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Protect the environment as well as your DVDs

There has been a lot of interest in Greener packing solutions from our customers, but being Green means very different things to different people, and is not helped by various wondrous claims, that often improve one aspect at an unacceptable cost to another.

WRAP (the UK government body) and the Green Alliance take the approach of focusing on what they call the 3 R’s; Reduce the amount sent to landfill, Reuse, and Recycle. From the beginning we designed a case that is easy to recycle, with a simple one material design,clearly marked with the appropriate recycling symbols. However, we recognise that we need to work on the landfill problem.

Our new BioBox can use recycled PP, whilst at the same time controlling the risk of heavy metals and maintaining EN71 toy standards, to deliver safe products, fit for use by children. The case material can be recycled many times and is clearly marked with the correct recycling symbols.

We have changed the process to make the BioBox fully biodegradable in a landfill situation, whilst still remaining perfect on a consumers shelf for years if needed. Most importantly, we have added the biodegradable product benefit without reducing the ability to recycle the product in any way.

Product Performance Detail

The new BioBox from Amaray can be made from recycled plastics and remains fully recyclable and stable during its normal life. The BioBox is also biodegradable, but only when placed in the soil or landfill, where it comes into contact with micro-organisms and other biodegrading material. Through the addition of a proprietary mixture of compounds microbes are attracted and provided with a food source, allowing the complex polymer chains in Polypropylene to be broken down by bacteria in both aerobic (oxygen dependant) and anaerobic (dependant on the absence of oxygen) conditions.

Testing under ASTM 5511 methodology after 60 days shows that the degradation rate of the polypropylene with the additive is 100 times faster.

The additive needs both the landfill conditions and concentration in the case to be effective. There is no impact on it's recylability, as recycling will dilute the additive rendering it ineffective and nor is the necessary microbes likely to be present.