Certified Bio-PP

No! The straws is a building block that can be used many times over. Just like the Strawbees. If you take care of your Strawbees set It will last for years.

No! The material will not degrade in nature or in a compost. Instead the material is mass-balanced, partly from renewable sources, and fully recyclable, hence it can be melted and used as raw material for Strawbees again and again. Recycled material will require approximately 80% less energy in the process of producing new items compared to virgin material.

There are currently no recycled materials that fulfills the regulatory requirements for “toys”.

But by using material that can be recycled we reduce the energy need for the next step in the materials life-cycle.

We believe that recycling is a better way to cherish our global resources. 

The available biodegradable plastics  are generally of two different types

1. Oxo-degradable. This type can be either based on biomaterial or fossil oil. It will disintegrate into small particles because there are weak points built into the material that will break upon contact with air. However, the small particles formed will not break down but rather become a pollutant in the soil or in the ocean. Oxo-degradable materials have thus been banned by the EU and Ellen Macarthur foundation among many others
2. Biodegradable or compostable. These materials will break down but generally only in an industrial compost under controlled conditions. If thrown into nature it will take many years if not hundreds before it will disintegrate. Further, if biodegradable material is mixed into the recycling streams of plastics it will deteriorate the properties of the new material produced.
   

References:

• Oxo statement – New Plastics Economy (en-GB)
• COM/2018/035 final$ – Publications Office of the EU (europa.eu)

Yes they are. Which is beneficial as they can be recycled in the same way.

The straws are produced with the same type of machines that produce drinking straws. The process is called extrusion and material melted is pressed through a nozzle. We have our own specially made nozzle with finetuned properties so that thickness and material properties are optimized for both lightness and durability. Our straws should not be used for drinking.

Paper doesn’t have the same mechanical properties as polypropylene plastic so they would break more easily and would also absorb moisture in humid climates which could be problematic for storage.

Mass balance is described in the ISO standard 22095.

Mass balance is a chain of custody model in which materials or products with a set of specified characteristics are mixed with materials or products without that set of characteristics. For this model, the proportion of the input with specific characteristics might only match the initial proportions on average and will typically vary across different outputs. This means that e.g. renewable and fossil input is mixed and that the exact proportions in each final product cannot be guaranteed.

The same standard also defines the controlled blending model, as a separate model in which the mixing results in a known proportion of the specified characteristics in the final output. According to this model the claim may then be referred to a certain percentage.

Mass balance enables the chemical industry to introduce other raw materials like bio-based or recycled in their process and assign it, mass balancing, to certain products. This balancing allows the industry to put a certificate on the product. This approach enables the industry to take steps towards a more sustainable production when the available amount of biobased or recycled raw material is deficient.

Chemical industry consists generally of very large reactors that are running 24/7. Currently there is not enough biobased or recycled feedstock to enable a 100% switch in most sites. There are producers that only work with biobased feedstock but when it comes to the total plastic production that constitutes only approximately 1% of all plastics produced. Hence mass balancing enables a transition towards a more sustainable production.

Reference:

• ISO – ISO 22095:2020 – Chain of custody — General terminology and models

There are several definitions of a circular economy, but this definition from the Ellen MacArthur Foundation is commonly used: “A circular economy is based on the principles of designing out waste and pollution, keeping products and materials in use, and regenerating natural systems.” In this definition, there are three main aspects that all relate to a bio-based circular economy. First, designing out waste and pollution, means that we should think of products and future products before they are even designed. One should always ask the question: “Is there a need for this product?” If there is a need for the product, then it should be designed in a way that waste should be minimized during the production phase, as well as during the use phase. Also, it should be designed in a way that minimizes emissions and pollution during the production phase, as well as during the use phase. Second, once a product is in its use phase, it should be used for as long as possible, to retain the value that was created when the product was first put on the market. This can be done by maintenance and continual repair to keep the product in use for as long as possible. Once the product has reached the end of its life and when it’s not possible to repair once again, or when it’s too costly to repair, its constituent parts should be recovered and used as spare material or refurbished as spare parts. And once the constituent parts are unable to be recovered as parts, they should be recycled by recycling the material that was used to create the product, hence reusing the material when creating new products. Third, a circular economy supports the regeneration of natural systems. This is also directly related to a bio-based circular economy, since a circular economy is by definition a bio-based economy. Products that have been built with fossil resources should be redesigned to be shifted to renewable resources. And products that still haven’t been designed, should be designed fossil free from the start. A circular economy should also focus on leaving the planet better off than before. This means that new or redesigned products should reduce the amount of waste and pollution for the same service. It could also mean that new products reduce the amount of pollution already emitted, for instance by locking in carbon in products, for instance when building new buildings in wood.