Business Weekly - Cambridge, UK

While biodegradable plastics are nothing new, many are sourced from the US and contain GM materials, something which doesn’t sit well with UK consumers.

Peterborough-based Paperfeel, which produces a wide range of films used in the food and beverage, horticultural and building industries, has sidestepped the issue by developing its Ecofeel plastic film from non-GM maize bio-polymers.

“To overcome this we have developed plastic film made from non-GM bio-polymers derived from plants such as maize. Not only is the source of the plastic sustainable – most traditionally plastics are derived from oil – but also by altering the specification our plastic film can be made to be industrially compostable, so that it will just rot away,” said Paperfeel’s technical director, Geoff Southwell.

The biodegradability of Paperfeel’s Ecofeel range can be altered to suit a customer’s needs according to the tensile strength requirements of the film.

The most degradable, or ‘compostable’ formulation, made entirely of naturally occurring starch which will disappear without leaving a trace, requires a trade-off in the form of a thicker, and therefore more expensive, configuration.

“The properties of Ecofeel, for example its strength, clarity and thickness, can be adapted according to the application so we have flexibility to make film for anything from burger and sweet wrappers to the horticultural film that you see in fields in the Spring warming the soil for potatoes,” said Southwell.

Biodegradable films use a small proportion of polyethylene, making them stronger and more adaptable, but will still break down to their component parts faster than conventional plastics.

“Although the biggest market at the moment is for biodegradable films, it is hoped that increasingly compostable films will be more widely used – which should help reduce the litter problem as well!” the company said.

Paperfeel is a privately owned company that has made a continuing investment in developing its state-of the-art production facility, which is capable of producing 3,500 tonnes a year.