Discover your next big idea at PACK EXPO Las Vegas
Experience a breakthrough in packaging & processing and transform your business with solutions from 2,300 suppliers spanning all industries. Click to learn more.

MSU Developing Residential Compostable Food Packaging

The PLA material would ideally work in residential compost piles.

Getty Images 1222255557

A research team from Michigan State University’s School of Packaging has developed a new material to help consumers cut down our waste, according to a recent report on NBC News 8.

While "reduce, reuse, recycle" has been widely promoted, plastic recycling rates in the United States remain dismally low, with just 8.7% of plastic being recycled, leaving over 90% to end up in landfills, incinerated, or littering the environment. One major challenge in the recycling process is sorting various plastic types, exacerbated by the thousands of different plastics now in use.

Rafael Auras, a professor at MSU, has been working for nearly two decades to create a biodegradable plastic alternative that can be composted rather than recycled. The main issue with recycling is food contamination, as plastics soiled with food residue require extensive cleaning, rendering them unrecyclable. Auras believes composting is the key to addressing this issue.

Conveying Innovations Report
Editors report on distinguishing characteristics that define each new product and collected video demonstrating the equipment or materials as displayed at the show. This topical report, winnowed from nearly 300 PACK EXPO collective booth visits, represents a categorized, organized account of individual items that were selected based on whether they were deemed to be both new, and truly innovative, based on decades of combined editorial experience in experiencing and evaluating PACK EXPO products.
Take me there
Conveying Innovations Report
Coding, Marking, and Labeling Innovations Report
Explore our editor-curated report featuring cutting-edge coding, labeling, and RFID innovations from PACK EXPO 2024. Discover high-speed digital printing, sustainable label materials, automated labeling systems, and advanced traceability solutions that are transforming packaging operations across industries.
Access Report
Coding, Marking, and Labeling Innovations Report