic materials are food contact approved to European, USA and Australian food compliance legislation.

Plantic is currently undergoing research around the microwave ability of our products please contact us for the latest updates.

NO Plantic materials are designed to run on all standard equipment. Plantic Technologies Ltd can and will provide thermoforming guidelines and complimentary initial training for processing Plantic materials.

NO Currently Plantic materials are comparable in cost to other conventional barrier packaging materials. Longer term, Plantic materials have the potential to be at a cost advantage through better shelf life, down gauging, recycling abilities, environmental savings when compared to petroleum-based polymers.

Yes. Plantic materials are available in many different colours and given the qty size we can tailor a colour to suit your individual needs.

YES. Plantic materials are sealable to a wide range of standard lidding films. Film applications include MAP, Skin, Peel able in the top or bottom webs and flex/flex applications

No, Plantic materials maintains product integrity during use. Additionally to this our materials have similar shelf life to other fossil based barrier materials.

Environment

YES Plantic materials are endorsed by many recycling organisation globally as fully recyclable. The process to separate the starch core and the outer skins has been developed and this ground breaking technology has proven to be a great benefit for our customers who want to appeal to their consumers that they are offering a truly unique high barrier, multilayer, fully recyclable product. we also have a range of coloured products which can be recycled. Please contact us to discuss your needs.
YES. It can be incinerated. Due to high calorific value of starch, the heat value captured from this process is similar to fossil based materials. Due to the carbon cycle for plant based materials, majority of the CO2 emitted to the atmosphere during incineration will be consumed back by the corn plant during photosynthesis.
Yes. Plantic materials are certified globally through many different organisations. Please contact us to discuss your needs.
NO The total energy required to grow and harvest the corn actually adds benefits to our LCA due to the plants’ absorption of CO2 and sunlight during photosynthesis. In addition, Plantic is continuing to evaluate alternative energy sources that will make the life cycle even better in the future.
Plantic materials are made primarily from renewable resources – mainly starch from corn. Plantic materials consume less energy used to create traditional packaging plastics. Our materials have a carbon footprint that is significantly lower than traditional packaging plastics. Plantic have a range of materials which use recycled PET. Our team of experts can quantify the environmental benefits to you please contact us to find out how.
NO Plantic materials are manufactured using a corn crop that is specifically grown for Plantic Technologies Ltd. The whole of the harvested crop us utilised and Plantic Technologies Ltd use the extracted starch – with the by-product going to animal food and fertiliser. Due to a highly efficient conversion rate there is minimal crop space required, and our crop has no impact on food growing land space requirements. Industrial starches are used in many applications across different industries.
Biobased product, was defined by the United States Secretary of Agriculture in the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 as follows, “The term ‘‘biobased product’’ means a product determined by the Secretary to be a commercial or industrial product (other than food or feed) that is composed, in whole or in significant part, of biological products or renewable domestic agricultural materials (including plant, animal, and marine materials) or forestry materials OR an intermediate feedstock[1]. ASTM D6866 is used extensively to certify the biobased content of bioplastics. ASTM D6866 is the method approved by the U.S. Department of Agriculture for determining the renewable/biobased content of natural range materials like ethanol additives, biodiesel additives, and other biobased products[2]. Borrowing on the principles of radiocarbon dating, ASTM D6866 is able to determine the renewable carbon content of almost any type of solid, liquid, or gaseous products. The method provides a percentage determination of fossil carbon content versus renewable or biomass carbon content of a product or fuel blend.
When disposed in landfill, the biobased part of Plantic materials will start to degrade much faster than fossil based plastic. The fossil based part of Plantic materials will remain in landfill. The benefit of Plantic materials in landfill over fully sourced fossil based materials is reducing solid waste due to partial degradation. Plantic also has a wide range of fully compostable solutions these materials will degrade to nothing in landfill.
Life cycle analysis (LCA) is a systems analysis tool to account for all the environmental impacts associated with a product or service, from cradle to grave. The basic data set for an LCA is a life cycle inventory (LCI). In the LCA the LCI data is converted into a series of impact categories (non-renewable energy use, climate change, etc.) and is followed by an assessment of how relevant these impacts are. Some commonly used terminologies about the LCA and environmental profiling of products are listed below: Cradle to Factory Gate: Begins with extracting raw materials from the earth and ends with the product leaving the factory. Cradle to Grave: Begins with raw materials and ends with the final disposal of the product (compost, landfill etc). Contact us for more information on the LCAs we have had done.