Foreign & Commonwealth Office Blog about Harmless

Greener plastic wrapper causes global twitter frenzy.

An international Twitter frenzy is said to have broken out recently over a UK company's new water-soluble, plastic wrap product - involving twitters in Russia and the United States.

Big cover story: this plastic wrapper breaks down easily in water or a compost heap. Non-toxic Harmless-Dissolve is five times stronger than normal polythene. Developed in the UK, it is degraded by micro-organisms and moulds - the bugs love it.  An international Twitter frenzy is said to have broken out recently over a UK company's new water-soluble, plastic wrap product - involving twitters in Russia and the United States.

Packaging company Cyberpac unleashed its novel "polywrap" system - called Harmless-Dissolve - on the UK's creative folk by signing a deal with the industry's premium magazine Creative Review.  Since being used as the wrapper for the publication - which had the unashamed slogan "this bag dissolves in water" emblazoned across it - Cyberpac's managing director Will Anderson has been inundated for more information about his product, along with further requests from the media for interviews as far reaching as the Huffington Post in Chicago to NTV in Russia.

With just 65 Twitters following his feeds, it appears many of the site's mini-bloggers were so impressed by the 100-per-cent environmentally friendly product that they felt they had to tell all their followers about it.  And it has not stopped there, since the product was revealed recently protecting Creative Review, global blog sites - and particularly those with a green agenda - are writing about it also.

Harmless-Dissolve is made from a hydro-degradable substrate that is five times stronger than normal polythene. It is a water-soluble polymer that completely biodegrades in a composting environment or in a dishwasher or washing machine.

It has no harmful residues and will break down into naturally occurring substances - the bugs love it. It is non-toxic and is degraded by micro-organisms, moulds and yeasts.

These organisms can occur in both artificial environments - such as anaerobic digesters and activated sewage sludge - and composts and natural environments such as aquatic systems and soil.  The micro-organisms use Harmless-Dissolve as a food source by producing a variety of enzymes that are capable of reacting with it. In the end the bag becomes carbon dioxide, water and biomass.

A Cyberpac spokesperson says it has delivered an industry first: a clear, compostable bag that is hugely versatile and flexible."It can be produced in many colours and formats - Harmless-Dissolve can be made in any size of envelope, printed full colour process using biodegradable inks and finished with a biodegradable peel and seal lip.

"With a pedigree in the military, space, medical and automotive industries, Cyberpac has the ability to harness packaging processes from across all sectors to deliver the best creative and most innovative solutions."

Plastic facts:

• Some polymer plastics can take hundreds of years to decompose, meaning that almost all plastic made still exists on our planet.
• 80 per cent of consumers' plastic waste ends up in landfill with only 7 per cent being recycled.
• About 30 million tonnes of household waste is generated in the UK every year, of which 5.9 million is packaging.
• 96 per cent of dead seagulls in Scotland were found to have 28 pieces of plastic waste in their stomachs.

The packaging industry in the UK has been designing with waste prevention in mind for some time. Improvements in packaging design and production techniques have resulted in large reductions in materials use. A glass milk bottle is 65 per cent lighter than it was in 1940; a one-litre plastic detergent bottle is 58 per cent lighter than in 1970 and a cardboard box is typically 14 per cent lighter than in 1971.

And for a bit of fun click on to this YouTube link http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Csj9yGxNco

Contact Information: www.cyberpac.co.uk

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