NatureFlex™ Gains Seal of Approval from Leading UK Consumer Body

The compostable cellulose-based packaging film marketed in New Zealand by Convex Plastics has been put to the test by the UK’s leading consumer body and passed with flying colours!

NatureFlex™ films made by Innovia Films were judged to have “performed brilliantly” following a test of five compostable materials used in supermarket packaging, carried out by the UK’s largest consumer body Which? The test, reported in the May 2009 edition of Which? Gardening magazine, was carried out to determine how well the five films broke down in a home compost bin and NatureFlex™ impressed the judges by completely breaking down in just a few weeks.

Andy Sweetman, Global Marketing Manager – Sustainable Technologies for Innovia Films says, “We are absolutely delighted that our NatureFlex™ film has been recognised by the UK’s leading consumer body. NatureFlex™ was in fact the first packaging film to achieve the OK Compost Home certification standard and this independent testing carried out by Which? Completely supports all our claims.”

The Which? test also supports the results obtained by Convex Plastics last March when Managing Director Owen Embling carried out an informal trial of three biodegradable packaging films, and found NatureFlex to be the film that broke down the quickest.

Owen says, “In my own home composting test the cellulose-based NatureFlex film definitely broke down the quickest, and was almost completely gone after just five weeks. In contrast, the Greensack film (made from cornstarch) was about 80% gone after five weeks and the NatureWorks Poly Lactic Acid (PLA) film – which ideally should be commercially composted at a high temperature – took a lot longer to break down in the home compost and was only 50% gone after twelve weeks.”

“The most exciting thing for me,” says Owen, “is that all three films did break down in my home compost bin and showed they could all help significantly reduce landfill waste.”