Welcome to the weird, wonderful and downright perplexing world of bioplastic.
An umbrella term used to describe a vast range of new-generation materials, bioplastics are often tech-heavy, lab-developed and difficult for the average consumer to fully understand. Add to this the fact that they're frequently the subject of greenwashing, and many people are left understandably confused and suspicious.
So let's break down what this term actually means, and how you can identify the materials with legitimate environmental benefits from the ones without.
Bioplastics — what to know
Biobased ≠ biodegradable
Plant-based doesn’t automatically mean it will break down.
It’s a broad label
“Bioplastic” can mean many different material types — including blends.
Our hardware is 100% PHA
A single-material biopolymer made by microorganisms, designed to be both biobased and biodegradable.
We unpack this below.
Bioplastics is an umbrella term for plastic materials that are bio-based, biodegradable, or both.
A bioplastic can be made from plants and not be biodegradable, and equally a bioplastic can be made from fossil fuels but still biodegrade. Confused yet? We're just getting started :-)
From a sustainability perspective, the term bioplastic doesn't tell us very much on its own. To understand a material's environmental impact, we need to look beyond the label and consider both:
a) what the raw material is and how it's sourced, and
b) what happens to the product at the end of its life.
Of course, end-of-life is only part of the picture. A material that biodegrades quickly but fails prematurely isn't necessarily sustainable. The most responsible materials balance durability during use with sensible end-of-life outcomes.
Why biodegradability isn't automatically a good thing
Many bioplastics require industrial composting facilities. New Zealand currently lacks widespread industrial composting infrastructure, meaning the real-world outcome for many of these materials is landfill. They can't go into soft-plastic recycling, your green bin, or even your home compost.
Some bioplastics are home-compostable, so if you have a home compost system they can go in there. Otherwise, they will also head to landfill.
Biodegradable vs compostable
Biodegradable means a material can be broken down by microorganisms into natural substances such as water, carbon dioxide (or methane in low-oxygen condition), and biomass. Compostable is a more specific term: it means the material will break down under composting conditions within a set timeframe, and in the case of industrial composting, requires controlled heat, moisture and oxygen levels.
| Type | What it’s made from | End-of-life behaviour |
|---|---|---|
| PLA | Plant-based (corn starch / sugarcane) | Requires industrial composting conditions to break down effectively |
| Bio-PE / Bio-PET | Plant-based feedstocks | Not biodegradable (chemically identical to conventional plastics) |
| PHA | Produced by microorganisms from renewable feedstocks | Can biodegrade in soil, freshwater, and marine environments under the right microbial conditions |
Some “bioplastic” products are also blends of multiple materials, which may include both bio-based and fossil-fuel-derived plastics.
Let's talk courier bags
Courier bags are a good example because they're probably the most common bioplastics we encounter as consumers. On paper, they sound great – but the reality is more complicated.
Many compostable courier bags are made from blends of bio-based and fossil-fuel-derived plastics and are often designed for industrial composting. Finding out exactly what is in compostable courier bags – and what their true environmental benefits are – is difficult.
That's one of the reasons we use recycled and recyclable paper and cardboard packaging. These materials have simple, established recycling systems in place, behave predictably in the real world and don't risk leaving plastic fragments behind.
Meet PHA: A Different Kind of Bioplastic
Finding a bioplastic that genuinely lives up to the promise is surprisingly difficult. That's why we were excited to discover PHA, the material used by Valupa.
Unlike PLA, which typically requires industrial composting conditions to fully break down, PHA is recognised by naturally occurring microorganisms and can biodegrade in soil, freshwater and marine environments.
PHA is made by bacteria that consume sugars or plant waste and store energy as biopolymer granules inside their cells. While the manufacturing process is innovative and high-tech, the material behaves much more like a natural substance at the end of its life.
Valupa's material is fully biobased, contains no fossil-fuel-derived plastics and is designed to biodegrade without leaving persistent plastic fragments behind. Depending on the product size and environmental conditions, decomposition can range from a few months to a couple of years.
Just as importantly, the material remains stable during normal use. It requires naturally occurring soil microorganisms to begin breaking down, so everyday wear, washing and storage won't trigger decomposition.
After several years of researching alternatives to conventional plastic hardware, Valupa is one of the few materials we've encountered that aligns with our core sourcing criteria: renewable feedstocks, durability in use and genuine biodegradability at end of life.
The icing on the cake? They’re a small, values-led female-founded business based in Europe, and we’ve been able to communicate directly with the founders.
Check out our range of Valupa hardware. They are the perfect compliment to our range of natural elastics and trims.
