What happens to PaktoEarth products if they end up in landfill?
Should our products escape the recycling process, our technology enables PP, PE, LDPE and HDPE plastics to decompose in any natural environment, including landfill. Once the time stall date passes (6 months – 4 years) the plastic will decompose completely within 2 years.
What about biodegradable products, like the plant-based plastics?
Contrary to popular belief, bioplastic (plastic made from plant based materials) contains little to no plant material by the end of manufacturing, which in turn gives it similar characteristics to traditional PP and PE plastic.
Bioplastic is recyclable, but must be separated from traditional plastics as it’s pellets are of lower quality. More often than not recycle companies will send bioplastic to landfill because of this.
Technically, Bioplastic is biodegradable, but requires industrial treatment for two days at 60 degrees centigrade to break down. However, if the bioplastic escapes into the natural environment, it will take many years for it to decompose. It also gives off high levels of methane as it starts to break down (twenty four times more potent than CO2).
Currently, there are only 10 plants that can do the industrial treatment out of 2,500 waste facilities in Australia, with similar numbers in the US and UK.
Are all your claims proven?
Yes. See certification section.
What is the difference between PaktoEarth technology and an oxo degradable plastic?
The EU definition of single use plastics specifically defines the product of oxo-degradable plastics as fragmentation to microplastics with chemical decomposition. PaktoEarth are completely different products and have been proven under testing (ASTM 6954) to decompose to air, water and less than 1% biomass and not chemical composition according to the EU definition.
Are PaktoEarth products compostable?
In theory, PAKTOEARTH plastic is compostable in both industrial and home compost. However, it will not compost straight away, but may take months due to the “stall” or trigger date set to activate the decomposing process. Therefore composted results will not be obvious quickly.
We are working on achieving AS4736–2006 and AS5810–2010, which are the certified composting standards in Australia. However, this requires that a minimum of 90% of plastic materials disintegrate into less than 2mm pieces in compost within 12 weeks, and due to the in-bedded time-controlled stall we put in to provide shelf life it is something we’re working on the achieve.
What if PaktoEarth products end up in waterways or the ocean?
As our products will decompose in landfill and anywhere else, the process will most likely complete prior to getting washed into waterways, with no microplastics going into the oceans. This will reduce the problem of microplastics getting into our oceans.
Due to the hydrophilic nature of the products at the breakdown stage, and the very low amount of remaining salt, there is unlikely to be adverse contaminants to leach out to waterways and the ocean. However, if industrial quantity should be illegally disposed of in waterways, there may be side effects. Laboratory testing shows that for every single kilogram of plastic, salts resulting from the breakdown is 1 gram
How does PaktoEarth technology work?
The patented RAWS-tech has come about through partnership with NAMI, a research institute of over 200 PhD qualified experts set up in Hong Kong to create unique breakthroughs in nanotechnology who have come up with this technology.
Our product RAWS-tech is a polymer additive in pellet form and is added to the plastic resin during manufacturing. During manufacture a “stall” or trigger date is set up for the polymer to become active at some point from 6 months up to 4 years, depending on the supply chain.
This is important as it creates a lag time from product manufacture to shipping, delivery and shelf life both instore and once the product has been purchased by the consumer until the plastic packaging is disposed of. This will vary depending on the product and packaging.
Once this trigger date is hit, the RAWS-tech polymer will start to break down the plastic with or without sunlight in landfill or wherever it ends up.
The first stage is the oxidisation of the plastic. As the RAWS-tech has built in oxygen it will work either in sunlight or thermal atmospheric conditions. This oxidation creates a catalytic reaction to break the carbon-carbon (aliphatic) bonds at a molecular level and introduce oxygen into the polymer chain, reducing the molecular weight of the plastic, which initially is about 300,000 grams per molecule (GM). If the molecular weight drops below 5,000 grams per molecule (tested under ASTM 6954) the plastic takes on a new form. RAWS-tech has been certified at 4,300 GM but has tested as low as 2,100 GM.
At this point the plastic is no longer plastic but has become a form of Ketone or acetone and has been altered into a group of materials that are available to bio-organisms. In landfill there are lots of bacteria and other organisms due to the heat that will rapidly break down the compound.
The final step converts what remains into air, water and less than 1% of a harmless salt. This total process can take up to 2 years but in the right conditions occurs in less than a year once the polymer has triggered.
Is PaktoEarth plastic recyclable?
Yes, our products are fully recyclable in the same way that traditional PP and PE plastics are recycled. The plastic will get to a recycling plant before the trigger sets off the process, and our products can be treated like any other PP or PE plastic products. The extreme heat generated in the recycling process (160 – 165°C for PP), will destroy the added polymer agent as it melts the plastic, thus stopping the possibility of inadvertent decomposing of the recycled plastic.
By using PaktoEarth, does that not create more demand for fossil fuel plastics?
Currently a high % of plastic ends up in landfill, so our product is clearly the best alternative to return plastic back to the earth safely and responsibly until a suitable alternative can be found. In the last 10 years or so, fossil fuel reserves around our planet have grown and are now greater than 2009, with more being discovered.
Our goal is to develop our technology to use other source materials as replacements as technology develops. For example technology is being tested that will turn plastic back to petroleum, which we can use in the manufacturing process.
With plant-based plastics, the corn or other original plant material is using valuable arable land and it is estimated that by 2050 if all plastic is manufactured from plant-based material it will consume 52% of our existing arable land in direct competition with plants used for food and fuel.
For our current situation where plastic use is still a necessity, any that escapes from the recycling system should have a safe, environmentally friendly end of life. PaktoEarth plastic will deliver on that. The cost of PaktoEarth products are also cheaper than many alternatives.