CARRIER BAGS

MATER-BI compostable carrier bags have an important dual purpose. Companies purchase MATER-BI resin and transform it into compostable shopping bags which are initially used like any other shopping bag for carrying groceries and products home from a store.

The bag can be re-used for shopping or a second important role of collecting kitchen food scraps and garden trimmings and disposal in the local authority provided food/garden waste bin or even home composting. MATER-BI biodegrades in a composting environment, meaning microorganisms view it as food, converting the original organic materials into a valuable soil amendment called compost. This finished compost provides nutrients and humus to grow new crops, sequestering that original carbon and completing the carbon cycle.

MATER-BI compostable carrier bags can also help strengthen communities by encouraging participation in the carbon cycle. First, non-GMO crops are grown to make raw ingredients, starches and oils, which NOVAMONT turns into MATER-BI compostable biopolymers. Biodegradation is part of the earth’s natural life cycle, which is based on carbon. Thanks to photosynthesis by plants and algae, and the inexhaustible energy of the sun, carbon dioxide is absorbed from the atmosphere to synthesize sugars and other substances used by plants to grow and develop.

Case History: Compostable shopping bags in United Kingdom

Coop was the first large scale retailer in the UK replace shopping bags in traditional plastic with those in MATER-BI. Biodegradable and compostable MATER-BI products have proved to be the most effective to increase the the capture rate of the organic waste and ensure its recovery in anaerobic digestion and composting plants.

Therefore, they are a fundamental resource for ensuring the quality of organic waste, increasing the efficiency of the entire process, from production to collection and to disposal.