Compostable transparent laminate

Compostable transparent laminate

Grounded's compostable Plantcell™ laminate is home compostable and made from a blend of materials derived from eucalyptus and cassava root. It has a high barrier to both oxygen and moisture and is suitable for use across several different industry applications.

The good?

  • Completely compostable (or biodegradable) in both home and industrial compost conditions
  • Does not break down into micro-plastic particles
  • The use of compostable materials in flexible packaging aids in the development a functioning circular economic system. This is particularly important in flexible packaging as it is an area that is very challenging for mechanical recycling
  • The increased use of compostable materials creates market demand that will lead to the development of important composting infrastructure
  • Reduces reliance on fossil fuels and increases the use of renewable plant-based materials
  • Promoting the development of a composting waste stream also helps to address the problem of the excess waste to the landfill (in the form of food scraps) which has a significant contribution to greenhouse gas emissions

The bad?

  • More expensive than traditional virgin plastic materials
  • A majority of compostable materials are hygroscopic, meaning they and have a tendency to take on moisture. This means that they have limited shelf-life for products with high moisture or oil content
  • Despite the exciting opportunity compostable films and laminates represent to develop a productive circular economy, currently rates of composting are low
  • If compostable bioplastics end up in a landfill, over time they will generate methane, a greenhouse gas far worse for the environment than carbon dioxide
  • There is a lot of misinformation in relation to compostable materials and they lack universally-accepted labelling and certification standards

Frequently asked questions

Generally speaking, compostable materials are not compatible with wet or oily products over a long period. In certain applications they can work for products with short shelf-life requirements (~4-6 weeks).
No they don't. Our materials are certified compostable which means that they've passed thorough biodegradation testing to ensure they completely biodegrade into healthy organic matter.

Compostable materials are designed to be composted and unfortunately that means they cannot be mechanically recycled. Although commercial composting systems are not currently widely available on a kerbside basis this is changing rapidly and so too is the rate of home composting. For further reading please see our blog post on Composting vs Recycling.

Composting is an essential part of a functioning circular economy. We've broken down all the basics in our How to Compost blog post.
All of Grounded's compostable films and laminates are certified compostable, including any valves and zippers. For further information please visit our Certifications page.
The time it takes a product to biodegrade depends on the conditions of the composting environment. Industrial or commercial compost facilities run at higher temperatures and certification protocol requires materials to biodegrade within six months. Home composts are more variable and depend on external factors such as temperature, humidity and how often they're turned. Home compost certification requires materials to biodegrade within 12 months at a temperature around 30°C. For more information check out our certifications page.

This is a great question and the answer is nuanced. They don't contain plastic as most people know it but they are made from bioplastic, which is technically a type of plastic. Grounded has a range of bioplastics that are made using our compostable Plantcell™ technology or our recyclable Sugarflex™ films and laminates.

Products available in this material