CORN STARCH: THE FUTURE OF GARBAGE DISPOSAL
Even as our landfills and oceans slowly fill up with dirty debris that are unlikely todecompose for the next five hundred years, scientists worldwide have woken up to the direexigency of climate change. One of the many happy outcomes of such environmentally awarescientific innovation is the 100% compostable garbage bag. What makes this bag extra-special is the fact that it is made completely from plant based starches- either cassava, rice,potato or corn starch, which is what makes it a viable alternative to other petroleum-basedplastics that pollute the soil and with it, the crop as well.The 100% compostable garbage bags by Ecolastic are made of cornstarch, and unlike othergarbage bags that remain in our soil and water without breaking down for decades or evencenturies, these bags take no more than 180 days to turn into fertile compost. Furthermore, ondecomposition, they enrich the soil instead of depriving it of essential nutrients or polluting iteven further. The 100% cornstarch-based garbage bags manufactured by Ecolastic have beencreated in collaboration with DRDO and have been approved by organizations such as theISO, CIPET and CPCB.
As a plastic substitute, corn starch has proven to be both sturdy and commercially viable in recent years. It is now a popular option to traditional plastic and heralds the beginning of a whole new revolution in garbage disposal. Made of corn starch, these starch products have the look and feel of plastic but are much more eco-friendly and help us reduce our overall dependence on oil.
While synthetic plastics made of petroleum have zero benefit for the environment and only serve to pollute it further, bioplastics such as Ecolastic that are made of compostable materials like cornstarch or other types of agri-waste are a great way to reduce one’s carbon footprint. They are easily compostable and biodegradable and further help to enrich the soil if composted or burnt.
The innovative technology from Ecolastic developed in collaboration with DRDO is used to produce eco-friendly granules entirely from corn starch, with the ultimate goal of replacing single-use plastic. Each corn-starch granule is inflated to produce a bag and a small sachet of five hundred corn starch granules can actually produce five hundred eco-friendly bags.
In addition to making garbage bags, corn starch plastic can also be utilized for various alternate purposes such as manufacturing carry bags, laundry bags, disposable caps, cutlery, food containers, disposable aprons, gloves and so on. It has proven to be a highly versatile product that can take on our environmental challenges viz-a-viz single-use plastic effectively. According to experts in the field, bioplastics have the potential to be the solution to plastic
pollution, nine million tonnes of which enter our oceans each year. According to a 2017 study in the US, switching from traditional plastic to corn-based would reduce green-house gas emissions by 25%.
Each eco-friendly garbage bag you buy is one small step towards saving the environment. Be a part of the solution, not a part of the pollution.