l Biodegradable PLA film made with corn extract∙∙∙ used for wrapping Starbucks’ bakery products, bananas, etc.

l R&D, along with the concerted efforts of Starbucks, to reduce the use of disposable plastic∙∙∙ the range of applications expanded over the past year

The environmentally-friendly biodegradable film of SKC (President/CEO: Lee Wan-Jae) is being used to wrap the foods of Starbucks Korea. PLA film, commercialized for the first time in the world in 2009, is an environmentally-friendly vinyl which degrades 100% in a short period of time.

SKC began to supply PLA biodegradable film for the packing of bananas to Starbucks Korea in October of last year, and has since expanded the film’s range of use over the past one year. Currently, SKC PLA biodegradable film is being used to pack diverse Starbucks’ products including cakes, muffins, and sandwiches.

Made with corn extract, SKC PLA Film is completely biodegradable without generating harmful ingredients when buried in the ground. It can be used widely due to its excellent flexibility and its strength and suitability for printing. In addition to its use in food packaging including confectionery and bread, it can be used for refill containers, paper bags, health food pouches, etc. However, the product could not be widely distributed initially as it was more expensive than other vinyl materials.

Starbucks Korea paid keen attention to the environmental-friendliness of SKC PLA Film. Launching the ‘Greener’ campaign in July of last year for the first time in the industry by reducing its use of disposable plastic, Starbucks Korea concerted efforts to protect the environment by replacing plastic straws with paper straws among other initiatives. As part of these efforts, Starbucks Korea decided to change its plastic vinyl packaging into an environmentally-friendly product and began looking for a solution.

Confirming the possibility of using PLA film as a banana wrapping material made with SKC PLA Film, Starbucks Korea made the decision to expand the use of SKC PLA Film. After continuous R&D and numerous trials and errors over a one-year period, SKC succeeded in developing a product which could remedy the shortcomings of existing film, such as water vapor permeability. In addition, SKC developed a process solution appropriate for the production of PLA film, including the film processing temperature and production speed, in order to meet the requirements of the client.

A spokesperson for SKC said, “SKC biodegradable film is a good alternative for plastic vinyl, which causes environmental pollution, as the film completely biodegrades once it is buried in the ground. We will expand the usability of PLA film through intensive R&D and increase social values by developing various environmentally-friendly products such as paper straws, paper shopping bags and packing envelopes at marts using PLA film, as well as mulching film for farming, etc. made with other environmentally-friendly biodegradable materials.” [-The end-]

<Starbucks products wrapped with environmentally-friendly SKC biodegradable film>