Plastics can take hundreds of years to break down. This Wisconsin company's biodegradable film aims to change that.
So far, Packaging Systems of Wisconsin has secured biodegradable film distribution partnerships with Boortmalt's Sheboygan facility and Milwaukee's Lakefront Brewery.
A local packaging distributor is working to expand the reach of a biodegradable film capable of reducing waste in the manufacturing process.
Packaging Systems of Wisconsin, a Sheboygan-based division of the Indiana-based company, is pursuing ways it can lead in sustainability.
Typical products the company sells include tape, wrappers, boxes and stretch film, which has a greener alternative.
The company has partnered with Alliance Plastics to distribute a biodegradable film wrap claimed to break down in roughly two years compared to several hundred years of virgin film wrap.
The biodegradable film launched after five years of researching other companies and possible additives.
Eric Baranczyk, regional sales manager with Alliance Plastics, said the company was interested in being more sustainable. In the world of plastics, he said they were dealing with the breakdown timeline.
“To be honest, plastic will be here several centuries after we’re not,” he said. “So trying to be a greener opportunity for all of us is trying to answer, ‘How can we shorten that lifespan down?”
He said stretch film could last in the landfills for 50 years, but the biodegradable film will likely have degraded by 90% and will continue to degrade by two and half years.
In variable conditions, he added the worst-case scenario would be the biodegradable film would degrade within 10 years.
Packaging is the largest generator of single-use plastic waste across the globe, including food and drink containers, according to the United Nations' Environment Programme.
Plastic pollution can harm and kill wildlife and humans if ingested, alter carbon cycling processes and contaminate soil and groundwater.
According to a 2020-2021 statewide characterization report of waste commissioned by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, plastic accounted for 17.1% of the statewide municipal solid waste composition. Of that, flexible films and recyclable films accounted for a total of 8.1%, or 349,800, of 745,600 tons of plastic.
Brad Reiser, general manager at Packaging Systems of Wisconsin, recalled watching a video of a sea turtle mistaking a plastic bag for a jellyfish in the ocean.
"It broke my heart," he said.
So far, the packaging distributor has secured partnerships in Wisconsin with Sheboygan’s Boortmalt plant and Milwaukee’s Lakefront Brewery to supply the biodegradable film.
“You don't have to pay more to go green, and you don't have to take a performance reduction to go green,” Reiser said.
We toured the Alliance Plastics and Boortmalt facilities to learn how the biodegradable film works and performs.
How does the biodegradable film work?
The biodegradable film is composed of 99% virgin film materials and a 1% bio-additive, similar to a fatty acid. This helps the film break down quicker when exposed to sunlight, heat and pressure — conditions found in a body of water or landfill, where plastic pollution tends to travel.
How does it perform?
Eric Hanson, plant manager at Boortmalt, said the facility goes through a “significant amount” of stretch film, which has the capacity to send out one bag of 50-pound malt to truckloads carrying 48,000 to 50,000 pounds of malt.
Boortmalt has transitioned 16,000 pounds of virgin film to 16,000 pounds of biodegradable film through Packaging Systems of Wisconsin. The company’s corporate branch has always been a proponent of sustainability, Hanson said, exploring solar energy, water treatment and ways to reuse the malt bags after product is emptied.
"Any type of packaging that we can use that would biodegrade over time is huge,” Hanson said. “It's going to save a lot of things.”
Reiser said when he first tested the biodegradable film at Boortmalt, it performed better than the virgin film on the stretch wraps because it stretched better around the pallets, though this may not always be the case.
"When you're applying stretch film on a pallet, you want this stuff to stretch, like 300%,” Reiser said.
Baranczyk said the biodegradable film is thinner, which can also help companies use less film.
Is it more expensive?
From Hanson's perspective, he said the virgin film Boortmalt's Sheboygan plant was using and the biodegradable film from Packaging Systems were “very comparable in price.”
For Baranczyk, Alliance Film is seeing slower than expected demand for biodegradable film because companies haven’t largely accepted sustainable packaging products because of the cost. He added biodegradable or recycled film is still more expensive right now.
But that could change. Costs could be lower on the manufacturing end, depending on relationships with mills, materials costs and level of production, Baranczyk said. Plus, businesses may see equalized or lower overall costs with the biodegradable film by using less because of its high performance.
Is recycled or biodegradable film better?
Alliance Films also produces virgin and post-consumer recycled, or PCR film, consisting of 30% recycled content. Baranczyk said to reduce common impurities found when the film returns — dirt, wood, paper or other plastics — and get some type of performance, it has to be thicker. A thicker film reduces elasticity performance.
The biodegradable and PCR film are around the same price points. Environmentally, Baranczyk said PCR film is not the best option because of transportation and manufacturing emissions to get it back to the plant and reprocess it.
“While we think we're doing something better by using recycled components of it, really, we’re really not getting the environmental bang,” he said.
What’s appealing about PCR film, then?
“That's the phrase of the day,” Baranczyk said, adding there may be industry interests or investments in PCR film on different sustainable packaging boards.
Reiser added there isn’t enough biofilm production yet, and the market is saturated with PCR products as the sustainable alternative.
Is there a statewide push for manufacturers to utilize sustainable packaging?
Reiser said manufacturing has seen mandates from the state to reduce the carbon footprint for transportation but not yet with materials. He anticipates Wisconsin may be hit with a wave of more sustainable mandates in the future, similar to California, which will require 100% of packaging be recyclable or compostable by 2032.
He said it may take a state mandate or larger companies like Walmart or Costco pushing representatives to advocate for some similar requirement.
Right now, the success of the biodegradable film is determined by market forces and individual company commitments to sustainability.
Are there efforts to reduce packaging waste overall?
“Absolutely,” Reiser said.
He said Packaging Systems is exploring ways to reduce packaging, like replacing a Styrofoam cooler typically found in boxes to ship perishable items with a shrink film. This could reduce the weight and amount of packaging being produced and shipped, even though "plastic gets a bad rap because it doesn't do well in the environment."
Reiser said making that type of switch could reduce companies' "carbon footprint by quite a bit."
Contact Alex Garner at 224-374-2332 or agarner@gannett.com. Follow her on X (formerly Twitter) at @alexx_garner.