Ecology and sustainability are very important topics for us. Unfortunately, this issue is very complex and does not have simple or universal solutions for every situation. Moreover, there are often changing "trendy" approaches that don’t always deliver on their promises.
Is paper really more environmentally friendly than plastic?
- Massive tree felling, which naturally reduces CO₂ levels
- Higher weight and volume, increasing the environmental impact of transportation
- Approximately 10 times higher water consumption for paper production
- Approximately 4 times higher energy consumption for paper production
- About 70% higher air pollution during paper manufacturing
- Currently, a higher recycling rate for paper, although paper recycling consumes up to twice as much energy compared to plastic recycling
It is always necessary to evaluate the optimal solution considering the packaged product and the entire packaging lifecycle. This topic is especially important in the area of cushioning systems, where often criticized plastic air pillows offer significant advantages.
You can’t inflate paper!
Air pillows are typically inflated on-site during packing. This means that 99% of the filling volume is air, with only 1% being plastic.
Advantages of PE air pillows
- Reduction of material needed to fill space → less waste (film after puncturing occupies only a fraction of the inflated volume)
- Easily and clearly sortable and recyclable material
- More efficient storage
- More efficient transportation
- No shape memory (does not retain deformation)
Various seemingly miraculous bioplastics might seem like a great alternative.
However, over time, they prove to be a dead end, causing additional complications.
Main problematic aspects of bioplastics
- There is a wide variety of materials, which is confusing and unclear to the general public. Some bioplastics are petroleum-based, while others are not biodegradable, just like conventional plastics.
- Large amounts of food and agricultural land are used to produce single-use plastic substitutes (e.g., 18 tons of potatoes to make 1 ton of PHA polymer, and 10 tons of potatoes for PLA) at a time when water supplies are decreasing and global warming is reducing arable land.
- Effective biodegradability is achievable only in industrial composting facilities (e.g., in-vessel composting), which do not exist in the Czech Republic.
- Sorting is problematic. These plastics do not belong in yellow recycling bins for plastics, where they would contaminate and degrade properly sorted material. Unfortunately, their (non-)degradability also causes issues in commonly used composting facilities.
- Consumers might get the false impression that disposing of such materials in nature is acceptable.
- For fossil fuel-based biodegradable materials, degradation often simply results in microplastic formation.
