Our country’s increased awareness of how it can be more eco-friendly has resulted in successful recycling programs from the office or home bin all the way onto the ledgers of multi-national corporations, but recycling has significant hidden energy costs and sometimes returns only a small investment. Additionally, with China banning the import of mixed recyclables a couple of years ago, recycling markets in the US have become much more challenging.
That’s where composting can assist with sustainability.
Genera views sustainability as a holistic practice and that fuels the decisions we make on materials, sourcing, manufacturing and even where our compostable packaging ends up.
Our plant-based Earthable® products break down naturally and return to the cycle of growth and harvest without requiring excessive expenditures of energy. Composting also reduces greenhouse gases, increases biodiversity and protects soil from erosion. These benefits provide a more sustainable solution than recycling alone.
The food service industry was one of the first to begin relying on recycled and recyclable alternatives to move away from the disposable, single-use materials like plastic utensils and Styrofoam boxes, but studies have shown that recycling costs more for collection and reproduction than composting, limiting its implementation in some regions.
Recycling also is limited in the number of times raw materials can be reused. Those raw materials lose strength and other attributes each time they are processed. Additionally, dirty plastics – those with food residue, for example – can’t be easily recycled, and certain items – like the notorious plastic straw – cannot be recycled at all.
According to a 2020 McKinsey & Company report, 55 percent of US survey respondents say they are extremely or very concerned about the environmental impact of product packaging, and their concerns show they are spread almost equally across several factors. Requirements for sustainability are increasing at every step of the value chain, and it’s imperative to keep up.
That’s where Genera’s Earthable® molded fiber products come in. Made from fiber derived from annually renewable crops, Earthable® is used in a wide array of applications including tissue, paper, compostable food service tableware and packaging.
These products are completely compostable and biodegradable, won’t last years in landfills and don’t require the use of non-renewable energy to be converted back into other products.
To find out more about how our biodegradable products help both your company and the environment, contact Genera online today.
