In a massive warehouse in Melbourne’s west, a gleaming new machine hums and purrs around the clock, extruding large rolls of clear plastic wrap, as Tim Lee reports for ABC News.
It is not the petroleum-based product so ubiquitous in everyday life — from wrapping factory goods on pallets to keeping food fresh in the fridge.
This wrap is made from potato starch and polymers, a high-tech process that utilises potato waste from food products such as french fries and potato chips.
“Usually, it goes to cattle feed or it’s spread out on farmland,” said Great Wrap co-founder Jordy Kay said.
The company and its products are the early, green shoots of an emerging global industry — the quest to replace petroleum-based plastic products with equivalents made from plant-based materials that are just as functional. But they must be sustainable, recyclable and, at the end of their life, fully compostable.
Despite challenges, Great Wrap has gained a foothold in the market, with businesses keen to reduce their environmental footprint.
Source: ABC News. Read the full story here
Cover image: Julia and Jordy Kay encountered a lot of plastic pallet wrapping in their previous careers. Credit ABC News
