Mint Plastic Dissolves Litter And Marine Pollution

A new plastic that self-terminates may be the best solution to reduce litter and marine pollution. The plastic is able to breakdown in sunlight and in water and has now been used in coffee cup lids and single-use utensils.

A piece of plastic bearing the serial number of a World War II seaplane shot down in 1944 was recovered in the stomach contents of an albatross in 2001. With an estimated 100 million tones of plastic waste floating in our oceans, it is not surprising that 143 various marine species have been identified when entangled in these plastic flotillas.

Because conventional plastics last for hundreds of years, it’s easy to see why 89% of marine litter is plastic.

A new plastic solution has been developed to combat these rising tides of floating debris.

Mint Urban Technologies have begun producing plastic food service products that have a self‐terminating additive. So now plastics have a life cycle of 1‐2 years before it starts to degrade.

“It seems unusual – but we now have a “best before” date on cartons of plastic products, it’s a real positive paradigm shift for our customers” says Mike Newcomb, from Mint head office.

Unlike conventional plastic or bio‐plastics – these new plastics are able to fully degrade in sunshine, on water surfaces, underwater and anywhere there is oxygen present. The technology has historically been used in plastic bags but is now being perfected for hard plastic products such as utensils and coffee cup lids. The new plastics leave behind no fragments or eco‐toxicity.

“The problem is we are simply not capturing plastic waste. We need intelligent plastic solutions that accelerate the degradation of litter – and to resolve eco‐toxicity issues on land and at sea, not only from a beautification aspect but to protect marine life as well” says Marc Miller, Mint international business.

MINT products degrade, then biodegrade, on land, at sea, in the sunshine, or the dark, in heat or cold and will convert into water, CO2 and a small amount of earth‐friendly biomass that encourages plant growth.

Mint products leave behind no fragments, no harmful residues and do not emit methane.

www.mintcan.com

About Mint ‐ Mint Urban Technologies Limited is headquartered in Hong Kong, with official Mint partners in the UK, Ireland, China throughout the USA and Canada. Mint produces coffee cup lids, coffee cup carriers, coffee cups, hot cup sleeves and a range of utensils. Mint is committed to introducing new technologies that resolve waste issues and bring new benefits to food packaging.