What Can Be Done?
Market trends present a major challenge as the plastics market continues to expand, but it doesn’t have to be this way. Together, we can mobilize and solve our global plastics crisis.
While we must improve recycling and remain fervently committed to reduction and reuse, it is clear that if we are to truly avoid irreversible damage to our planet and our health, then we need to leverage alternatives to strategically REPLACE petroleum-based, single-use plastics into extinction.
PHA is Today’s Best Solution
In response to this crisis, development of ecologically viable bio-based alternatives is evolving. PHA is considered the most readily available biodegradable polymer among many in both aerobic and anaerobic settings.
PHA plastics are considered the most promising soil biodegradable materials, with 100% biodegradation in 90 days under ASTM D5988 standards.
Studies show that PHA plastics, products of which have been certified compostable by TUV Austria and The Biodegradable Products Institute (BPI), degrade rapidly in both marine & compost environments, and have a lower greenhouse gas profile than petroleum-based plastics.
PHAs are the only class of bio-based polymers that exhibit efficient marine biodegradation following ASTM standards compared to other polymers such as PLA, which does not degrade in such environments.
Combatting this crisis will take all of us working together. We developed phade® to give the world an innovative, functional solution to replace petroleum-based, single-use plastic straws. New technologies will play a major role in solving global plastics challenges, and the phade® straw is just the first of many PHA-based solutions to come.
