100% biodegradable sugar cane bottles are being manufactured by the Air Water company. The company introduced machines that make water from the air to South Africa about 12 years ago, and it has embarked on a “Zero Plastic, Zero Harm” campaign.
Speaking to Kieno Kammies on the Breakfast Show on CapeTalk, Ray De Vries, founder and CEO of Airwater said the idea emerged during the Cape Town drought.
The process of making these biodegradable sugar cane bottles involves the fiber and a polylactic acid being used to make the bottle. The beauty of it is that it is 100% compostable.
If you put the bottle in a compost heap, it will disappear within 150 days. It adds nutrients to the soil and if you burn it, it is a very good waste to energy fuel and is totally non-toxic.
— Ray De Vries - Founder and CEO of Airwater
The concept behind this was to create a plastic bottle - where every single component, including the lid and the label, are biodegradable.
With volatile oil prices and growing concerns about greenhouse gas emissions, the chemical industry is looking for renewable alternatives to diversify its sources of raw materials.
Sugarcane ethanol has emerged as an important ingredient to substitute for petroleum in the production of plastic.
These so-called “bioplastics” have the same physical and chemical properties as regular plastic (the most common type is known technically as PET) and maintain full recycling capabilities.
Use of bioplastics is still developing. But a number of leading companies have established themselves as major players in this emerging area.
Source: Capetalk
