At this juncture in our society, there is a big push for businesses and materials to be more environmentally friendly. However, if you have just recently jumped on the “green” train, it can be very overwhelming to know where to start. Luckily there is a product from BioMass Packaging that makes it easy for those working in the foodservice industry to move toward creating a smaller carbon footprint without sacrificing product quality.

Ingio is a technology introduced globally in 2003 that creates bio-based fibers and plastics. This means that instead of plastics being made from traditional oil, Ingeo bioplastics are made from plants.

Typical bioplastics are made from cane sugar, vegetable starch, cellulose, and lactic acid. These materials can all be safely composted and completely mineralized by microorganisms.

While using plastics made from plants might scare some people in the foodservice industry, Ingeo bioplastics perform just as well, if not better, than traditional plastics. These packaging options are great at preserving food, retain their form and stiffness, and keeping your food safe from things like BPA.

The Ingeo products offered by BioMass Packaging have outstanding features like flavor and aroma barriers, foam packaging for items like meat and eggs, paper coatings for hot or cold drinks, and easy folding or twisting capabilities. These details allows for Ingeo products to function well with almost any type of food items.

One of the most important qualities of Ingeo and their products is that of their determination to strive for zero waste. According to NatureWorks, the manufacturer of Ingeo, “By design, using Ingeo results in 75% less greenhouse gases than the oil-based PET plastic it replaces, even if both end up in a landfill.” This means that you don’t even have to compost Ingeo products in order for them to have a positive impact on the environment! However, just because you can doesn’t mean you should.

Ingeo products have more end-of-life options than all other plastic materials. To move closer to zero waste, you can compost, feedstock recycle, recovery and sortation recycle, or incinerate.

Ingeo advocates the concept of zero waste whenever possible. And with the Ingeo products from BioMass Packaging, zero waste becomes more and more possible every day.