Shouldn't sustainability in plastics and packaging be a solution we need for our world and our children's future?
We custom design and manufacture Biodegradable plastic packaging and products including Cutlery, Plates, Bowls, Bags, Shrink Wrap Films, Envelopes, Coffee bags, Diapers, Plant Pots, and Produce Stickers.Whatever biodegradable plastic need you have, we can help you create it.
Will biodegrade in landfills
No heat or moisture issues
Has no expiration date
Can also be safely recycled with mainstream plastics
Can be made with either recycled or post consumer plastic
Because Green Film biodegrades, it won’t end up in rivers, lakes and oceans
Unlike most
”compostable” plastics,
Green Film Products
WILL biodegrade in
backyard compost.
Our Biodegradable Plastics come in a variety of colors, including clear plastics, with no appreciable change in physical properties
Green Film interacts with biota found in compost and thus breaks down
Will leave no harmful chemicals behind after biodegrading
No toxic residue as tested by EPA
How Does Green Film™ Work?
When it is composted or thrown away in a landfill, it interacts with biota found there and thus breaks down. It works without oxygen (anaerobically). Only a plastic that can break down without oxygen will biodegrade in a landfill. Otherwise, it will stay there for hundreds of years.
When breaking down anaerobically, it turns into water and methane. This methane is harvested in 75% of all landfills in the US the US. Much of this methane is converted into electricity in many cases.
Meets FDA certification for food applications
Methane is a cheaper source of energy at $.03-.045/kilowatt than windpower ($.11/kilowatt hour) and solar power ($.60/kilowatt hour).
Biodegradable Plastic – How Does It Work?
Moisture is also a factor. Nothing degrades quickly in an arid atmosphere. For example, Dr. Rathje from the University of Arizona did a landfill excavation in Tucson, Arizona, He and his colleagues bored shafts into the landfill going as deep as 90 feet. They found newspapers that were 40 years old and still readable. (In fact they ascertained the age of the newspapers by merely reading their dates.) They were “mummified.” Ten-year-old carrots were still bright orange on the inside. Arizona has an extremely arid and hot climate.
Our biodegradable film degrades quicker with moisture present. This is because moisture encourages the growth of active biota. Active biota are necessary to the degradation process. The more active they are, the quicker the degradation process. Also biota is in landfills, the soil in the backyard, ponds, and even oceans, so these films will biodegrade in these locations also.
Consider the normal degradation of a fallen tree. If we were to bury the entire tree, the quickest part of the tree to degrade would be the leaves. They are the thinnest part of the tree. The smaller branches or twigs would be the next to totally degrade. The trunk or larger limbs would be the last to degrade simply because of their density. Therefore, one can also conclude that the thickness of the film could also be a factor in the degradation process.
Maverick Enterprises “Green Film”™ is unique in its degradation process that makes it both environmentally safe and user friendly. This film does not affect the product that it is used to package. It can even be used with food and medical products and can be FDA approved. It does not affect the film’s clarity, strength, or tear properties. If you put it side by side with a nonbiodegradable film made from identical reins, you cannot tell them apart.
In 1995, 20 million tons of plastic products were put in the landfill. By 2010, it is estimated that this amount will be 20% higher or 24 million tons. I feel by using this product, both companies and private citizens can be part of the solution, rather than being part of the problem.
* EPA 6010 metals analysis and EPA 8260 soil matrix
Maverick Enterprises “Green Film”™ is an environmentally preferred film that offers tremendous options in the waste management process. Average plastic film can take from four hundred to one thousand years to degrade.
So how does Maverick Green Film™ work? The enzymes in the film enable the microorganisms in the environment to metabolize the molecular structure of the plastic into inert forms that are harmless to soil and water.
This process starts once the plastic is buried (whether in a landfill, in a backyard, a pond, or under a pile of leaves.) The biodegradation process begins with proprietary swelling agents that expand the plastics’ molecular structure. After the swelling agent creates space within the plastics’ molecular structure, the next step begins. The bioactive compounds in the plastic film then attract microorganisms that metabolize and neutralize the plastic. I like to little “Pakmen” gobbling up the plastic. This process can work aerobically (with oxygen) or anerobically (without oxygen). During the degradation process, methane and water are the byproducts of anaerobic degradation, while carbon dioxide and water are the byproducts of aerobic degradation. The end products are humus. EPA tests * have proven that there is no toxic residue harmful to any living organisms in either land or water.
So what does effect the degradation of Maverick “Green Film”™? Unfortunately, it is not a case of “poof” and it’s gone. The biodegradation process depends on where the plastic is deposited. When it is exposed to more oxygen, for example in an active landfill or compost pile, the films are more quickly degradable. (The amount of methane gas emitted at a landfill is a gauge to rate how active the landfill is and how quickly items degrade. Methane gas is a good indicator of degradation. The more methane gas present, the more active the landfill.) Therefore, Maverick biodegradable plastic degrades faster under aerobic conditions and in active landfills. The film will turn into humus and then into either carbon dioxide and water (if biodegrading aerobically or with oxygen) or methane and water (if biodegrading anaerobically or without oxygen). Most landfills are airless, so methane will be the final product. Methane is converted at 75% of all US landfills now into energy. BMW has a plant in South Carolina which has a pipeline coming from the closest landfill to the plant where it is converted into energy to run the plant. Johnson and Johnson has done the same. California has just passed a law stating all methane in landfills must be harvested! This is the cheapest source of energy now available.