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| Raw-material: |
What types of ingredients, additives are being used in bioMat®? | |
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bioMat® film grades are composed of corn starch, glycerine, biodegradable polyester
and water. All these components are biodegradable according to European and
national norms. | ||
| Is genetically modified starch being used? | ||
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All bioMat® film grades are based on corn starch that Novamont purchases from
Cerestar. We can supply a written declaration from Cerestar that no genetically
modified corn is used. | ||
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Which results shows a Life Cycle Analysis of bioMat® BioBags versus PE-bags? | ||
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LCA of bioMat® bags for separate collection of organic waste, in comparison
with PE and paper bags, has been performed by the Swiss company Composto and
verified according to ISO standard. The full report is available upon request.
We have also
recently completed the first report on Environmental Product Declaration (EPD)
of bioMat® material for film and foam. The report is made according to all
ISO 14000 standards and has been certified by ANPA (Italian Agency for Environmental
Protection).
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| Biodegradation / Composting: |
Is the disintegration time controllable by material composition? | |
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Yes, to a certain extent. The disintegration time is a complex function of material,
thickness of film, composting conditions and so on. All bioMat® film grades
should disintegrate completely provided that the composting plant guarantees
high enough temperature(> 55 ° C) for a sufficient time. | ||
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Home composting. Is this possible? What should consumers take into account? | ||
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In general we know that Mater-Bi film has good composting characteristics also
in home composting. At least all people who tested it reported good satisfaction.
Consumers should keep in mind that home composting needs good mixture of food
and yard waste and takes longer than professional composting. | ||
| What are the residues after composting? | ||
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There are no visual residues after composting; if the process conditions are
OK, all the film is transformed into water, carbon dioxide and humus. | ||
| Consumers are afraid for preliminary degradation of the (packaging) materials. What should be taken into account? | ||
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Again, early degradation of bioMat® bags is mainly a function of type of material,
thickness, type of waste and ambient conditions. In general, small bioMat®
bags used in the kitchen for food waste last at least one week (more than two
weeks if NF866 is used), while big bioMat® bags made with NF866 and used for
grass last about seven days in summer (longer in cold climates). | ||
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What is the behaviour when materials are incinerated (same residues as paper)? | ||
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When incinerated in proper conditions the material is transformed into water
and CO2; the level of residues is probably lower than paper, due to negligible
content of heavy metals (reports available). | ||
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What happens when bioMat® products are disposed off in a landfill? | ||
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Because of its biodegradable characteristics, bioMat® film should not be disposed
in landfill, same as for other organic waste. When the landfill is properly
managed, this type of waste and bioMat® film will essentially not biodegrade,
due to lack of water. | ||
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Certification for compostable materials. What is the opinion on a European label? | ||
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We are very favourable to a European label and our products are all certified
according to European norm EN 13432. We still have local norms in different
European countries, such as DIN in Germany, which we need to comply, but we
are looking forward that all local norms will be unified with the European one
in a few years. | ||
| Packaging applications: |
Are there different materials available for different applications (bread, meat, vegetables, cheese)? | |
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bioMat® standard film grades are not fully acceptable for food packaging, because
of lack of transparency. We are developing new materials for such applications
and we have two products already accepted for packaging of bread and vegetables.
Standard grades are used for packaging of potatoes. | ||
| How are the barrier-properties (oxygen, water vapour)? | ||
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In general, oxygen barrier of bioMat® products is better than PE while water
vapour transmission rate is much higher, which is an advantage for certain applications
such as BioBags or packaging of fresh vegetables. | ||
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Do the materials comply with EU legislation (food approval, migration)? | ||
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We can supply a declaration of compliance with European norm for food contact
(90/128/EC). | ||