Bioelements Partners with Michigan State University to Test Biodegradation for Sustainable Packaging

Bioelements Group, a leading sustainable packaging company in Latin America and the US, has entered a partnership with Michigan State University’s (MSU) School of Packaging to test the biodegradation for sustainable packaging.

This is the first such partnership in the US for the company; it struck similar arrangements with research institutions in South America.

Since its founding in 1952, Michigan State University’s School of Packaging (Sop) has been a leader in packaging education, research and service. SoP students are trained to make informed packaging decisions using a data-driven, material-neutral approach. Over the decades, the institution has awarded more than 10,000 degrees.

Aerobic Composting Project

The partnership is structured as a project to measure the biodegradation of Bioelements’ sustainable packaging. It involves examining a sample of Bio E-8i film — one of its over 30 formulas — and its biodegradation under composting conditions in laboratory applications. The studies will focus on aerobic composting according to the ISO 14855 standard.

“This type of study allows us to obtain highly reliable data from a prestigious university,” said Ignacio Parada, CEO, and founder of Santiago, Chile-based Bioelements. “Such work is important because it allows us to improve and apply academic knowledge to a real product used every day, and that is very beneficial.”

When compared to conventional, non-biodegradable plastics which take up to 400 years to degrade, Bioelements asserts it’s Bio E-8i film can be broken down by fungi and other microorganisms in an average of up to 20 months. Bio-E8i packaging, officials said, is durable, attractive and complies with the regulations of each country where it operates and may reduce carbon footprints by up to 60%.

MSU will provide the South American company with a biodegradation curve to understand how the materials behave during the biodegradation process under simulated industrial composting and how long it takes for them to fully biodegrade in this environment.

Bioelements opened its own laboratory in Santiago and was recognized by the Financial Times as one of the fastest growing companies in the Americas. It continues to make strides in Latin America markets as well as the newly entered US market, including customers such as Adidas, Chile-Peru and Walmart Mexico, among others.