Eco-friendly disposable biodegradable cornstarch bowls

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Q: What are your compostable products made from?
We have 3 main product material categories: plant fiber, paper, and PLA (Polylactic Acid). Each of these categories offers a unique way to replace traditional items.

• Plant Fiber: Hundreds of different fibrous plants can be manufactured into alternatives to tree-based paper products. Our main sources of rapidly renewable plant fiber are bamboo, wheat straw and sugarcane bagasse. Using unbleached plant fiber protects forests, uses fewer chemicals than paper alternatives, provides a new revenue for farmers, and is a renewable and sustainable resource.
• Paper: We produce a line of hot cups and bowls made from sustainably certified paper. While we believe that the best way to protect the world&#;s forests is to reduce consumption of tree-based products, many of our customers want products which cannot yet be replicated by plant fiber. Our paper products are certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC®) guaranteeing the responsible management of the forests. Our NoTree® line of cups, bowls and containers are made from renewable bamboo paper and we hope to expand our offerings with this material.
• Polylactic Acid (PLA): PLA is a bio-based plastic derived from renewable resources such as corn starch, tapioca roots or sugarcane. World Centric® products are made from PLA (cups and containers), TPLA (PLA + Talc) (Cutlery and Zeroware) or CPLA (Crystallized PLA) (Hot Cup Lids). To make PLA, sugar from plants is turned into lactic acid through fermentation which is converted into a polymer. At this stage, it is shaped into pellets which can be transformed into a wide variety of products. Manufacturing PLA produces 75% fewer greenhouse gasses and uses 50% less non-renewable energy than traditional polymers like PET & polystyrene.

Q: What is the difference between compostable plastic and biodegradable plastic?
&#;Biodegradable&#; means that an object is capable of disintegrating by biological means. Technically, these items could be composed of almost any material since with enough time microorganisms can decompose almost anything. For example, aluminum cans will biodegrade in the ocean in about 200 years and hard plastic bottle caps will biodegrade in about 400 years.

&#;Compostable&#; means that a product breaks down to carbon dioxide, water, inorganic compounds, and biomass which leaves no toxic residue. According to D composting standards set by the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM), compostable products must break down at a rate similar to paper or disintegrate into small pieces within 90 days so that the original product is not visually distinguishable in the compost.

Q: How are your products better than traditional alternatives?
World Centric® products meet ASTM D/D standards for compostability and certified for plant-based content by the USDA BioBased program. Our products not only break down into compost, but - through their production and disposal - use less energy and water, and release less harmful pollutants than their conventional counterparts. For example, we can make 2 compostable forks with the same amount of energy it takes to make 1 polystyrene fork and 3 compostable plates with the same amount as 1 polystyrene plate. That&#;s a 66% saving in energy. Using less energy means producing less greenhouse gas and emitting less carbon dioxide into the atmosphere.

Conventional plastics are manufactured from 20 different petroleum-based resins with 20 different levels of recyclability and toxicity. As a fossil fuel, petroleum in a non-renewable resource and its extraction process degrades the environment. Due to complexity in recycling, over 20 million tons of plastic are sent to landfill each year.

Q: What is Ingeo&#;?
Ingeo&#; is the trademarked brand name for PLA made by NatureWorks.

Read more about PLA.

Q: How should PLA products be stored?
Products made of PLA should be stored at a temperature below 110°F and out of direct sunlight.

Q: What is the shelf life of your products?

For more information, please visit Tongqi.

Product Shelf Life PLA cold cups, deli containers 2 years TPLA Utensils 3 years Bamboo utensils 3 years Paper straws 2 years PLA food scraps bags, kitchen and yard waste bags 12 months Heat-resistant PLA lids for paper cups & paper bowls 12 months Plant fiber plates, take-out containers, bowls, cups, & trays 3 years Paper hot cups, bowls, lids, paper cold cups, take out containers 2 years

Q: How long will these products take to break down?

Product Home Composting Commercial Composting PLA cold cups, deli containers, clamshell containers, utensils
Not recommended 2-4 months Bamboo utensils Not recommended 2-4 months PBAT food scraps, kitchen and yard waste bags Up to 1 year 2-3 months Plant fiber plates, take-out containers, bowls, cups, and trays Not recommended 2-3 months Paper cups, bowls, lids, take-out containers, paper straws Not recommended 2-3 months PLA lids for hot cups, bowls and containers Not recommended 2-4 months

Q: Which products have the least environmental impact?
Our plant fiber products are made from renewable plant fiber like bamboo fiber, sugarcane bagasse and wheat straw. Here are some benefits of using plant fiber:

• Protects forests by replacing the need for traditional paper from trees
• Annually renewable and sustainable: Sugarcane bagasse is a leftover product from the harvesting of sugarcane; Bamboo is a fast-growing plant that can be harvested annually
• Require less energy. A wood pulp mill uses 10 times the energy required to create wheat straw pulp.
• New revenue for farmers: directing agricultural waste into paper manufacturing provides an additional income stream for farmers, without impacting food production or increasing energy inputs, and without putting new land into production.

Q: Isn&#;t using corn for disposable products wasting a valuable food source?
Our Ingeo&#; products are made from No. 2 yellow dent field corn, the most abundant and cheapest source of fermentable sugar in the U.S. We use very little of available U.S. corn crop.

Q: Have your items been tested for compostability by reliable sources?
Our products are certified compostable by either the Biodegradable Products Institute (BPI) to meet ASTM D and ASTM D standards for compostability or through testing by Composting Manufacturing Alliance (CMA). Our bags also have the TUV certification for compostability.

New products are not always certified immediately as the process takes time to complete.

Q: Where are your products manufactured?
Most of our products are manufactured in Asia. We currently manufacture some of our PLA lids in the U.S. and are exploring more manufacturing options here.

Q: Why are you manufacturing in Asia? Doesn&#;t that increase the carbon footprint?
We currently manufacture our products in Asia so that we can provide an affordable alternative to plastic. Since transporting products from Asia to the U.S. is not ideal, we are currently exploring options to manufacture more in the U.S. We do our best to minimize the impact on the environment and people. We offset all our carbon from raw materials to delivery (including manufacturing, transportation) and do regular fair labor audits overseas to ensure that workers are paid well and have decent working conditions.

Q: Where do your materials come from?
Our raw materials come from a variety of plant-based sources including bamboo, sugarcane bagasse, wheat straw, corn and paper from sustainably harvested trees.

Q: How are your materials grown?
Whenever available, we seek supplies that are grown without GMOs and with organic farming practices. Unfortunately, there does not exist a reliable supply for some of our materials that are certified non-GMO.

If you want to learn more, please visit our website Cornstarch Bowls.