Pepsi Unveils Eco-Friendly Bottles

[Finally a big-time plastics user is moving away from bottles that are largely petroleum based. Even though the bottles are not biodegradable, it is a step in the right direction.  

Click here for info on 100% biodegradable plastics.]

PepsiCo Inc. on Tuesday unveiled a bottle made entirely of plant material, which it says bests the technology of competitor Coca-Cola and reduces its potential carbon footprint.

The bottle is made from switch grass, pine bark, corn husks and other materials. Ultimately, Pepsi plans to also use orange peels, oat hulls, potato scraps and other leftovers from its food business. 

The new bottle looks, feels and protects the drink inside exactly the same as its current bottles, said Rocco Papalia, senior vice president of advanced research at PepsiCo. "It's indistinguishable."

PepsiCo says it is the world's first bottle of a common type of plastic called PET made entirely of plant-based materials. Coca-Cola Co. currently produces a bottle using 30 percent plant-based materials and recently estimated it would be several years before it has a 100 percent plant bottle that's commercially viable.

"We've cracked the code," said Papalia.

The discovery potentially changes the industry standard for plastic packaging. Traditional plastic, called PET, is used in beverage bottles, food pouches, coatings and other common products.

The plastic is the go-to because it's lightweight and shatter-resistant, its safety is well-researched and it doesn't affect flavors. It is not biodegradable or compostable. But it is fully recyclable, a characteristic both companies maintain in their new creations.

Traditional PET plastic is made using fossil fuels, like petroleum, a limited resource that's rising in price. By using plant material instead, companies reduce their environmental impact. Pepsi says the new plastic will cost about the same as traditional plastic.

PepsiCo plans to test the product in 2012 in a few hundred thousand bottles. Once the company is sure it can successfully produce the bottle at that scale, it will begin converting all its products over.

Article courtesy of Associated Press

GOP Cancels Biodegradable Packaging, Brings Styrofoam Back

Is this the attitude toward "Green" initiatives the GOP is promoting? The Republican leadership can't be that insensitive or out of touch, can they?

Yesterday it was reported that, in a political nose-thumbing to the Democrats, the GOP had ditched the biodegradable food packaging that they'd used for four years in the House cafeteria -- and were bringing back old school, trashy Styrofoam. 

Congress switched to biodegradable packaging, along with a number of other green initiatives like composting, as part of its Green the Capital program. But the program was lead by Nancy Pelosi, who is unliked in certain conservative circles. So John Boehner -- the new Speaker of the House - and company dismantled her program, largely as a political jab. 

This struck a nerve with folks, who recognized the move for what it is: a huge step backwards. And one of the people it ticked off the most just so happens to be someone who has to eat lunch in the Styrofoam-laden cafeteria every day now. An anonymous staffer who works in Congress snapped some photos.

Along with the biodegradable packaging, the GOP canceled the composting program, too. So all of this stuff is heading straight to the landfill.

 

Our contact also sent over his account of how much Styrofoam our Representatives are plowing through at lunch:

It was actually kind of funny. As soon as a trash can started to go over the rim, one of these guys would come push it down and take it out. I had to move my lunch over to that trash can there in order to snap a decent picture in time! The guys on the job didn't seem too happy about working twice as fast either ... They had these guys emptying them every ten minutes, it was tough!

So, the Congressional cafeteria has transformed from a pretty sustainable operation that minimized and reused packaging and food waste into a Styrofoam-stuffed dump where accumulating, non-biodegradable trash needs to be cleared out every ten minutes. Well done Republicans! What's next...coal fired heaters?

Article info by Brian Merchant, Courtesy of Treehugger

The Differences Between Degradable, Biodegradable, and Compostable Plastics

The world of “Green” (as in other industries) has its own terms and terminologies. For the person trying to make some sense of these and wishing to make positive environmental lifestyle changes it can get awfully confusing. Take for instance the terms degradable, biodegradable, and compostable when used in relation to plastics. There are major differences between the three and they will probably play a role in your purchasing decisions.

Degradable

Degradable plastics are oil based and break down through chemical reactions rather than the activity of micro-organisms and as a result they can degrade in an anaerobic environment into water, CO2, biomass and trace elements.

Most degradable plastics leave some form of residual particulates that are not environmentally friendly.

Biodegradable

Biodegradable plastics are made from vegetable starch in most cases and break down through the actions of naturally occurring microorganisms such as bacteria, fungi, algae, etc. over a period of time. The time period varies and depends on diverse factors.

There are many advantages to products being biodegradable, most of which are obvious. However, there are some disadvantages. When dumped in landfills, they are often dug under where the "good" bacteria can't survive in an oxygen depleted (anaerobic) environments. As a result, when they break down they create methane, a greenhouse gas.

Note: There are products which can fully biodegradable under anaerobic conditions without adverse effect to the environment.

Compostable

According to the American Society for Testing & Materials (ASTM), in order for plastics to be considered compostable, they must be able to break down into carbon dioxide, water and biomass at the same rate as paper. The resulting product also needs to look like compost, should not produce any toxic material, and should be able to support plant life. Compostable items are made from plant materials such as corn, potato, cellulose, soy and sugar.

The downside is that in order for these products to compost they need to be disposed of in composting facilities where strict environmental conditions are continuously maintained i.e. heat, moisture, etc. unfortunately, there are very few industrial capacity composting facilities in the US so it is likely your compostable plastics will just wind up in a landfill, which sort of defeats the purpose.

In Conclusion

Whether you choose any of the three types of plastics over standard plastic products you are benefiting the cause and demonstrating environmental responsibility. As with any emerging technology, biodegradable plastics will continue to improve and someday there may only be upsides to using the products. Until then, the choice is yours.

Portions of this article are courtesy of Green Living Tips. We encourage you to visit their site: www.greenlivingtips.com

BIODEGRADABLE?

Pronunciation: [bahy-oh-di-grey-duh-buhl] – adjective.
Definition: capable of decaying through the action of living
organisms.

"Of all the environmental buzzwords, "biodegradable" has perhaps
been the most misused and is perhaps the most difficult to
understand. Because in the past there have been no guidelines or
regulations, many products have called themselves biodegradable
without any real justification. Unfortunately, the word
biodegradable has frequently been applied to products that
generally aren't (such as detergents or plastics) and almost never
used for products that really are . . .

“Sustainable disposal of any product requires that its wastes
return to the earth and are able to biodegrade. Nature biodegrades
everything it makes back into basic building blocks, so that new
living things can be made from the old. Every resource made by
nature returns to nature-plants and animals biodegrade, even raw
crude oil will degrade when exposed to water, air, and the
necessary salts. Nature has perfected this system-we just need to
learn how to participate in it.." - Source: WorldWise, Inc.