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Small California Town Outlaws Takeout PS

Posted: September 23rd, 2009 | Author: kskinc | Filed under: Plastic Packaging, biodegradable plastic | Tags: , , , | No Comments »

Another California city has banned the use of polystyrene takeout packaging.

Mill Valley — a town of nearly 15,000 in Marin County that lies just north of San Francisco across the Golden Gate Bridge — approved a ban Aug. 3 that will go into effect Nov. 2.

The city becomes the 24th California town to ban the use of PS takeout food packaging. There also is one countywide ban in Santa Cruz, and Marin County is expected to enact a countywide PS ban later this year.

In addition, four California cities and one California county prohibit the use of PS packaging at municipal facilities.

The Mill Valley ban applies to containers, bowls, plates, trays, cartons, cups, forks, knives, spoons, straws, lids, bags, sacks, wrappings and other items designed for one-time use to transport or store prepared or takeout food.

It applies to all restaurants and retail food vendors and also applies to packaging for food that is left over from partially consumed meals prepared at restaurants or any other retail food vendor.

The new law also encourages city facilities and organizations or individuals renting city facilities to use durable food-service items. If that is not a feasible option, such groups or individuals are “required to use biodegradable disposable food packaging” rather than non-biodegradable disposable food packaging, unless the biodegradable option costs 15 percent more than the non-biodegradable option.

Mill Valley defined biodegradable disposable food packaging as uncoated paper and cardboard, paper and cardboard that meet ASTM International standards for biodegradable coatings and liners, and bioplastics that meet ASTM standards for bioplastics.

The law also said that any bioplastics should be “clearly labeled, preferably with a color symbol” so people who collect and process bioplastics “can easily distinguish the ASTM standard compostable bioplastic from non-degradable plastic.”

Polystyrene ice chests and coolers were excluded from the ban.

Fewer than 5 percent of the cities in California have bans on PS takeout packaging and most of them are coastal communities.

Copyright 2009 Crain Communications Inc. All Rights Reserved.

KSK Plastic Packaging supplies the best quality Biodegradable Plastic Packages and Trays at the lowest possible prices.

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Biodegradable Plastics

Posted: July 7th, 2009 | Author: kskinc | Filed under: Plastic Packaging, biodegradable plastic | Tags: , , , , , | No Comments »

Biodegradable Plastics - Polylactic acid or Polylactide (PLA) is a biodegradable, thermoplastic, aliphatic polyester derived from renewable resources, such as corn starch (in the U.S.) or sugarcanes (rest of world). Although PLA has been known for more than a century, it has only been of commercial interest in recent years, in light of its biodegradability.

In recent years PLA has been used to line the inside of Paper Cups in place of the oil based lining more commonly used, create Plastic Cups, Cutlery, Carrier Bags, Food Packaging and even Nappies.

This product however is produced by turning land over once used for growing food crops and like bio-fuels contributes to increased food prices.

PLA is also more expensive than many petroleum-derived commodity plastics and can create problems in recycling streams by contaminating the oil based plastics (making more waste!)

Now ordinary oil based plastic and recycled plastic can now be made biodegradable.

Oxo-biodegradable Plastics (OBP’s) are conventional plastics such as polyethylene, polypropylene and polystyrene to which is added a proprietary mixture (d2w additive) that accelerates the breakdown of the chemical structure of the plastic.

OBP’s degrade, then biodegrade, on land or at sea, in the light or the dark, in heat or cold, in whatever timescale is required, leaving NO fragments NO methane and NO harmful residues.

These plastics are the main ones used in a variety of catering disposable packaging applications. The resultant breakdown products are then amenable to conversion by micro-organisms, for which these products are an energy source or food, into carbon dioxide and water; thereby returning otherwise intractable plastics to the ecosystem.

These plastics can now have a shelf life, determined at the point of manufacture. Shopping carrier bags, food wraps, plastic glasses et al that will completely and harmlessly biodegrade all with a pre determined shelf life. Utilising this new technology does not mean the products cannot be recycled.

Some commercial products that have already incorporated this new technology include carrier bags, garbage bags, Ziplock bags, cling film, shrink-wraps and EPS trays.

Expect to see use by dates on your plastic cups in the future!

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