The SunChips Mylar Bag Solution
By Karina | March 22, 2010
After a gorgeous and busy and out-of-doors kind of day on Saturday (Welcome, Spring! We Love You!) we decided to have a treat: snack food and ice cream for dinner. And of course when we saw a weirdly crinkily bag of SunChips we had to buy it, because it said all over it: COMPOSTABLE.
Um, what? wasn’t it just a couple of years ago that I was writing about SunChips and their environmental initiatives, and how wouldn’t it be great if they could ditch the mylar sack… and it seems they have!
Every 10 ½ oz. SunChips® package is designed to fully break down in just 14 weeks when placed in a hot, active compost bin or pile. If it takes a little longer, don’t worry about it. Mother nature will get to it soon enough.
One of the major complaints about so-called “compostable” products is that they’re not compostable in real life situations, because they’re only good in industral composting situations where heat is higher than at a home compostable. SunChips tested this and found:
What we have found is that under aerobic compost conditions at >55?C the film structure breaks down very quickly – about 12-16 weeks. These conditions are typical for an industrial compost facility. Additionally, we have found that under anaerobic conditions (similar to what would be found in a landfill) no significant decomposition takes place. This means that the new film would not decompose in a properly maintained landfill.
Next we wanted to try to simulate a well run home composting process by running the aerobic experiment under adiabatic conditions. In other words we put the ideal mixture of grass clippings and leaves (greens and browns) into a test chamber along with samples of the new Sun Chips film. We then let the composting cycle follow it natural course and monitored the results. We found that the temperature rise that resulted from the natural decomposition of this mixture could reach 55?C or higher for periods of time (first 1–2 weeks). The new Sun Chips film decomposed at the same rate as the rest of the mixture and in about 12–16 weeks was completely gone. Our conclusions are that under ideal compost conditions the new film will break down.
They are still testing to determine how it will go if ideal home composting conditions are not reached… I mean, after all, 55degC is really 131degF, which is awfully warm.
But all that said, there’s even directions (albeit kind of sparse) on how to compost! And one of the things that I am really glad they’ve done on their website is to clearly define some pretty tricky words that are often and inaccurately interchanged for each other.
- Degradable - Made from oil, but it breaks down into small particles.
- Biodegradable - Breaks down via natural processes, but there are no specifics on toxins.
- Compostable - Breaks down via natural processes and certifying organizations exist to verify claims.
I definately am excited that SunChips is rolling out this new packaging, but I do have some concerns that most people 1. don’t have a compost bin at home and 2. won’t have access to an industrial composter, and therefore will put the bag into a landfill where nothing happens. HOWEVER, it’s a giant step in the right direction, so I’m happy!
Any thoughts on this new packaging?
[[Photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/chaparral/ / CC BY-NC 2.0]]
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I can’t believe you didn’t mention how LOUD the new bags are. They even have a disclaimer on the back - it’s hilarious!
BTW, with spring coming, maybe it’s time to do another round up of apartment/house composting options?
chips without the super guilt - i like it! we’ll give the composting a shot in our big pile in the back … will let you know how it goes in several weeks! :)