Being eco-friendly is no longer a trend, it’s a rule. Increasing concerns about the global environment over the past decade has forced people to reckon their consumption habits with their environmental responsibility. The solution has been transformative, to say the least.
The past decade has a seen a pivot from recycling and reusing and instead an embrace of biodegradable materials. Biodegradable materials have several benefits for businesses, whether they’re involved in the eco-friendly movement, or not. They’re cost-effective, profitable, ethically responsible, and sustainable.
Embracing biodegradable packaging is not only taking an ethical stance in both business and environmental practices, it’s just good business, plain and simple. Look at what biodegradable materials are, how they help the environment, and all the benefits that biodegradable food packaging supplies offer.
What Are Biodegradable Packaging Products?
Biodegradable food packaging uses organic material that breaks down naturally in smaller compounds through environmental exposure. Materials like paper and textiles are considered biodegradable, as they contain natural organic compounds. Oil-based packaging such as plastic is not biodegradable. Unlike compostable packaging, plastic does not break down in the environment, instead, it lingers taking years or generations to break down. In the meantime, it pollutes our waterways, parks, trails, oceans, and mountainsides.
Compost Is Great for The Soil
Compostable packaging breaks down into smaller compounds over a given period. Usually, the resulting compost is nutrient rich and ready for reuse as soil for healthy plants and vegetables. Recent developments indicate that composting biodegradable plastics in combination with biodegradable paper products improves water and nutrient retention in the soil.
According to Treevolution, an environmental news site, only 17 percent of plastic gets recycled. Such a low number is alarming, but plastic is not as commercially viable as glass or metal, thus a large amount of plastic doesn’t get recycled. This means plastic ends up in landfills, oceans, seas and the environment. Not only is compost environmentally friendly it is extremely commercially viable, as healthy vegetables and food can be grown from the soil.
Biodegradable Materials Are Cost-Effective
Using biodegradable material for food packaging is cost-effective both in business and in the environment. Biodegradable packaging can be constructed from food grade materials at the fraction of the cost of plastic packaging. Additionally, using biodegradable materials reduces the amount of material needed to produce individual food containers, saving the company a lot of money.
Another great cost-effective measure, using biodegradable materials is a great marketing opportunity for a company. It says that a company is committed to both ethical business practices and ecological responsibility. If ever there was a perfect time for that marketing opportunity, this is it.
Convenience, Functionality, Practicality
Biodegradable food packaging offers all the same conveniences of plastic packaging. The material is still molded into various shapes and sizes so that storage is simple, there are a variety of biodegradable containers from bowls to cups, and it works even better than plastic. The packaging is the same, the material is not. Instead, biodegradable products are made from organic materials that will break down and go on to serve a future purpose, rather than be discarded after one use. Practically speaking, there isn’t enough room on the planet for plastic currently being amassed worldwide. A better solution is a solution that leads to a brighter and healthier future.
Biodegradable Products Are Non-Toxic
Allergies are at an alarming high right now. Eco-friendly packaging using biodegradable materials are largely non-toxic and allergy-free, making them accessible to people with sensitive allergies. Another concern for people is the toxic elements that can be found in plastic containers, namely Bisphenol-A which has been reported to cause different types of cancer. Biodegradable containers are safe from this worry because of their natural components.
