Smart Planet Technologies announces engineering breakthrough in compostable coatings with EarthCoating Compostable
The development of a high-performance compostable and recyclable barrier coating to replace traditional polyethylene coatings March 31, 2015 - Newport Beach CA - Smart Planet Technologies, Inc., a leader in engineering of innovative barrier coatings that address sustainability challenges in packaging, announce a breakthrough in engineering with EarthCoating Compostable, a mineralized compostable resin for extrusion-coating onto paperboards.
Traditionally, food service packaging such as hot/cold cups, ice cream containers, frozen food cartons and food trays, are coated with 100% polyethylene and similar materials for barrier properties to moisture, oils, grease and fatty acids. Paperboards with these legacy coatings are poor candidates for recycling and generally destined for a landfill. Compostable resin coatings, which can be composted in industrial composting facilities, have risen recently as a sustainable option to traditional polyethylene coatings. However, adoption has been limited because of increased cost, inferior barrier performance, production challenges, and limited availability of municipal composting facilities. Further, these coatings have failed to address the need for recyclability.
EarthCoating Compostable is a mineralized compostable resin formulation, using minerals to displace 35% of the plastic content, with the mineral blend engineered to alter the performance and behavior of the resin to achieve marked improvements that address the challenges with compostable resins. As with other formulations of EarthCoating, the mineral content allows for successful processing of the coated paperboard in paper recycling streams.
EarthCoating Compostable has the following advantages over traditional compostable resin coatings:
• EarthCoating Compostable contains 40% minerals, which lowers cost and reduces polymer content.
• EarthCoating Compostable has excellent machinability. The mineral content improves production line speeds and allows for lower coatweights than traditional compostable resins.
• The barrier performance of EarthCoating Compostable is comparable to that of polyethylene at equivalent coatweights.
• EarthCoating Compostable is heat sealable, making it suitable for formed cup applications.
• EarthCoating Compostable is engineered for recyclability in paper recycling streams.
Paperboards with EarthCoating Compostable technology offer a compostable and recyclable option for the approximately 1.3 million tons of 100% polyethylene-coated paper cup and folding carton material produced annually in the US.
Commercial availability of EarthCoating Compostable is planned to be announced in the near future.
About Smart Planet Technologies:
Smart Planet Technologies is a packaging technology company with intellectual property focused on advancements in sustainability for the packaging industry. Our innovative technologies are engineered to conserve precious natural resources and provide high quality, environmental alternatives across a wide variety of packaging applications. EarthCoating is a registered trademark of Smart Planet Technologies. For more information, please visit our website at www.SmartPlanetTech.com