Tair Chu cornstarch-made eco-friendly tableware (spoon, knife, fork) uses 100% compostable plastic and is respectful of the earth. However, some companies in the market have launched products that claim to be eco-friendly but are actually not. Using photodegradable, disintegrable and oxo-biodegradable plastics to lure the world, but the truth is that those components all contain traditional plastics (PP, PS, PET, PVC) that cannot reach true decomposition and are only harmful to the environment.

Nowadays, common and worldwide-approved eco-friendly certifications include; The US BPI Compostable Certification Badge, GERMANY/UE DIN CERTCO Compostable Certification Badge or Taiwan’s Environmental Certification Badge.

>Tair Chu eco-friendly cutlery got the US BPI certification

Tair Chu BPI Certification Link: #10529090-1

The following article will deal with The US BPI Certification. Do you know anything about it? What art the tests required to get it? Let Tair Chu answer for you!

The role of The US biodegradable authority – The International Association of Biolytic Products (BPI), is to make sure products that do not contain traditional plastics (PP, PS, PET, PVC) can become 100% compostable materials, and that without damaging the composting quality.

The BPI compostable detection tests consist of four stages:

1. Material Identification and Heavy Metal Analysis
2. Disintegration Test
3. Biodegradation Test
4. Ecotoxicity Test

Stage 1 – Eco-friendly cutlery Material Identification and Heavy Metal Analysis
To verify that the tested “eco-friendly” cutlery do not contain any of the 4P traditional plastics (PP, PS, PET, PVC) and that the amount of heavy metals present in the tableware is contained within safe limits.
Tair Chu eco-friendly CPLA tableware provided for inspection to the BPI all met the test standards and therefore were eligible to pursue with the next stages.

Stage 2 – Eco-friendly cutlery Disintegration Test
After being buried into the soil, we take a look at the disintegration degree of the tableware tested. To meet the test requirements, we must observe that after a period inferior to 84 days, at least 90% of the tableware is disintegrated.
However, unlike decomposition, disintegration is only the weight loss and shattering into pieces of the originally used material.

(Before disintegration-Spoon)

(After disintegration-Spoon)

>Eco-friendly cutlery was disintegrated after being buried in the soil.

>Tair Chu eco-friendly cutlery weight after disintegrating

Stage 3 – Eco-friendly cutlery Biodegradation Test
The biological degradation, or decomposition is the process of disintegrating debris into carbon dioxide and water through composting by the microorganisms in the soil. The BPI test consists in burying the tested tableware into the soil, after what the rate of conversion into carbon dioxide of the cornstarch-made cutlery is observed. After a period inferior to 45 days, the conversion rate must have reached at least 70%. Following what, the tested material has until a period of 180 days to reach at least a rate equal to 90%.

Stage 4 – Composted Soil Ecotoxicity Test
The last BPI test consists in planting plants on the same soil, where was composted the previously tested cutlery items. The purpose is to see whether the decomposed cornstarch-made tableware will have an impact or not on the new plants through the residues left in the composted soil. After planting, a germination rate of 70% must be reached, and the survival rate shall not be less than 90% by the end of the test.

>About the CPLA cultery

Through the above-mentioned US BPI Certification test stages, it appears obvious that obtaining this certification, is synonym with the fact that Tair Chu only provides true green and eco-friendly products to its customers.

References:

Ref 1: Biodegradable Products Institute.
https://bpiworld.org

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Address：No.80-18-1, Qingguang Rd., Wuri Dist., Taichung City 41462, Taiwan