Evanesto, an enzymatic additive developed by French company Carbiolice, has now been officially recognised for use with rigid packaging.
The additive, which is added during processing to PLA-based packaging, works to make PLA compostable under home composting conditions. Previously, PLA, a bio-sourced and biodegradable polyester, was compostable only through industrial composting. Constraints such as a lower and less constant temperature of the compost bin in a garden make home composting more difficult and slower than in an industrial composting centre.
In November 2020, however, Carbiolice successfully gained OK compost Home certification from the TÜV Austria Group for flexible plastic packaging - single-layer films with a maximum thickness of 60 μm and multi-layer films with a maximum thickness of 30 μm - containing 33% PLA, 62% PBAT and incorporating 5% Evanesto. It was the first time a product with more than 10% PLA content successfully met the requirements of the OK compost Home certification program.
Now, Carbiolice has announced that it has earned OK Compost Home certification for rigid packaging, as well. The certification applies to products with a thickness of up to 450 μm in monolayers, such as yoghurt pots, trays, cups, but also horticultural pots, and the like.
Also, at 70%, the PLA content is higher.
The close collaboration between TÜV Austria and Carbiolice will also make it easier for packaging manufacturers in the future to obtain certification for packaging solutions containing Evanesto.
"Carbiolice proves through this new certification that by combining enzymology and plastics processing, it is possible to better control the end of life of plastics,” said Jean-Claude Lumaret, President of Carbiolice, adding that the innovation is an additional tool in the eco-design strategy for plastic packaging.
“Our Group is fully committed to this circular economy approach and to the positive recovery of plastic packaging.”
Evanesto was recognised in early 2021 as one of the 1,000 solutions to change the world by the Solar Impulse Foundation. It has also just been awarded the Greentech Innovation label by the Ministry of Ecological Transition.