Carrier Bags and T-shirt-bags from Bioplastics

Reusable carrier bags conserve resources

Plastic bags are practical and robust. Carrier bags and T-shirt bags are a useful everyday item, especially in the supermarket: T-shirt bags are particularly light, thin bags for fruit and vegetables; carrier bags are thicker and stronger and are therefore also suitable for safely transporting heavy and bulky purchases.

All in all, a great product! Unfortunately, it is usually used only briefly and then thrown away. The average useful life of a plastic carrier bag is only 12 minutes, after which it already ends up in the waste. If they are then also thrown away improperly, they end up with other plastic waste in the ground or sea and become a huge problem there.

But throwing them away is now a thing of the past! Because carrier bags and T-shirt bags made of bio-based and compostable plastics offer sufficient stability and can be reused several times. They can be packed small and always taken along in a backpack or handbag. Of course, the basket or cotton bag are also a good companion when shopping. But who doesn’t know this: of all things, you don’t have them with you on a spontaneous trip to the supermarket. In this case, the reusable carrier bag made of renewable or compostable plastics is a good choice.

Flexible, tear-resistant, and reusable, but with additional benefits – carrier bags made from compostable bioplastics

Bio-Flex® is a family of flexible bioplastics covering a wide range of processing methods and applications. All Bio-Flex® granules are fully biodegradable or compostable (according to EN 13432) and are based entirely or partly on natural raw materials. The film grades can be processed excellently on existing PE extrusion lines.

Carrier bags made from our compostable bioplastics are comparable in terms of load-bearing capacity and tear strength to those of a plastic carrier bag made from conventional, fossil polyethylene. Beyond that, however, compostable shopping bags offer the customer a decisive additional advantage: not only are they strong enough to be used several times as shopping bags, but in the final step they can also be used to collect and dispose of organic waste.

Compostable in home compost or industrial composting plant

Certified compostability is the main feature of the flexible Bio-Flex® and Ceroflex® film grades. Independent institutes have confirmed that these bioplastic compounds meet the strict test criteria of EN 13432 and are completely converted into water, CO2 and biomass in industrial composting plants, just like organic waste. This is confirmed by certifications from TÜV Austria or DIN Certco.

In addition, we offer home compostable Bio-Flex® and Ceroflex® grades, which are suitable for the production of thin films that completely biodegrade even at low and changing temperatures in garden compost. These grades have been awarded the “OK Compost HOME” certificate by TÜV Austria.

Optical variety from transparent to opaque

Depending on the type, Bio-Flex® and Ceroflex® offer different optical properties. From transparent to translucent to opaque or white colored grades, you have a free choice. Grades with good contact transparency are also suitable for packaging goods with printed QR codes and as visually attractive outer packaging, e.g. for printed matter of all kinds. Opaque grades, on the other hand, have higher tear resistance and toughness.

Corona pretreatment for printing, e.g. in offset or flexographic printing, is not required for any of the films made from Bio-Flex®. Solvent-based or water-based printing inks can be used for printing.

Variety from a single source: compostable bin liners and fruit and vegetable bags made from Bio-Flex®.

Our compostable bioplastics for films are also ideal for making compostable organic waste bags or reusable fruit and vegetable bags.

100% recyclable but made from renewable raw materials

Fully recyclable carrier bags can be made from non-compostable but bio-based drop-in bioplastics. These bioplastics are chemically identical to their fossil counterparts, but are based on renewable raw materials instead of crude oil.

The bio-based plastics I’m green™ polyethylene (Bio-PE) and Terralene® are suitable for producing strong and robust carrier bags with high load and tear resistance. Bags and carrier bags made from these bioplastics are mechanically and visually equivalent to those made from fossil polyethylene. They can be easily reused several times and can be recycled at the end of their life and used to manufacture new products.