Biodegradable packaging

Buy best value eco packaging, including biodegradable bags and compost bags, to do your bit for the environment.

Biodegradable packaging is...

• Better for the environment than traditional plastic or polythene packaging
• A term that covers a range of biodegradable products, including carrier bags, mailing bags, clear bags, bin liners, refuse sacks, wrapping, compost bags, food waste bags, dog poo bags, garment covers, loose fill and much more
• Made from natural materials like starch or paper
• Broken down over time by natural microorganisms, like fungi or bacteria, when placed in prolonged contact with soil, such as when placed in landfill
• Converted into carbon dioxide, water and biomass over a period of time, which varies depending on the product in question
• Also known as eco-friendly packaging, eco-packaging or green packaging
• Every bit as useful as traditional polythene packaging - it really gets the job done and at less cost to the environment
• Becoming more popular over time and therefore more competitively priced, in comparison to traditional polythene packaging

Why we use eco-friendly bags

Biodegradable bags are a convenient alternative to traditional polythene bags and cause less pollution or damage to the environment. Traditional polythene will degrade - i.e. break down into smaller and smaller molecules - over time but this process takes a lot longer than the time it takes for biodegradable materials to break down when they come into contact with microorganisms.

Therefore, biodegradable packaging takes less time to break down from the full product to nothing, which means they take up less valuable space in landfill sites, thereby creating less of a long term impact on the environment.

The argument for using eco-friendly bags is represented for many by the common 'single use' plastic carrier bag or traditional thin carrier, often handed out in shops and supermarkets across the UK.

Whilst the term 'single use' is, in itself, a misnomer and one that potentially contributes to the problem of plastic bag waste - there is, after all, no reason why a 'single use' carrier bag can't be used more than once, thus lessening its impact on the environment - the extremely high use of thin carrier bags in everyday life sums up the argument that many people make against the use of polythene packaging.

There is no denying that plastic bags create a lot of waste and, even though this represents less than 1% of household waste in the UK*, most of this waste ends up in landfill sites.

* Source: WRAP - Waste & Resources Action Programme

Whilst most carriers bags today are made from recycled polythene, the material (polymers) that these bags are made from, such as polythene and polypropene, are unable to be broken down by microorganisms and therefore take longer to break down in landfill sites than biodegradable alternatives.

So if you use a biodegradable carrier bag to do your shopping, you can console yourself with the fact that you are doing your bit for the environment and, when that bag eventually gets disposed of, it will take longer to become one with the earth than a traditional polythene alternative.

But, perhaps just as importantly, whatever bag you use - make sure you don't throw it away after using it when it's still perfectly capable of being used again.

Remember people - there is no such thing as a 'single use' carrier bag!

Degradable and biodegradable - what's the difference?

"What's the difference between a biodegradable product and a degradable product?" we hear you ask. Both degradable and biodegradable materials are both used to make packaging today, so why is biodegradable packaging supposed to be so much better to use than normal degradable packaging?

Well, let's first take a look at the definition of each word:

degradable (adjective) - Capable of being degraded. spec. Susceptible to chemical or biological degradation.

biodegradable (adjective) - Of a substance or object (esp. refuse or a potential pollutant): able to be broken down and decomposed by the action of living organisms (esp. bacteria), or their metabolic or biochemical processes

So both a degradable packaging and biodegradable packaging, when disposed of, will break down over time into smaller and smaller pieces. Sounds like there's not much a difference between the two then? Well, that's where you're wrong.

The key difference between biodegradable and degradable materials is that natural organisms and bacteria will break down a biodegradable product much faster than oxygen, moisture, heat and/or light will break down a degradable product.

So if you throw away two plastic bags - one biodegradable, the other degradable - at the same time and in similar conditions, then the biodegradable bag will break down into biomass, water and carbon dioxide significantly faster than the degradable bag.

For the biodegradable product, the biodegradation process might take just a few weeks or months, while a degradable bag will take many years to degrade fully.

Faster degradation leads to less time in landfill sites, which saves space, energy and cost, hence why biodegradable bags are the eco-friendly alternative to degradable packaging.

Where to buy biodegradable packaging

Biodegradable packaging manufacturers and suppliers include:

Biodegradable Packaging Ireland
VAT-registered customers in Ireland can save 21% VAT on all of purchases made from Biodegradable.ie - providers and stockists of a huge range of biodegradable and eco-friendly packaging.
www.biodegradable.ie

Environmental Bags
Environmental Bags stock a huge range of eco-friendly packaging and biodegradable products, from eco-friendly mailing bags to biodegradable bin bags and specialist eco packaging. Order online today.
www.environmentalbags.com

Environmental Bag
Stockists of compostable, degradable and biodegradable bags, with useful information on each type to help you choose the right type of bag for you. Also manufacture and stock a wide range of other eco-friendly packaging.
www.environmentalbags.co.uk

Environmentally Friendly Bags
Environmentally Friendly Bags is the place to go for all your biodegradable packaging needs. Tells you all you need to know about a range of biodegradable polymers used to make eco-friendly packaging and how they are made.
www.environmentally-friendly-bags.co.uk

Biodegradable Bags
With loads of information on biodegradable, degradable and compostable bags and other packaging, this website is a must for anyone looking to buy the right type of eco-friendly packaging for their particular needs.
www.biodegradablebags2u.com

Recycled Bags
A very useful website for anyone hoping to find out more about recycled bags, the recycling process and eco-friendly alternatives to plastic packaging, including biodegradable and degradable packaging.
www.recycledbags2u.co.uk

Compostable Bags
Compo Bag is a free website providing loads of information on compostable bags, including how they are made, types and features of compo bags, pros and cons of compo bags and where to buy them.
www.compobag.co.uk

Degradable Bags
A fantastic resource for anyone looking to find out more about degradable bags and other packaging. Featuring tonnes of information and news on degradable bags, along with a buying guide to degradable bags, so you can pick them up at the best discount prices.
www.discountdegradablebags.co.uk

Biodegradable Bag
A very useful website for anyone interested in biodegradable, degradable or compostable packaging. Helps you choose the right type of packaging for you and tells you where to buy any type of biodegradable bag or each eco-friendly product.
www.discountbiodegradablebags.co.uk

Biodegradable Plastic Bags
If you are looking to buy biodegradable bags or eco-friendly packaging then this is the website for you. Detailing the difference between compostable, degradable and biodegradable packaging, while telling you the best place to buy all three.
www.biodegradablebags2u.co.uk

Biodegradable Bags UK
Need information on compostable, degradable or biodegradable bags in the UK? Want to know more about the difference between each type and where to buy them at the best discount prices? Discount Biodegradable Bags is the site for you!
www.discountbiodegradablebags.com

Recycled Plastic Bags
Recycled Bags is a treasure trove of information on recycled plastic bags and other recycled packaging, the recycling process and eco-friendly alternatives to traditional plastic packaging. No other website tells you more about recycled bags.
www.recycled-bags.co.uk

Research & Resources

For more on biodegradable bags, the huge range of eco-friendly packaging available, along with details of how it is made and how it works, please visit:

PlasticBags.uk.com: The UK's number one polythene packaging directory. Advertisers can list items for free and shoppers can browse a selection of biodegradable bags websites.

Goldstork: Free 'pick-of-the web' directory featuring specialist websites and lots of information on biodegradable bags.

PackagingKnowledge: The go-to knowledge website of the polythene packaging industry, featuring loads of useful information about biodegradable bags.

Eco-friendly packaging

Biodegradable packaging - i.e. packaging made from biodegradable polymers - is sometimes known as 'eco-friendly packaging' or 'eco-packaging'.

If you take the traditional polymers (molecules) used to make traditional polythene and add particular chemicals to these polymers, you can create biodegradable polymers that can be broken down by microorganisms.

These polymers can then be used make biodegradable polythene, which can in turn be used to make biodegradable packaging, or eco-packaging.

Eco-friendly packaging is created using a range of biodegradable polymers, including starch- or bacteria-based polymers or blends, water-soluble polymers, oxo-biodegradable polymers or photodegradable polymers.

Eco-friendly packaging has been a popular alternative to traditional polythene packaging for a number of years and can be found, amongst others, in the form of carrier bags, bin liners, refuse bags, compost bags, dog poop bags and other waste bags.

Latest news and views on biodegradable packaging

Starch-based packaging has moved well beyond the realm of novelty film and loose-occupy; once production is scaled into a modest industrial unit, the proper engineering questions arrive in fast successionmelt-flow consistency through the die, moisture sensitivity amid storage, and the awkward compromise between downgauging for tare weight and retaining enough stiffness for pallet stability. The attraction, plainly, is not merely that starch-derived resins can displace a proportion of fossil-feedstock polythene suppliers, nevertheless that they can be tuned for mono-material recovery routes or industrial composting streams where the application in reality warrants it. That said, warehouse reality tends to expose weak formulations with small mercy: secondary bagging becomes necessary if seal integrity drifts, select-face efficiency suffers when packs deform below ambient humidity, and volumetric efficiency is fast lost if blown structures require excess gauge to prevent collapse in transit. Competent converters mitigate this by blending high-density polymer chains or compatible bio-based copolymers into the starch matrix, tightening micron-specific gauging, and controlling surface slip so that bags dash cleanly on automated lines without static-induced misfeeds. The result, when done properly, is a format that reduces amortised energy across repeated handling cycles and retains waste arisings more uniform on the back stopless a green flourish than a materials-processing exercise with very small tolerance for inconsistency.

The trade in eco-friendly bags has moved well beyond the old token gesture of simply replacing thin-gauge carrier stock with something heavier. What matters on the ground is material behaviour, repeat-use durability and the afterlife of the pack once it drops out of circulation. Woven polypropylene, for instance, earns its retain through high tensile strength and predictable melt-flow consistency in conversion; it will tolerate repeated loading cycles, secondary bagging pressure and the rough handling that comes with a busy select-face far better than plenty low-grade substitutes. Cotton and canvas sit in a alternative engineering bracket altogetherhigher tare weight, lower volumetric efficiency in transit, nevertheless greater perceived longevity and a print surface that takes ink cleanly without the registration drift often seen on slicker substrates. Jute brings a coarser hand and a alternative supply-chain logic, with fibre variability affecting seam performance and panel squareness, yet it answers a specific brief where feedstock renewability and lower polymer dependence transport more weight than tightly controlled gauging. The more serious discussion, then, is not whether one bag is green by assertion, nevertheless how each format reconciles pallet stability, stock density, surface wear and mono-material recoverability with the realities of consignment handling; the better designs are those that reduce replacement frequency, avoid mixed-material trims and closures, and amortise their embodied energy across enough use cycles to justify their place in the packing line.

Top 5 Benefits Of Eco-Friendly Packaging

Eco-friendly packaging does rather above tidy up a sustainability statement; it alters how a consignment is interpreted at the point of handling and, by extension, how the firm behind it is judged. On the warehouse floor, that often comes down to unglamorous engineering facts: a mono-material polythene suppliers format with stable melt-flow consistency is easier to process, easier to segregate after use, and less prone to the sorting failures that plague laminated structures. If the gauge is properly matched to the duty cyclerobust enough to maintain pallet stability, nevertheless not so overbuilt that tare weight and volumetric efficiency are compromisedthe pack signals competence rather than theatre. Buyers and procurement teams notice that sort of discipline. They tend to read recyclable or feedstock-aware packaging not as a sentimental gesture, nevertheless as evidence of operational control: less secondary bagging, less damaged units in transit, cleaner select-face efficiency, and a lower amortised energy burden across the packaging life cycle. Reputation, in that context, is not manufactured by slogans; it accrues when material properties, logistical reality and circular-economy thinking align well enough that the stock arrives in superb order and the environmental claim survives technical scrutiny.

The transport towards biodegradable bags in domestic waste rounds is less a cosmetic swap than a fairly exacting exercise in materials engineering and assortment logistics. In practice, the bag stock has to sit in an awkward middle ground: robust enough in puncture resistance and seal integrity to tolerate wet organics, awkward bin geometry and secondary bagging at the select-up point, yet sufficiently responsive to managed degradation pathways that it does not simply behave like normal polythene suppliers below another name. That balance turns on film gauging, resin blend behaviour and melt-flow consistency amid conversion; if the wall part is driven also thin in pursuit of tare weight reduction, split rates rise and crews stop up handling loose waste, which rather defeats the object. By the same token, if degradation additives or bio-based content are poorly matched to the waste stream, the result can be pollution in downstream sorting and a less tidy circular economy case than the policy note implies. The operational reality is on the warehouse floor and kerbside alikepallet stability amid dispatch, volumetric efficiency in bulk distribution, stock rotation where shelf life is finite, and the not inconsiderable question of whether mono-material recovery remains potential when the trial scales beyond a single district. What makes such schemes viable is rarely the bag alone; it is the attaching of material specification, assortment discipline and private-sectour converting capacity so that feedstock sustainability, route handling and disposal chemistry align well enough for the pilot to survive first contact with household waste.

Biodegradable packaging is moving from procurement rhetoric into a more awkward industrial phase, where regional uptake is shaped less by sentiment than by assortment infrastructure, ambient humidity, shelf-life tolerances and the sheer mechanics of warehouse handling. The engineering compromise is rarely simple: starch-rich blends and compostable polyesters may satisfy stop-of-life policy targets, nevertheless their moisture sensitivity, seal-window behaviour and puncture resistance have to be reconciled with line speeds, secondary bagging practice and pallet stability below stretch-wrap tension. Micron-specific gauging becomes a commercial lever as much as a technical one; also heavy and the tare weight erodes volumetric efficiency, also light and creep or split propagation appears at the select-face. Surface energy also matters, particularly where print stickiness, labelling and automated scanning have to survive chilled storage or long dwell times in mixed stock environments. The more progressive converters are so treating biodegradability not as a single material claim nevertheless as a systems questionmatching melt-flow consistency, barrier performance and certified disintegration routes with the realities of consignment consolidation, pollution risk and amortised energy across the pack's useful life. Mono-material polythene suppliers still retains advantages where established recycling streams exist, so biodegradable formats are gaining traction most convincingly in applications where food residue or biological pollution already undermines normal recovery. That is the quiet truth of the market: adoption follows the waste stream, not the brochure.

Section 1: Eco-Friendly Products for the Home - Clothing

An eco-friendly office is seldom manufactured by big gestures alone; it is more often the product of procurement discipline, material literacy and a willingness to question the quiet waste embedded in daily stock. Recycled copier paper, for instance, is not merely a virtuous substitute nevertheless a specification issue: fibre length, opacity, dusting behaviour and moisture stability all influence feed reliability through printers and folders. Desk accessories manufactured from mail-consumer polythene suppliers or polypropylene transport similar trade-offs, with melt-flow consistency affecting moulded edge quality and long-term durability. Even the packaging around office consumables matters. Secondary bagging, oversised cartons and poor pallet utilisation inflate the consignment volume long before the products reach the stationery cupboard; tightening those specifications improves volumetric efficiency and reduces the amortised energy sitting behind each box of pens, files or toner cartridges.

The benefits of going environmentally friendly

A system which ranks 180 countries in terms of how environmentally friendly and sustainable they are. It works by quantifying the environmental performance of the countries' policies.

Biodegradable Disposables

12oz PLA Biodegradable & Compostable Kraft Hot Drink Double Wall Paper Cups, manufactured from superior food grade cup stock, single PLA-coated, 12oz Ingeo paper coffee cups for hot drinks. Made for the Coffee to proceed Market.

Compostable packaging

With compostable packaging , that dream is reality.

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