Biodegradable packaging patents indicate growing interest

Food packaging is beginning to move away from plastics such as petroleum-based polyethylene terephthalate (PET) and toward biodegradable materials, according to a new report.

In recent years suppliers have been producting biodegradable materials such as polylactic acid (PLA), a starch derivative made from corn and other high-starch plants, and polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA), using sugars, plant oils and bio-waste.

Currently, packaging accounts for 39 per cent of the overall biodegradable polymer market, with food packaging only a small fraction of that, Nerac noted.

Despite the potential of biodegradable packaging materials, significant barriers to growth remain and the segment remains a niche market. Such materials account about one to two per cent of the food packaging segment, which makes up about 40 per cent of the $460 billion global packaging industry, Nerac stated.

In the EU bioplastics accounted for about 0.14 per cent of Western Europe's total thermoplastics consumption in 2005. And the EU accounts for 59 per cent of the global polymer market, as compared to North America at 22 per cent and Asiaat 19 per cent.

The number of patent publications relating to biodegradable polymers currently stands at about 8,843, according to Nerac. When narrowed to biodegradable packaging, thenumber of patent publications is about 6,972. Of these patents and patent applications for biodegradable food packaging number 2,320.

Biodegradable packaging is being manufactured from refuse such as sugar cane waste and other sustainable plant byproducts, including corn, potatoes and bamboo, the applications show.

These materials do not produce environmentally harmful byproducts, and they are non-toxic and biodegradable, often decomposing within just a few weeks, if they are disposed of under appropriate conditions, Nerac stated.

Potatoes and corn dominate biodegradable food packaging patents.

"However, aside from the moral argument against diverting food crops to industrial uses, increasing demands on corn production for biofuels, while good for the farming industry, has resulted in increased prices that could alter the economics that make its long-term utility as a polymer for packaging questionable," the firm warned.

Agricultural waste products show promise and avoid such controversial moralism, the firm stated.