In recent years, due to drastic changes in the earth’s climate, human beings have become more and more aware of environmental protection. In order to protect the earth’s environment, protect the biological homeland, and prevent more and more animals from eating plastic and losing their lives, more and more countries have enacted a series of bills targeting packaging. Up to now, many countries have begun to mandate the use of environmentally friendly materials.
As one of the three major beverages in the world, coffee produces a lot of packaging waste every day, so it is imperative to use environmentally friendly materials to customize coffee bags.
Maybe you don’t know much about environmentally friendly materials, and you don’t know which environmentally friendly materials are suitable for storing coffee beans. Here I will give you a simple and comprehensive introduction to help you quickly choose the environmentally friendly coffee bag that suits you. Here, you’ll learn about:
- What are the compostable materials suitable for coffee bags? And are they home compost or industrial compost?
- What recyclable materials are suitable for custom coffee bags?
- How to choose the material suitable for coffee packaging bags.
What compostable materials are suitable for coffee bags? And are they home compost or industrial compost?
There are many compostable materials that can be used to make coffee bags, and here are the advantages and disadvantages of each material.
1.PLA
PLA is a very common milky white degradable material, which is made of starch raw materials proposed by renewable plant resources (such as corn), and the price is cheaper than other degradable materials. Generally speaking, it is a material for industrial composting, but with the development of technology, there are now PLAs that meet food-grade requirements to achieve home composting. PLA can be completely degraded by microorganisms to produce water and carbon dioxide, which can be directly absorbed by plants without causing pollution to the environment.
PLA is generally used as the inner material of coffee bags. Because of its thermal stability, mechanical and physical properties, it can completely replace the traditional inner layer material PE. Moreover, PLA has very good antibacterial and antifungal properties, which is very important.
In addition, PLA also has good printing properties and is often used for printing layers.
The disadvantage of PLA is that the insulation is relatively poor
2.PBS
PBS can be obtained by refining petroleum resources and fermenting biological resources. Like PLA, PBS is used to replace the traditional PE material. It can be used as the inner layer material of the coffee bag or as the printing layer material.
But PBS is much better than PLA in all aspects. First of all, PBS is completely a household composting material. In addition, PBS has better heat resistance than PLA and a faster degradation rate than PLA. In other words, we can understand it this way: PBS is an optimized and upgraded version of PLA.
As for the disadvantages of PBS, it must be said that the price will be more expensive than PBS.
3.NK
NK is made from plant cellulose. Used as an insulation or outer layer for coffee bags. NK is a biodegradable material that can be home composted. NK has high barrier properties, moisture resistance and oil resistance, which can provide better protection for coffee beans.
4.NKME
At present, NKME is the most insulated compostable material, which belongs to household composting and has a metallic luster. NKME has the same performance as NK, but is better insulated. However, NKME cannot be used as a printing surface, so it cannot be used for the outermost layer of coffee bags.
What recycled materials are suitable for custom coffee bags?
The recyclable materials that can be used for coffee packaging include PE materials and PP materials. PP materials (including CPP, BOPP, etc.) are currently the most insulating recyclable materials. PE material has low insulation. Considering the storage conditions of coffee beans, we recommend using PP material to customize coffee bags.
How to choose the material suitable for coffee packaging bags.
Regarding the selection of coffee packaging bag materials, the storage needs of coffee must first be considered: sealed and protected from light. Therefore, the coffee bag must not be a transparent bag. Another consideration is how long the coffee will last. Here are some commonly used combinations of coffee bag materials.
Low-barrier coffee bags: PLA+Kraft Paper (compostable coffee bags)/EVOH (recyclable coffee bags)/PBS+Kraft Paper (compostable coffee bags).
If the coffee beans will be consumed soon and do not need to be stored for a long time, you can choose low-barrier coffee packaging bags.
The cost of this type of coffee packaging bag is also very low, and many factories can also provide a particularly low MOQ for this.
High barrier coffee bags: PLA+NK; PLA+NKME; PLA+NK/NKME+Kraft Paper; PBS+NK; PBS+NKME; PBS+NKME/NK+Kraft Paper; PP recyclable material
If your coffee beans need a longer storage period, it is recommended that you choose high-barrier coffee bags, which can provide longer protection for your coffee beans.
This article just briefly introduces the advantages, disadvantages and characteristics of various mainstream environmental protection materials to help you have a simple understanding of environmental protection coffee bags. If you have other questions, you can click here: https://mylarbag.net/contact/
