While everyone agrees that recycling is excellent for the environment, the less obvious items are often overlooked.
Many consumers would not think twice about the liners that absorb the liquids, juices or blood from the packaged foodstuffs they purchase, yet none of these can be recycled.
Bob Cork Agencies, however, offers absorbent liners that are compostable, where others will not. These liners have also been certified safe by European Union testing standards and approved by the US Food and Drug Administration.
Conventional pads comprise a petrochemical derived plastic which requires a timely photodegration process to reduce this plastic into microscopic synthetic granules. Since these pads are not recyclable they usually end up in landfills as they cannot be composted.
So the problem with conventional absorbent liners is that they are not suitable for home and industrial composting or landfills, yet ultimately end up in these landfills as consumers dispose of them in their general waste.
Our absorbent liners are 100% organic as they comprise an absorbent paper pulp “fluff” in the centre that is sandwiched between perforated compostable bio films – strong general-purpose film that boasts superb sealability and excellent conversion performance suitable for a broad range of applications.
Thanks to this bio film outer, the entire product, including the purged substances, are compostable and decomposes in the event they end up in landfills, will breakdown quicker than conventional liners.
Furthermore, the size of the perforations in the bio film prevents the meat, poultry and fresh produce from drying out, allowing the foodstuffs to retain surface moisture.
A compostable field test conducted on the pads in Cape Town at an industrial composting facility shows the effectiveness of the liners.
On Day 1 of the study, the absorbent pads were added to a two-day-old windrow (compost mix) with a temperature of 67.5°C and a moisture content of 43%.
When the product was inspected again on Day 13, researchers found that the materials had started to compost and shrink in size due to the temperature and moisture in the windrow. The pads were then placed back into the windrow at temperatures between 60°C and 65°C and moisture content of between 45 and 48%.
Day 19 showed the liners were composting well and only six days later, they showed signs of breaking down rapidly.
This and other studies have proved that whether the foodstuff is red meat, chicken, fish, fruit or vegetables, the liner is compostable.
A win for retailers, customers and most importantly, the environment.
