There is so much plastic that it is difficult to avoid it

Plastic production is constantly increasing

Plastic production has increased since its widespread introduction in the 1950s, and now 280 million tons of plastic are created per year. To put that figure into perspective, the annual world production of cotton is approximately 25 million tons.
Approximately 40 percent is used for disposable products (bags and other packaging).

But plastic can be and look and function in very many different ways. Simply put, you can explain it as that there is plastic that is made of crude oil and plastic from renewable raw materials – sugar cane, starch or lactic acid.
Plastic from renewable raw material is called bioplastic and it can also be divided into two groups: biodegradable and non-biodegradable plastic.

Bioplastics are usually a bit more expensive than plastic from crude oil and unfortunately the production of these is not yet so large even though it is going in the right direction and that the production of bioplastics is increasing as a share of the total amount of plastic produced, for each year that passes.

Areas of use and functions

When you need a plastic bag to freeze meat, fish and berries – then choose a Bio-polyethylene, or green PE. It is made of ethanol from sugar cane but has the same functions and properties as oil-based plastic. This plastic works exactly like a "regular" plastic bag, the big difference is the raw material sugar cane instead of oil then.

Since the bag does NOT break down in nature, you must be just as careful to sort this as other plastic. It is sorted as soft plastic just like with any other plastic bag.
The advantages are primarily that it is a *better environmental choice, *no crude oil is needed. Then it is of course an advantage that *the food you want to store and perhaps have acquired yourself does not come into contact with oil-based plastic and of course it is also an advantage that the bag *preserves the food as it should.
For just this purpose, the biodegradable plastic is not suitable (yet, we hope of course that it develops) but biodegradable plastic is made just to break down and it is not good if that starts to happen in your refrigerator.

Above you see examples of plastic film / plastic wrap where the raw material is not based on plastic but sugar cane (ethanol produced from sugar cane). This plastic wrap has the same properties as a traditional film, it preserves the food just as well. However, it must be sorted as soft plastic, cannot be composted.
The same applies to the plastic bags on the right. No oil in the raw material, no oil products come into contact with your food. A good environmental choice, a good choice for you and your family.

Plastics made of corn (or other starch) or lactic acid break down in a regular compost.

These degradable bags are perfect as garbage bags, bags for the compost or dog poop bags.
Above you see a "plastic bag" made of corn – you can use this for the compost. Very practical! No mess with the compost bin, you just tie the bag and throw the whole bag in the compost. It immediately begins to break down and is gone after a couple of weeks.

Sugar cane fibers

Of course, the best thing is to wash your utensils and brought-along items, but sometimes it just doesn't work, and we resort to disposable plastic products.
BUT there are alternatives – here you see mugs and plates made of fibers from sugar cane – that is, not plastic, not paper. All this breaks down very quickly. One tip is to combine these products with a corn bag that also breaks down quickly. Put plate, mug and cutlery in the bag when they are used and compost the whole bag.

Now we hope that you have gained a little more knowledge about everyday plastic. All these products are available to order at www.vasterbottenssapa.se/en/ and there are also more products for you who are thinking about plastic reduction – to reduce plastic use in everyday life because there are plenty of products to replace with plastic-free alternatives.

// Sara Idenfors .
Use the code: Plastic reduction and you will get a 10% discount on all products in the category degradable plastic etc. The offer is valid until Sunday, September 10th.