Posted July 16, 2020

BioBag leads Australian manufacturing of plastic alternatives

Launched in February 2019 by South Australia’s Environment Minister David Speirs, our Adelaide manufacturing plant is now producing single use plastic alternatives. In Australia and abroad, the conversation about plastics highlights the incredible amount of single use plastic we use and, even worse, the amount of this plastic finding its way into the environment.

BioBags are becoming as functional as traditional plastic polyethylene and with access to the leading corn-starch based Mater-Bi resin, BioBag can now manufacture on Australian shores.

Manufacturing locally has given us more flexibility to customise compostable solutions for 8 litre rolls, produce rolls, mailing satchels, agricultural mulch film and coffee knock tube liners.

8 Litre BioBags

Local production of our 8 litre rolls will ensure a steady, locally made supply for councils to provide residents for lining kitchen caddies and collecting food waste.

The 8 litre rolls are also popular with anyone who wants to take their own bags to the shops to buy fresh bread and produce. After shopping, they can be used at home to store food and collect scraps, then composted with food waste.

Produce Rolls

BioBag produce rolls are replacing plastic in South Australia’s leading fruit and vegetable retailers.

Adelaide’s City of Holdfast Bay trialled distributing compostable bags in supermarkets to be used with the dual purpose of collecting household food waste. The trial resulted in 300 percent more food being diverted from landfill to green organics recycling bins as a result of the trial.

Adelaide’s Finest Supermarkets, Foodland Pasadena and Foodland Frewville, eliminated all single-use plastic bags in their fresh food sections and replaced them with compostable BioBags.

Research shows bringing a BioBag home from the supermarket and using it to collect food scraps improves the amount of valuable organic waste that can be captured from households for composting.

Mailing Satchels, Hay Bags and Cucumber Wrap

Manufacturing locally means we can now make our own custom compostable solutions, like mailing satchels for our online orders. Our fully compostable satchels can be reused to collect food scraps then composted at the end of their useful life.

Locally grown hay is now being sold in custom-made compostable BioBags as another plastic alternative for Gobles Pet Grain Garden in Adelaide.

We also created a fully compostable cucumber wrap for Drakes Supermarkets and local cucumber wholesaler IG Fresh. Wrapped cucumbers last up to three times longer and Drakes wanted an environmentally-friendly alternative to traditional polyethylene plastic wrap.

Compostable Mailing Film

Our clear, certified home Compostable Wrap mailing film has been created locally for Adelaide based Direct Mail Centre of Australia as an alternative to single-use plastic that breaks down into microplastics.

BioBag World Australia Director Scott Morton said the Compostable Wrap is an opportunity for a better environmental outcome because it can be returned to the earth as organic matter and is certified to leave no microplastics behind, even in a home compost bin.

“When exposed to microorganisms and oxygen, Compostable Wrap can be gone in a matter of weeks. It’s important to read the small print and check for certifications to the Australian Standard AS4736-2006 for industrial compostable and AS5810-2010 for home compostable,” Mr Morton said.

BioAgri Mulch Film

Our new, Australian-made agricultural film makes work easier for farmers because it breaks down into organic matter that can be ploughed into the soil at the end of a crop growing cycle. Plastic mulch film needs to be removed which is costly and time consuming.

Certified to the same standard as BioBags supplied to residents through a growing number of metropolitan councils, BioAgri leaves no toxic residues.

Good for certified organic farming, BioAgri is an an efficient alternative that can be laid with the same equipment used for traditional plastic.

Advantages for farmers include increased soil temperatures, faster germination and cultivation cycles, long-term nutritious soil and reduced water consumption. BioAgri eliminates or reduces the need for herbicides and pesticides, and keeps fertilisers and nutrients closer to the plants. It also prevents fruits and vegetables from coming into direct contact with the soil.

Coffee Knock Tube Liners

We are now supplying locally made coffee knock tube liners for the hospitality industry to divert coffee grinds from landfill.

The liners make it easy to transport coffee grinds with food scraps to compost bins and green bins where they can be recycled into nutrient rich soil fertiliser.

Using compostable liners in any kitchen environment can significantly improve diversion of food waste from landfill to recycling.

Endless Solutions

The opportunities to provide plastic alternatives are endless because we can now customise compostable films for any purpose. We’ll update you with new products as we make them and please contact us if you know of an opportunity to replace plastic with compostable in your area.

See why the South Australian Government is 100% behind BioBag in this 2 minute video: