EcoFuse Featured in German ALDI Shopping Bags

Convex Plastics, June 13th, 2009

The large German discount supermarket chain ALDI SuD is now offering its German customers shopping bags made of the new compostable hybrid film recently launched in New Zealand by Convex Plastics.

BASF's biodegradable plastic Ecovio®, marketed by Convex Plastics as EcoFuse, offers good functionality and contact clarity, and is particularly ideal for retail applications.

Made from 45% Poly Lactic Acid (PLA) derived from fermented cornstarch and 55% biodegradable polyester - the new hybrid film is stiff and clear with good tear resistance, impact resistance and seal strength.

Although petroleum-based, the biodegradable polyester component of EcoFuse can be digested by microbes under precisely defined conditions, and is completely biodegradable according to European standard EN 13432.

Biodegradable shopping bags offer customers an additional advantage: they not only are strong enough to be used multiple times as a shopping bag, but they can also be used at the end of their life as a bag for collecting and disposing of organic kitchen garbage - which is already occurring in most German communities.

Andreas Kunkel, in charge of the development of biodegradable plastics at BASF, says their hybrid Ecovio® (EcoFuse) packaging film has been developed primarily for prod¬ucts such as shopping bags and bags for organic waste, which are transformed into valuable compost - together with the bio-waste - in an industrial composting facility.

“In these applications, the biodegradability of the materials constitutes a benefit for customers and the environment,” he says.

Convex Technical manager, Andrew Sheerin, says, “The fusion of the two technologies has allowed us to offer a fully compostable film that meets the functionality requirements that a lot of our clients have been asking for. EcoFuse offers similar properties to our Greensack film, with the advantageous addition of improved clarity and stiffness. It is also much easier to work with than 100% PLA, which although it offers better clarity, is very stiff and crinkly and doesn’t seal as well ”

To find out more about EcoFuse please contact Andrew Sheerin at: Ph. 07 847 5133, Mob. 021 190 3898, or Email. andrew.s@convex.co.nz.