BioBag and the Environment

The material Mater-Bi - What is it?

Mater-Bi is produced by Novamont, an Italian research company dedicated to environmental alternatives to polyethylene-based plastics. Mater-Bi is the first completely biodegradable and compostable bio-polymer ever invented. The processes are protected by more than 50 patents.

Mater-Bi™ really is a dream come true. It is a material that serves Sustainable Development, it combines environmental demands with those of Agriculture and Industry. The bioplastic developed by Novamont is the real response to the demand for convenience goods that have a small environmental impact. It comes from renewable resources of agricultural origin, it reduces greenhouse gas emissions, and the consumption of energy and non renewable resources, and it completes a virtuous circle: the raw materials of agricultural origin return to the earth through processes of biodegradation and composting , without releasing pollutants.

…AND CERTIFIED…
Under extremely clear and strict regulations on environmental matters (EN 13432 ) Novamont and Mater-Bi™ are exemplary models, because of the certifications obtained, the analysis and control instruments used, and the guiding role in numerous national and international initiatives, whose aim was increasingly to clarify and define the most suitable policies for safeguarding the environment.

Mater-Bi™ comes from renewable raw materials of agricultural origin and from non-genetically modified starch. Novamont manufactures and sells various lines of biopolymers for a variety of manufacturing processes, all with the Mater-Bi™ trademark. The material is available in granular form.

All of the Mater-Bi™ grades:

1. are completely biodegradable in different environments: in composting, in the soil, in fresh and in salt water;
2. can be worked using the same processes as for traditional plastics and with similar output;
3. can be printed on, using normal inks and printing techniques, without the need for crown treatment;
4. can be colored in bulk, using biodegradable Master-batches;
5. are intrinsically anti-static;
6. can be sterilized using gamma rays.

Biodegradability is characteristic of natural substances and materials of being assimilated by micro-organisms, and thus introduced into the natural cycles. In effect, it is a concept that is familiar to everyone.

When natural organic materials go into the ground, they tend to decompose progressively, to disappear. This phenomenon is very important for the environment, which has to get rid of waste to make room for new life. Trees, plants and algae, meaning photosynthetic organisms, absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and, with the power of the sun, the inexhaustible source of energy, use it to synthesize sugars, and a whole range of other substances present in Nature.

The flow of substances and energy passes along the food chain from the plants to the herbivores, and from these, to carnivores. However, this mechanism would quickly become blocked if the opposite process did not exist, that is, if it was not possible to release carbon dioxide from organic material. So, in natural equilibrium, the process of biodegradation is as important as that of photosynthesis, of which it is both the outcome and the starting point. An important role is played in biodegradation by micro-organisms, which are present in every environment, and which are fed by organic waste. Thus, organic material is transformed again into carbon dioxide, thereby completing the natural cycle.

COMPOSTABILITY

• Composting
  Composting is the transformation of organic waste into compost, which is obtained in special installations that guarantee correct management of the process. However, composting is based on a spontaneous phenomenon. In the countryside, you may have seen piles of organic material (waste, animal droppings, sawdust, wood shavings, etc.) produce heat and give off steam, as though it were burning without a flame. In fact, the material is not burning, even though the phenomenon that lies behind the production of heat is not so different from combustion. A pile of organic waste is attractive to micro-organisms that are normally present in the environment. If the water content is sufficiently high, the micro-organisms start to consume the nutritional substances, that is, to degrade the organic molecules, producing carbon dioxide, water and heat (biodegradation). At the end of the process, the initial waste is transformed into a substance called compost, which looks and smells like fertile soil, and is sanitized and stable, insofar as it contains no pathogenic microbes or material that decomposes. In the composting plants, this phenomenon is controlled and optimized in order to achieve a high conversion speed, control of the effluent, control of the quality of the final compost, etc.
• The solution for the compostable fraction of M.S.W. (Municipal Solid Waste)
  Materials, such as kitchen scraps, grass cuttings, waste from canteens, restaurants, etc., contain a lot of water, and decompose quickly. Consequently, they are not suitable for recovering energy by incineration, because the heat is lost in evaporating the water instead of producing electricity. Furthermore, in a landfill, the wet organic materials are the source of considerable environmental problems, such as the production of methane, and possible contamination of the water tables with contaminated percolates. In contrast, treatment of the organic part of solid urban waste (also known as the "wet part") by composting has extremely positive aspects. The production of compost and its use in agriculture completes the environmental cycle broken by urbanization, by the depopulation of the countryside, and by the adoption of intensive farming practices based on the use of inorganic fertilizers in place of the manure used in the past. After being taken from the fields to our supermarkets, the organic material returns to its place of origin in the form of compost, that is, a substance that maintains fertility, prevents erosion of the soil, reduces the washing away of inorganic fertilizers, and blocks the onset of micro-organisms that are pathogenic to plants, just to mention some of the positive aspects found with the use of compost.
• Composting: yes to bioplastics
  Composting is currently applied to selected waste that contains only biodegradable organic material. Traditional plastics are banned from composting because they resist degradation and cause contamination. In contrast, biodegradable plastics are allowed, but only if they satisfy criteria established by norms that define compostable materials. Non-compatible materials were composted in the past in the absence of rules and in the anarchy of the definitions and test methods. This caused a lot of harm, especially to the trust of users, and of the technicians responsible for the composting plants. Today, this is no longer possible, thanks to the European norm EN 13432.

Aerobic Biodegradation Under Controlled Composting Conditions of Different Mater-Bi Classes (ISO 14855).