Which Firms Sell Bio-Packaging?

In the following, Organic-Market.Info would like to give its readers an overview of the different suppliers of plastic bags and tear-off bags made form compostable materials. We have made enquiries with the suppliers and have obtained some examples of price and size. It has to be said, however, that the number of firms supplying degradable packaging is still very small.

Picture: "Happy" Shopping Bag from Natura

Natura Verpackungs-GmbH (www.naturapackaging.com) in Rheine/Germany has been developing new technologies on the basis of renewable raw materials since 1995. This market leader’s product range includes packaging for fruit and vegetables, refuse bags in various shapes and sizes and a whole variety of carrier bags. The carrier bags that are produced by Natura’s partners, can be printed with up to eight different colours and can be composted in the garden. The “Happy” carrier bags, that have been available since December 2004, are particularly attractive. There is a space for a firm’s own individual printing on the bag.

An example of prices for “Happy” carrier bags:

If 1000 are purchased, 345.00 Euros/1000
If 2500 are purchased, 325.00 Euros/1000
If 5000 are purchased, 305.00 Euros/1000

plus VAT and  cost of transport. A stamp with the firm’s details costs around 70.00 euros, additional display material 24.95 euros. If a customer orders 20 000 “Happy” carriers, printing with the firm’s logo is an option.

The size of the bags is 38 cm (width) x 45 cm (length) with a 2 x 5 cm gusset in the base. Thick material is used (50 my) so that, according to the manufacturer, the bag has no problem in carrying 10 kg and more.

The thinner T-shirt carriers are sold by Natura as tear-off bags of various sizes on a roll. They always have at least one side printed in one colour and have the logo to indicate that they are compostable. One roll consists of 100 bags; one packaging unit is 1000 bags. Natura used to specify a minimum purchase of 100,000 but this has now been reduced to 25,000 - 30,000 and the price is around 140 Euros/ 1000 or 14 Cents per bag.

Store owners can buy smaller quantities of Natura tear-off bags from Bioland Sales in Haun in rolls of 100 bags for 15.50 Euros per roll. For 1000 bags (10 rolls) the price is reduced to 147.50 Euros.

The Austrian Pro-Tech GmbH in Schwaz/Tirol advertises its compostable bioMat®-Green Bag (picture) as its “miracle bag” that can be used first as a carrier, then as a bag to keep food fresh, and finally as a degradable rubbish sack. This Green Bag is available in two standard sizes as a bag with die-cut handles or as a T-shirt bag and is sold in Germany by the firm Loick Biowertstoffe.

The 15 l T-shirt bag, printed on both sides in two colours, 43 x 58 cm, can carry up to 12 kg. The price for quantities over 10,000 is around 210 Euros/1000 plus VAT.

The 5 l T-shirt bag, printed on both sides in two colours, 25 x 35 cm, can carry up to 5 kg. The price for quantities over 10,000 is around 72.00 Euros/1000 plus VAT.

The bio-plastic pioneer in France is Guy Lebacq (picture). He founded his firm Yokozuna in 1997 (www.yokozuna.com). Since then his business has been growing: marketing eco-bags under the name “Biobag” (www.biobag.fr). He now employs a dozen people in Meaux, 45 km east of Paris. Mr Lebacq says that he now supplies 1400 customers, with half coming from the food sector. He finds it regrettable that the majority of his customers are not organic. There are, therefore, more conventional food suppliers who buy degradable plastic bags of all kinds than specialist wholefood businesses. Most of these are still using conventional plastic bags. However, the era of the conventional plastic bag in France may well be coming to an end in the near future. The National Assembly recently took the decision to ban the non-degradable plastic bag by the year 2010. So are things going in the direction Yokozuna wants? Mr Lebacq is critical: “Basically that is the case, but companies are not likely to take any action before 2009.” Nevertheless, he cannot complain about current developments because this year he is expecting a growth in turnover of 30 %. The biggest customer in the organic sector is the wholesaler Bonne Terre which has ordered six million sacks over the next two years.

Yokozuna - the word comes from the Japanese sumo sport and means “respect for the power of silence” - supplies 15 different types of bag or sack, ranging from 4 to 25 cents each according to size and the volume ordered. Whilst there are many permanent customers, the larger size degradable bags are often ordered for one-off campaigns and events. Mr Lebacq, with great enthusiasm for his product: “For example, when the Dalai Lama was staying in France in 2003, our bags were used for the shoes of his followers.”