Return of Milk-Wrap!: Sustainable Packaging Development on the Rise
By Alex Batty, MHI Marketing Communications Coordinator |@mhi_alex
Okay, so last year, I geeked out over milk-based wrapping for food, because my dad is all about being environmentally friendly, which has rubbed off a little on my, and I love SCIENCE!
So I was understandable excited when I ran across in this article in the New York Times. There is more SCIENCE packaging moving forward! ALL THE EXCLAMATION POINTS!!!
The problem is a lot of food goes to waste, but also the packaging the food comes in doesn’t break down (plastics) and just sits in landfills, which is bad. We gonna be living on trash piles.
Source: gyroscopic-demon.tumblr.com
And I already have a hard enough time with remembering to take the trash out in my kitchen before it’s overfull.
The article talked about the same USDA milk casein packaging in this blog post, but also talked about how a maple syrup company is using glass bottles packaged in molded material (#materialhandling anyone?) made from mushrooms. It breaks up and composts right in front of you (side note: composting? super easy. I have a bucket on my balcony… influence of my eco-father).
The company Ecovative developed the packaging, and is also looking at using the roots of mushrooms in other products to develop different flexibilities and durabilities.
Some people are arguing that we shouldn’t use food that people can eat to make packaging, which I can see, so other companies are using post-processed tomato peels, which not many are looking to eat, to develop a lining for cans to replace BPA. They extract a polymer from the skins that they then turn into a lacquer to coat metal cans.
Also in the works is Shrilk, a combination of silk and a polysaccharide extracted from shrimp and lobster shells as an alternative to plastic packaging.
While most of these are still in the development stage, and working on expanding so companies can use en masse, they still represent a good look at sustainable packaging, and perhaps a look at the future? Not only can you get food to go, but the packaging for that food can be made on the spot.
Plus, y’know, SCIENCE!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMWGXt979yg
