There has been an interesting dialog this week on the Green Packaging Forum on LinkedIn. It started with someone looking for clear but green packaging for sandwiches “for a retailer who still wants to show the sandwich ingredients while still being green.”

The cool parts was this was a global conversation.

Comments ranged from specific suggestions from providers of products to recommendations of materials that could be used. Then it took an interesting turn.

Here are selcted comments.

From Cedric Sportes. “PLA and Bagasse or other so called ”biodegrable ” need a proper reactor and closd system to accelerate and digest them If they are send to landfill like people do, it is worst for the environnement and not disposable as mentioned on it. The eco plastic and materials produce Methane when under the soil. Most cities do not have facilities to take care of such items. The card and paper is the best solution till everyone will be equiped for that.”

From Josept Mecca. “I agree that most North Americans don’t have access to industrial composting but that’s not the only end-of-life route for the materials that have been mentioned in this discussion.”

From Leslie  Harty. “Cedric is right. PLA is a huge user of water. Plus there is the issue of the diverting of corn from feedstock and food. Let’s not forget most PLA corn are made from GMO seeds that have herbicides and pesticides in them. So rats fed this product developed heart, kidney, and liver damage after 5 months of eating GMO corn. PLA is creating more global warming than gasoline according to the Environmental Defense Org.”

Here are our conclusions.
While it is true that PLA uses more energy to be created than petro-plastics do, that could be a temporary phenomena due to scale. Nothing changes that corn is a food stock. Some of these same issues apply if you use switchgrass or cellulose (trees). Industrial composting/ recycling is another issue that needs to be addressed in some countries, such as the United States.

Measurement of water consumption and energy use in processing materials need to be  standardized, so that information is available to make informed decision by manufacturers  and consumers alike. How to handle post consumer waste is another issue that still needs addressing.