Manchester Packaging Company
Quality Polyethylene Film & Bags
Quality Polyethylene Blown Film
D-grad® Degradable Polyethylene Film
Copyright 2008 Manchester Packaging Company
Degaradability is a complicated and hotly contested issue for packaging. Making packaging de- gradable by any definition has several
consequences. Degradability may impose a shelf life on the package itself and it generally eliminates recycling as a viable option
after the package's primary function has been fulfilled. Additionally, there are multiple modes for degradation, including oxidative
degradation and biodegradation.
Manchester Packaging Company has been involved with degradables since they were introduced in
the late 1980's. We helped pioneer development of cornstarch addition and oxidative additives compounded into masterbatches that would
blend with polyethylene during film manufacture. The results were films that could be made to degrade oxidatively and eventually by
biological action as well.
We make D-grad® polyethylene film and bags that include cornstarch at 6% to 12% by weight, with and
without oxidative additives. These films incorporate Polystarch® and PDQ® masterbatches made by Willow Ridge Plastics of Erlanger,
Ky. Contact Bill Hogan at 859-578-7400 or visit www.willowridgeplastics.com.
We also make film and bags for composting incorporating
ECM Biofilms masterbatch. This material is a proprietary additive certified as "biodegradable" by ECM Biofilms. For more information
contact Robert Sinclair at 888-220-2792 or visit www.ecmbiofilms.com.
There are other types of film that are marketed as biodegradable
not manufactured from polyethy-lene, including films incorporating Ecoflex® by BASF and Mater-Bi® by Novamont in Italy. These materials
are used mostly in Europe. Manchester Packaging Company does not currently make films with these materials due to high cost and limited
availablility in th US.