It’s no secret that ENSO Plastics’ biodegradable plastic technology brings the most desirable premium feature to any plastic product on the market wanting to go green. Interested? Intrigued? If you are attending PACK EXPO in Vegas get excited, because ENSO Plastics will be there and making noise in a way that you have not seen before. ENSO is bring the Plastic monster to PACK EXPO!

If you haven’t heard of PACK EXPO you’re missing out because PACK is North America’s largest packaging and processing show. With the opportunity to see 1600 world class suppliers, explore cutting edge technologies for all vertical markets , and discover a brand new array of products, why would you miss out on expanding your network and broadening your packaging knowledge?!

PACK EXPO 2011 | September 26–28, 2011
Las Vegas Convention Center | Las Vegas, Nevada, USA
http://www.packexpo.com/pelv2011/public/enter.aspx

Whether you are just attending, sporting a booth, or if we have intrigued you enough to make last minute plans to attend, I hope to see you in Vegas! Please do not hesitate to contact me if you would like me to visit your booth or would like to personally meet and engage an ENSO Business Development professional.

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I just finished watching the movie Dirt a film that (among other concepts) shows viewers the negative impacts of industrial farming practices and it really got me thinking….

Living on Florida’s gulf coast, from time to time the Tampa Bay Area is plagued by the infamous red tide. For those of you not familiar, red tide is created primarily by excess fertilizers used in farming that runoff into rivers and streams. These fertilizers eventually end up in coastal areas. The excess nutrients become a food source for phytoplankton to feed on, creating massive algae blooms in high concentration that leaves red colored trails in the water.

As the algae blooms die, microorganisms feed on the algae and deplete the dissolved oxygen levels in the water. Fish and other submarine life perish without vital oxygen. Also, one species of algae often associated with red tide produces neurotoxins that can be harmful to birds, humans, and other land animals. Red tide creates polluted beaches, full of dead fish and makes swimming and beach activities unsafe.

Christopher George- Aquatic Biologist
Tampa, FL

After thinking about all of this, my mind really started turning…With all of the concerns about the methane emissions of biodegradable plastics, what about the excess of fertilizers used when farming corn, is anyone concerned with how that will effect the earth/waters? Is there any fix that doesn’t have any faults? Does the spread of articles on the internet that misguide readers give us a sense of false concerns ? ( See my Is the methane released from biodegradable plastic harmful? Blog )

These are all things to definitely think about and talk about! Make sure to leave any of your thoughts in the comment box below, I look forward to this discussion!

-Megan Bentley

Thanks for the photos

http://www.thew2o.net/events/humanhealth/observer3.htm

http://lauraweitnauer.blogspot.com/2010/09/urls.html

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The title of Heidi’s thesis/project is PET Plastics: Biodegradability & Sustainable Packaging in the Bottled Beverage Industry. She found ENSO when researching solutions to the current landfill crisis the bottled beverage industry is struggling to resolve. We are very excited to be working with her and helping her to further develop her research in the area of sustainable beverage packaging.

Today was Heidi’s first day at the office. After meeting everyone and showing her what we do here at ENSO, I helped her to develop a bottled beverage consumer survey. If you all could please take a moment to participate in this survey, Heidi and I would greatly appreciate it. The survey is now closed.

The survey pertains to PET plant based plastics and the perception consumers have on their biodegradability. She will be using the results of this survey in her research project. Tomorrow she will meet with Del, the VP over our Environmental and Technology group and begin learning about the legislative issues that surround biodegradable plastics. ENSO is very excited to have Heidi with us for the next few weeks!

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Capitol Hill

I recently had the pleasure of going back east to DC involving meetings on Capitol Hill where the discussion of biodegradable materials in the recycling stream was the main focus. After the representative from a recycling organization gave his presentation, I then gave mine. We were perceived to be in opposite corners, so we were asked to speak in the same meetings so as to address any clarifying questions that might have come up after our presentations. It dawned on me that this perception brought on by the recycling organizations (APR and NAPCOR) are in actuality NOT TRUE!

Truth

ENSO and the recycling community are very much in alignment with the goal of saving our natural resources as long as possible. When ENSO embarked on the overwhelming mission to eliminate plastic pollution from our planet, we had recyclers and their processes as the #1 consideration-everything we came up with had to pass the scrutiny of the question, “does this material have any adverse effect on the recycling stream.” Many years and engineering feats later, we did it!!! We have had dozens of recyclers (or reprocessors) test and actually run the ENSO material through their process to see if there are any issues with the ENSO plastic. With no exception, 100% of them have indicated that they would never know it was an ENSO bottle if we have not told them. Scientifically, that has to be true because our mix does not even chemically bond with the plastic it is being mixed with.

Recycling & Pollution

ENSO and the recycling community are very much in alignment, so much that we feel we are at stake with their success -the recyclers are in a tough market currently, as it seems they are being diminished on every turn. They are not allowed to participate in decisions regarding innovations to help the environment, but rather are left to deal with the new materials as they show up in their processing. Some of the reprocessors are worried about staying in business because of the issues arising from trying to sort out extremely incompatible materials like PLA (corn based plastic) from their PET bottle stream. They have indicated to us that they literally cheered because an environmental plastic was made that did not affect their bottom line by contaminating their recyclate material. Daily, companies using plastic are getting increased pressure to “stop polluting the environment”. For instance, almost daily I see news about plastic bags being banned around the world. And although the blame should not rest solely on manufacturing, something HAS to be done. We need to demand a new attitude towards the use of plastic. ENSO is a real and tangible solution to not only keep recycling intact, but also do much, much more. Globally, the human race is only recycling 5% of all plastics…think about that for a minute. Since when did you ever accept a 5% success rate as a viable solution under any circumstance? Could you imagine an oil spill clean-up effort saying, “Welp, we’ve cleaned up 5% of the spill, the rest well act as if there is no issue.” Yet it is happening right before our eyes when it comes to addressing the end of life issue of plastics. Why not make plastics biodegradable so when they are thrown into a landfill, they can contribute to the growing practice of creating clean energy from landfill natural gas? Renewable, green, clean, smart…intelligent -all describe this value proposition! Companies using it, and handling it will also add the description, “profitable” –but that’s their little secret.

ENSO

Our message is clear, “recycle ENSO plastic wherever, and whenever you can. But if you fail, (and there is a 95% chance of that happening), know that you are still in harmony with our planet because this plastic will biodegrade naturally utilizing the earths microorganisms (microbes).” The environmental issues surrounding plastic use are rising, not decreasing. People that recycle, will always recycle-they will not change their values to all of a sudden become “litter bugs”, because something is recyclable and biodegradable. A national poll done on our behalf supports this, and also says that 61% of America believes it is more important to have plastic biodegradable than recyclable. Also, recycling will not rid the planet of plastic pollution, just delay the fact that inevitably everything plastic will end up in a landfill. ENSO says that we can have both, and if you are a consumer, you should demand both, and if you are a manufacture, you would do well offering both. What more can manufactures do? (They have already reduced our plastics down to where the next step for a bottle is a zip lock bag!) The answer? Companies and brands can get smart and innovative. Doing this now creates opportunity for growth in market share because they are seen as smart and innovative, and consumers like both to have that coveted loyalty. We can have recycling and ENSO’s solution to long term plastic pollution a complimentary package to bridge the battle between pro-environment vs. plastic use. My mom called that, “having your cake, and eating it too.” We each might be required to pay a penny or two extra per bottle for this added environmental value, but with the way things are going right now with all of the plastic building up on our lands and seas -“do the math” is another momism that is very appropriate. - Del Andrus

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Reusable bags are being greatly pushed against the single use plastic bag and people seem to be latching on to the concept. It sounds like a good enough idea, and with all the design options you can really expressive yourself, but is the reusable bag really risk free? Just like many new products there may be some drawbacks that weren’t discovered before becomingso popular and “savior-esque.” The Department of Soil, Water and Environmental Science at the University of Arizona and the School of Public Health at Loma Linda University conducted a study called the Assessment of the Potential for Cross Contamination of Food Products by Reusable Shopping Bags. Now I am going to brief you on the results of this study!

So what is “Cross contamination” ?

Cross contamination occurs when disease-causing microorganisms are transferred from one food to another.

The assessment was divided into 3 Phases

1. Determine the occurrence of bacteria and bacteria of health concern in reusable shopping bags
2. Determine the potential for microbial cross-contamination in reusable shopping bags
3. Evaluate and recommend the washing/bleaching procedures necessary to decontaminate reusable shopping bags

They started off by collecting bags from consumers entering grocery stores in the San Francisco Bay area, Los Angeles and Tucson, Arizona. 84 bags total were collected, 25 from LA, 25 from San Francisco and 34 from Tucson. All but 4 of these bags were woven polypropylene (a little softer than polyester which is what a typical plastic bottle is made out of.) Each bag owner was interviewed on bag usage, storage, and cleaning procedures. (4 unused reusable bags were also purchased and tested)

And the Results are in…

Large numbers of bacteria were found in all but 1 bag & coliform bacteria in half.

E-Coli was identified in 12% of the bags & a wide range of enteric bacteria & pathogens.

After meat juices were added to bags & stored in car s for 2 hours, bacteria increased 10-fold.

How to Clean your bags?

Hand or machine washing was found to reduce the bacteria in bags by >99.9%. So if you clean your bag after every separate use, you should be good! (Don’t forget to think of the water and energy that adds up over time)

What were the bag owners habits?

Cleaned bag at home?
97% No
3% Yes

Days bags were used in a Week?
49% 1 day
22% 2 days
18% 3 days
3% 4 days
2% 5 days
3% 6 days
3% 7 days

Bag used Soley for Groceries?
70% Yes
30% No

Other uses of Bag?
57% Other Shopping
19% Clothes
10% Books
9% Snacks
5% Biking Supplies

Separate Bags for Meats & Vegetables?
75% No
25% Yes

Transport in Car?
55% Trunk
45% Backseat

Stored at home?
55% Yes
45% No

As you are learning these bags get pretty filthy and are brought back into stores, which is proven to be not at all sanitary. So if reusable bag users do not make the continuous effort to keep their bags clean maybe this isn’t  the cleanest solution to the single-use plastic bag problem, why not explore another option like using Earth friendly  biodegradable and recyclable plastic instead, Like ENSO?

Take a few min to read the rest of the assessment it’s definitely worth your time!
http://uanews.org/pdfs/GerbaWilliamsSinclair_BagContamination.pdf

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In recent news the rumor is that a few major stores are making “significant” changes to reduce packaging. Saying Goodbye to Excess Packaging seems to be related more to high oil prices rather than true environmental concern. If companies were truly concerned about environmental factors wouldn’t they just switch to more earth friendly plastics, say ENSO? What may initially seem like a movement to lessen plastic waste has turned out to be companies just trying to save a few bucks. Target is removing plastic lids from its Archer Farms yogurts, redesigned some light bulb packages to eliminate plastic and is selling socks that are packaged with paper rather than bags. Wal-Mart has made a gallant effort to reduce their packaging by 5% between 2008-2013 by concentrating detergent to reduce size of packaging as well as making peroxide bottles from round to square and Home Depots Husky tools are switching to paper packaging. These aren’t the only companies cutting down on plastic, Seventh Generation (sustainable cleaning and personal products) has been mentioned as well. Minimizing plastic & making plastic earth friendly like ENSO is awesome but be sure to not be confused by the motive of these companies.
–Megan Bentley

Take a Read at the Article I am referring to below!

Major Brands Say Goodbye to Excess Packaging
by Rachel Cernansky, Boulder, Colorado on 06. 2.11

BUSINESS & POLITICS Good news, according to the New York Times: excess packaging, plastic in particular, is on the decline. Apparently more because of high oil prices than any environmental concern, but we’ll take it. The Times has examples of a few major stores making significant changes:
Target has removed the plastic lids from its Archer Farms yogurts, has redesigned packages for some light bulbs to eliminate plastic, and is selling socks held together by paper bands rather than in plastic bags.
Wal-Mart Stores, which has pledged to reduce its packaging by 5 percent between 2008 and 2013, has pushed suppliers to concentrate laundry detergent so it can be sold in smaller containers, and has made round hydrogen peroxide bottles into square ones to cut down on plastic use.
At Home Depot, Husky tools are going from clamshell to paperboard packaging, and EcoSmart LED bulbs are about to be sold in a corrugated box, rather than a larger plastic case.

And a follow-up blog post expands on a couple others:
Seventh Generation, a maker of sustainable cleaning and personal care products, began using a pressed-cardboard detergent bottle that is recyclable; an inner pouch contains the liquid detergent.
“The category potential for this is huge, from vitamin companies to pet food, juice, milk, ” said Julie Corbett, the founder of Ecologic, which makes the cartons.
Recently Wal-Mart began replacing the metal twist ties that keep dolls and other toys in their boxes with paper ties.

Now, reducing packaging is a huge step forward, but it’s not the end goal. Buying in bulk—everything from rice and coffee to shampoo using refillable containers—is always going to be the environmentally superior option.
As Planet Green has written before, “Nearly 80 million tons of waste is generated from packaging and containers annually,” and from TreeHugger: “a 10 kilogram bag of rice has 20 less bags than the equivalent in 500 gram packages. And it that one bulk bag is probably a compostable cotton sack anyhow, instead of plastic. Wasted transport fuel is reduced because much more product per container is delivered to the store.”
So yes, look for products with minimal packaging and support companies making the effort to eliminate excess, but whenever there’s a bulk aisle, shop there first.

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2011/06/major-brands-say-goodbye-excess-packaging.php

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* Shop Green Living (http://www.green-living.com/index.asp) for a little bit of everything eco, from clothing to home goods to purses and jewelry.

* The Organic Consumers Association (http://www.organicconsumers.org/btc/buyingguide.cfm) offers an extensive database of stores and products covering everything from food to outdoor recreation to house wares and body care.

* Organic Style’s online store (http://www.organicstyle.com/l_342/organic/Mothers-Day-Flowers-Gifts.html) Contains gourmet goodies, gardening gear, and eco apparel and accessories themed for Mother’s Day.

* Diamond Organics (http://www.diamondorganics.com/prod_detail_list/84) Our organic flowers and organic bouquets are grown exclusively by American flower farmers in California and Hawaii.

* Fresh Fruit Baskets (http://www.freshfruitbaskets.com)   Fresh Fruit Baskets’ mission is to offer customers the best organic fruit baskets and fruit of the month gifts available.

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Did you know that Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET) plastic does not float? PET is used to make the bottles you use everyday for; soda, water, juice, etc., and beverage containers are just the tip of the iceberg. Almost everything we drink from is made from PET plastic, and it doesn’t float.

What does this mean?

If you Google “Pacific Ocean Gyre” and look at some of the documentary from various informational programs, you will see the staggering issue we have created in our oceans. The really bad news is that the stuff they are reporting on is a different kind of plastic that is used for the lids and caps of these beverage drinks, as well as more industrial applications, and is the stuff that floats. So basically we are aware of the problem on the surface literally.

Greenpeace reports that 70% of our plastic that ends up in the ocean is found at the bottom of our ocean. We have no idea what the effect will be on our deep ocean ecosystem. We know that when fish and other marine life mistake the plastic for food, they are being injured and dying as a direct result of plastic pollution. Plastic has become an integral part of our lives and is probably going to stay around. We need to develop plastics that are more earth friendly, that won’t harm our oceans or future generations.

ENSO bottles provide such a solution in that they are truly biodegradable through microbial digestion. If ENSO bottles end up in the ocean, landfills or litter, they will become food for microbes found iand biodegrade into biogases and humus. Our goal is to have plastic that doesn’t become part of our food chain. If all plastics were biodegradable then plastics that end up in oceans or any other microbial environment would biodegrade by microbial activity.

We all need to do more if we want to make a difference. We need to change the way we humans look at our environment, we need to recycle more, and purchase responsibly. There is a growing interest in becoming better stewards of our planet. I believe we will come together to help, not hurt our environment. It’s for all of our future well being, besides, who wants to order a plastic sandwich instead of a fish sandwich?

By Del Andrus

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Biodegradable Plastics, what does it mean and why is there so much confusion about something that sounds so simple to define?  The ASTM defines biodegradable plastics as “a degradable plastic in which the degradation results from the action of naturally-occurring micro-organisms such as bacteria, fungi, and algae”.   Sounds simple enough, so why all the confusion?   The confusion really comes from two aspects; 1) confusion between using the term degradable vs. biodegradable and 2) the loose use of the word biodegradable.

On the market today there is really three categories of plastics that biodegrade or degrade.  Those technologies are PLA (Polylatic Acid), Oxo-degradable and a new technology called EcoPure.  So now that we know what is out on the market how do we know which ones biodegrade vs. degrade?

PLA is a bioplastic made from starch; specifically it is being manufactured by starches from genetically modified corn.  This technology and supporting organizations such as BPI (Biodegradable Products Institute) claim that PLA biodegrades.  However, this claim is confusing because they are using the term “biodegradable” extremely loosely.  PLA is a “compostable plastic” in that it goes through “degradation” to break down not true “biodegradation”.  PLA does not break down or biodegrade in a landfill and will only begin to “degrade” after being exposed to heat (specifically 140° for over a five day period).  This kind of environment can only be found in a commercial composting facility.  We find that many of the articles and organizations who support PLA are greatly contributing to the confusion by not using correct standards based definitions of that technology.  What remains behind once PLA composts is CO2 and with professional composting facilities they are currently not capturing any gases so all gases are released into the atmosphere.

Now let’s move onto Oxo-degradable, as the name implies this technology causes the product to degrade.  This particular technology incorporates the use of an additive that begins to break the plastic chains when exposed to oxygen, heat and moisture.  Although this technology is fairly upfront with the type of degradation taking place the marketing materials suggest that once the pieces of plastic have broken down into small enough fragments that it creates the opportunity for microbes to finish those plastic fragments through biodegradation.  This aspect may be true but it extremely difficult to validate as the plastic fragments must have degraded to the micro level.  There are various reports as to what remains in the soil and air once an Oxo-degradable product has degraded.  This ranges from heavy or low metals, salts, CO2 and CH4; because many of these products will degrade in a landfill the gases of CO2 and CH4 will be captured and burned.

Moving on to the final technology we find Bio-tec Environmental EcoPure.  EcoPure is the technology behind the ENSO Bottle.  This technology also is applied in the form of an additive to existing polymers.  The technology behind EcoPure is that uses organic compounds to open the polymer chain and attractants to stimulate microbial colonization on the plastic.  Because the polymer chain in open the micro organisms can use the carbon chain as a source of food and energy.  Because this is happening at the atomic level what remains is CO2, CH4 and inert humus and because many of these products will degrade in a landfill the gases of CO2 and CH4 will be captured and burned.

So there we have it, an explanation of the differences between biodegradable and degradable.  Now that we know the difference between the two it still leaves the bigger question of which technology and method is better for the environment; biodegradable or degradable?  In order to answer that question would require another blog, however you should always keep in mind that the overall net impact to the environment.  When trying to answer that question keep in mind the following; using food to create plastics, pesticides that effect water, total water consumption, total fossil fuels used in processing, greenhouse gases emitted in processing and breaking down, the benefit of the product, does the biodegradation or degradation create any benefits such as clean energy?

By – Danny Clark

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Gyres accumulate trash, where with help from the sun, it is turned into a plastic particle soup. Think of it as a bowl of soup the size of Texas.

Most of the plastics we use float. Floating on the surface they are bombarded by the suns rays, eventually breaking down into smaller and smaller pieces. Even as small pieces they continue to float and are often mistaken as food by small fish and other sea creatures. Small fish are part of the food chain they are eaten by large fish and many of those are eaten by humans. Plastic can be passed on to us when we eat fish that have made plastic part of their diet.

An interesting fact about plastics is that not all of them float. For example, PET (Polyethylene terephthalate) the plastic used for water and soft drink bottles doesn’t float. It will float if air is trapped in the bottle, but like other plastics floating on the surface, it will be broken down by the sun. Once the PET container no longer holds air it will sink to the bottom. The caps on most plastic bottles aren’t made of PET plastic they don’t sink. Plastic caps will break down into smaller pieces and become part of the goo building up in our ocean gyres.

It’s important that we find a way to clean up our oceans and keep plastic from entering our waters. We need to develop plastics that biodegrade in our oceans and streams. We need plastics that should they get in our oceans, sink to the bottom, and not leave harmful by products.

by

Max

ENSO Bottles

www.ensobottles.com

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The other night I was helping my daughter with her math homework. She was frustrated and overwhelmed with the amount of problems and the difficulty level. After several hours of this, she stopped cold in her tracks. “I am not going to do this anymore, this is too hard, there are way too many problems and I don’t even know how to solve them! I might as well just quit.”

This reminds me of the many times I have felt this way myself with environmental issues – Why does everyone litter – Do I use paper, plastic or reusable bags (I forgot my reusable bags again!) – Rain forests disappearing – Ice caps melting – Global warming – Plastic bottles – Driving my car…. The issues can sometimes seem endless and a bit overwhelming if we try to tackle everything. Sometimes I too feel like stomping my feet and giving up.

So, back to the math lesson; what happened? I covered up every math problem except one and we began to work one problem at a time. Even breaking the problems down to the individual components when a problem seemed difficult. About 30 minutes later, the lesson was complete and my eight year old stated “Once I stopped looking at the whole thing, it was easy.”

So let’s all take the advice of an eight year old and stop worrying about every environmental issue out there. Pick one simple thing and make a start – One Step to Success! (I am going to turn off the lights when I leave, how about you?)

Thanks

Teresa M Clark

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Nestlé expecting sustainability-savvy suppliers

By Mike Verespej

CHICAGO (Nov. 21, 4:15 p.m. ET) — There are a lot of things companies can do that create an appearance of being green and sustainable. But Kim Jeffery wants to do things that actually enhance sustainability and the environment.

“Are you trying to look good, or are you trying to do good?” asked the president and chief executive officer of Nestlé Waters North America, in a Nov. 6 interview during Sustain ’08 in Chicago.

“If going for energy credits is all you are going to do and you are not going to work on your supply chain, it doesn’t pass the sniff test,” he said.

“I want to be known as a company that does good. We are going to hold ourselves to be self-accountable in a very transparent way” with goals and milestones, many of which were outlined in the company’s corporate citizenship report in October.

A company must first get its own house in order and develop ways to “use less of something” to save money, resources and reduce greenhouse gas emissions and its carbon footprint, said Jeffery. But he added that a company then must “go outside its own four walls.”

For its part, Nestlé Waters reduced the size of its half-liter PET water bottle 15 percent this year, and will reduce it another 20 percent in 2009, cutting its weight to 9.8 grams. Using less material results in energy savings and reduces greenhouse gas emissions.

Nestlé Waters is working with its suppliers to achieve additional sustainability gains.“We are just getting to the point where people will have to have their house in order to do business with us,” said Jeffery. “We are going to be pushing more on our suppliers to figure some of this stuff out. By 2013, we plan to reduce carbon intensity by 20 percent across our full value chain — from the production of plastic resin to delivery of products to our customers.”

Jeffery also wants to ensure Nestlé makes the right sustainability and environmental decisions on the use of recycled content in its bottles and the use of bioplastics as a feedstock.

Nestlé has set a goal of producing a bottle with up to 25 percent recycled PET by 2013, and developing and producing a “next-generation bot- tle” manufactured entirely from recycled materials or renewable materials by 2020, Jeffery said.

But Jeffery has some concerns about both of those concepts. “It sounds good to have recycled content,” said Jeffery. “But it takes more energy to use recycled PET and it may be more expensive than using virgin resin because of processing costs. So it is not particularly attractive” from an economic standpoint.

Jeffery contends that right now it makes more sense, economically, to use recycled PET for carpets and strapping. “We should operate on a hierarchical approach and use [recycled PET] in the most efficient uses first,” he said. “So unless you have used recycled PET for other products first, using [it] for bottles may not be the best use of that material.”

Similarly, he said, while polylactic acid is being used to make water bottles, at this point, “it uses a lot more material and it is used once” because of the paucity of industrial composting facilities in the U.S. In addition, Jeffery said PLA “can’t be commingled with other plastics that are recycled [because] it will disrupt the float-sink process to sort plastics and because it looks identical to PET containers.”

“Is using bioplastics the best solution?” questioned Jeffery. “The better solution may be getting better at PET recycling, but that is also the harder solution.” The Sustain ’08 conference was organized by Plastics News and the Washington-based Society of the Plastics Industry Inc.

************************************************************

Here’s a great source for plastics/going geen/ information.

Max

http://www.plasticsnews.com.

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